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The Secret Ways
Alistair MacLean Book Review

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Plot Summary of The Secret Ways
"When Reynolds sneaks into Communist Hungary in the dead of the winter, he is propelled by a desperate mission-- to rescue Professor Jennings, an elderly British scientist who is held by the communists against his will. Reynolds soon hooks up with the mysterious Jansci and his friend the Count and together they strive to shuttle the professor out from under the communists over the border and back to England. When the communists discover that Reynolds is there and realize why, the pressure mounts and Reynolds realizes that he will have only one chance to rescue Professor Jennings before he is captured and killed by the Hungarian secret police."
Liba, Resident Scholar

Review Analysis of The Secret Ways
Our unique search engine provides a wealth of detail about books by breaking them down into many different literary elements, all of which are searchable (click here).
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot

Composition of Book
descript. of violence and chases - 30%
Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 40%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 20%
How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 10%




Tone of story - suspenseful (sophisticated fear)
Time/era of story: - 1960's-1970's
Spying/Terrorism Thriller Yes
Cloak & Dagger Plotlets: - kidnap/rescue
Kid or adult book? - Adult or Young Adult Book
Who's the terrorist enemy here? - commies!

Main Character
Gender - Male
Profession/status: - spy
How much violence does he/she use? - a little
Ethnicity/Race - British

Main Adversary
Identity: - an organization
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in: - throughout most of the book.
The antagonists are: - communists

Setting
Europe Yes
European country: - Eastern Europe

Style
Person - mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death? - generic/vague references to death/punishment
How many deaths? - 8 or more
Most similar books to The Secret Ways
The Elusive Mrs. Pollifax by Dorothy Gilman
The Golden Gate by Alistair MacLean
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The Phoenix Pact by Michael Hartmann
Secret Ways by Alistair MacLean


Click here for more information about this book


Alistair MacLean Resident Scholar Profiles

TOP SCHOLAR:
  
Liba  

SCHOLARS:
Dusk Peterson  MARMAC  Ethan Strattan  Scott Crawford  


Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s).
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