Viimeinen rintama

by Alistair MacLean

Other authorsAaro Vuoristo (Translator)

Paperback, 1980

Status

Available

Call number

813

Genres

All Topics

Fiction

Collections

pd, oc

Publication

Porvoo ; Hki ; Juva : WSOY, 1980. Kymmenes painos.

Description

Fiction. Thriller. HTML: Doctor Jennings, a scientist in possession of a precious secret, has gone over to the Soviet Union, and British secret agent Michael Reynolds must get him back. Penetrating the Iron Curtain is difficult, but to bring out a man who is elderly and well-known seems impossible in the face of the secret police�until Reynolds discovers there are Hungarian patriots ready to help..

User reviews

LibraryThing member wfzimmerman

Early Maclean. Gripping story of spy undercover in Communist Hungary. One of his best.

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LibraryThing member wfzimmerman

Gripping cold war story set in post-56 Hungary. I gave a copy to Tom Parris & his Hungarian wife Vicky as a token wedding present.

LibraryThing member TadAD

One of my favorite MacLean books. It was also published as The Last Frontier.

LibraryThing member ponsonby

I first read this book many years ago and have not forgotten it so recently reacquired it after some searching. It is one of MacLean's earliest books, and consequently one of his best. The story of an English agent's attempt to recover a defected scientist, it is also a detailed description of cold

war secret police tactics but also a work urging rconciliation as the only way forward. Set in Hungary just after the 1956 uprising (and written in 1959) it is authentic in atmosphere and moves swiftly with a cast of finely drawn characters. Just one query - miuch is made in the book of the winter snow and cold everywhere - why does the cover of my edition shows green hillsides? Don't they read the books before designing covers?

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LibraryThing member Leischen

British agent Michael Reynolds is sent to Hungary to recover a scientist who has gone over to the other side. This being an Alistair Maclean novel, Reynolds is captured and escapes several times, villains turn out to be allies and vice versa; and the lovey dovey mushy stuff is kept to a minimum.

Maclean had a knack for writing excellent adventure novels and this, his 4th book, is one of the better ones.

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LibraryThing member .Monkey.

An action-packed thriller, if you've read any MacLean you know how it goes. Witty banter, heroic men, impossible challenges, fun for all!

LibraryThing member jeffome

I am reading all the MacLean adventures in order of publication, and this being number 4, was quite a disappointment compared to the previous 3. That's not to say that there were no exciting moments, because there were.....but it was really long on the question of moral authority of Westerners

passing judgement on the proper way to assist in the ending of Communism behind the iron curtain, in this case, Hungary. A fascinating look at what may have been happening in Hungary....sad for sure.....and maybe it is dated to the point that it no longer has the impact with that iron curtain gone that it had when this was written. I just found myself working at keeping the book going rather than being unable to put it down. A little sappier than the others, but the moral argument did make me think......it was just too much....but i know there are many others to go and i will hope this is the anomaly.

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LibraryThing member antiquary

A British agent is sent to kidnap and return a British scientist who has defected to the Communists.

LibraryThing member nwdavies

The first spy thriller I've read by Alistair Maclean and I really enjoyed it. Here's another author I can get going on. The list grows :)

LibraryThing member Bridgey

The Last Frontier - Alistair MacLean **

Years ago Alistair Maclean was one of my favourite authors. His early works were really detailed and full of twists, turns and suspense. I then started reading some of his later books and felt they really struggled to live up to his reputation, so when I came

across the last Frontier I was a little sceptical but decided to give it a try anyway, particularly as it was written in 1959 and his fourth novel.

I don’t know why but I just really couldn’t get to grips with this book. I found it, well, boring if I am honest. Other reviewers seem to rate it highly but each page felt like a kilogram weight as I forced myself to turn it to get the next. The action was tedious, the plot repetitive and I just wanted something big to happen to break the monotony.

The plot is relatively straightforward; we follow Michael Reynolds as he goes undercover in Russian occupied Hungary to bring back a scientist from behind the iron curtain. Things obviously don’t go to plan and a cat and mouse chase ensues.

I suppose that the book just wasn’t for me. If I had to sum up my feelings it would be that I wrote this review a few weeks after finishing the book and had to Google the plot to jog my memory... that’s how little it stayed with me.

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