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    The Satan Bug
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    The Satan Bug
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    The Satan Bug
    Ebook325 pages5 hours

    The Satan Bug

    By Alistair MacLean

    3.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateFeb 2, 2009
    ISBN9780007289417
    Unavailable
    The Satan Bug
    Author

    Alistair MacLean

    Alistair MacLean, the son of a minister, was brought up in the Scottish Highlands. In 1941 he joined the Royal Navy. After the war he read English at Glasgow University and became a teacher. Two and a half years spent aboard a wartime cruiser gave him the background for HMS Ulysses, his remarkably successful first novel, published in 1955. He is now recognized as one of the outstanding popular writers of the 20th century, the author of 29 worldwide bestsellers, many of which have been filmed.

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    Reviews for The Satan Bug

    3.5/5

    70 ratings5 reviews

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    • 4/5
      Another good read by a master of mystery, intrigue, adventure, and suspense, this time involving a biological weapons research facility. The bad news is that two high-level employees are dead, from exposure to deadly compounds, but even worse is that flasks containing toxins that could destroy all life on earth are missing, and possibly in the hands of a madman. Better than Bond, and more believable.
    • 5/5
      Thoroughly enjoyed this book. Constant driving story line - clever way the true nature and connection of even the good guys came out slowly over time......lots of clever deducing on the part of our hero Pierre Cavell......and plenty of unnerving thoughts about the horrors of biological warfare. A quick vacation read that just felt right for me. As always, a bit too many lucky duck, skin-of-the-teeth, coincidental moments that knock down the believability quotient a just a hair - but really, most thrillers have that and we just keep on reading them. Very happy to have spent my day with this!
    • 4/5
      England, ca 1960Pierre Cavell er højtdekoreret krigshelt (bortset fra at han sagde nej tak til medaljerne), han har været major i efterretningstjenesten og vistnok lidt at gøre med M.I.6, dvs kontraspionagen, og senest har han været sikkerhedschef for Mordon laboratorierne, hvor krigsministeriet har gang i at lave biologiske våben. Han har det med at sige sin mening, så nu er han bare chef og personale i sin lille enmands detektivbureau.Han bliver opsøgt af en Henry Martin, der lokker med penge for at tage en vaccine med til Warszawa. Cavell afslører Martin som en svindler og arresterer ham, hvorefter Martin afslører at det bare var en test for at finde ud af hvilken side Cavell egentlig er på. En kriminalkommisær D. R. Hardanger og en generalmajor Clivenden dukker op og fortæller at Cavells nære ven og efterfølger som sikkerhedschef ved Mordon, Neil Clandon, er blevet myrdet. En dr. Baxter er sporløst forsvundet, lige som det tidligere er sket for Cavells forgænger i embedet Eastern Derry. Og endnu værre sikkerheden på Mordon er blevet brudt. Nogen har lokket vagterne væk, har klippet sig vej gennem hegnet, mens hundeføreren tog sig en kop kakao på det sædvanlige tidspunkt. Vedkommende har slået hundeførerens dræberhund ned og er fortsat ind til det laboratorium, hvor de gemmer kronjuvelerne, mens alle strømførende hegn og snubletråde er blevet elegant omgået. Det ser ud som om vedkommende har haft indgående kendskab til hegn og sikkerhedsprocedurer.Inde i det hemmelige laboratorium opbevares englændernes dommedagsvåben, The Satan Bug, på dansk kaldet helvedesbakterien - et lidt dårligt valgt navn, for det er faktisk en virus. Lige som vores helt Cavell har også helvedesbakterien egenskaber, der er for gode til at tro helt på: Det er smitsomt, tilsyneladende uforgængeligt og 100 procent dødeligt for både dyr og mennesker.Bakteriologen dr. Gregori synes at man skal støbe laboratoriet inde i to meter beton i stedet for at gå indenfor, for sæt nu at nogen har tabt noget. Cavell melder sig til at gå ind og checke og accepterer at han ikke kommer ud igen, hvis han bliver syg derinde. Han kommer dog ud igen, men med dårligt nyt. Der mangler 6 flasker med botulinus og 3 flasker med helvedesbakterien. Til gengæld har han fundet dr. Baxter og hans død redegør også for den ene flaske botulinus, så nu mangler der kun 5 flasker botulinus og 3 flasker helvedesbakterie.Cavell arbejder for en general i efterretningstjeneste og hans private detektivbureau er et skalkeskjul. Han er gift med generalens datter Mary, som har en forkærlighed for fugle med brækkede vinger og Cavell har både en venstre fod, der lige akkurat ikke er amputeringsmoden og nogle heftige ar efter granatsplinter, begge dele erhvervet i krigen.Cavell bruger natten på at skræmme et par muligt mistænkte, men bliver selv slået ned, bastet og bundet og efterladt i en kælder. Sjovt nok har banditterne overset en pistol, så han kan skyde sine bånd over.Imens har myndighederne modtaget krav om at tilintetgøre Mordon laboratoriet eller også vil virus blive sluppet fri. De overhører kravet og en portion botulinus gift bliver lukket ud i et landligt område, hvor det dræber en del kvæg og en lille halv snes mennesker.En MacDonald bliver afsløret som sovjetisk agent, men han bliver fundet hængt i sin kælder og husholdersken mrs Turpin er dræbt med en lægtehammer. Begge myrdet af en ukendt, der ikke kan lide at efterlade sig levende vidner.Både generalen, Hardanger og Cavell drikker whisky som om det alene kan løse problemet.Cavell tænker sig om og kommer i tanke om at han har set tomme cementsække, men ikke noget nybygget ved MacDonalds hus. Inderst i kulkælderen finder de en ny mur og bagved den finder det frygteligt mishandlede lig af Derry, som var Cavells forgænger som sikkerhedschef ved Mordon. Nu går det stærkt for mistanken hviler nu tungt på dr. Gregori eller rettere Enzo Scarlatti, som har en fortid som amerikansk storgangster.Planen går i al sin simpelhed ud på at få evakueret en bid af London og så plyndre banker og smykkefirmaer i fred og ro og stikke af med byttet. Cavell får selvfølgeligt først gjort op med med Scarlattis gorilla Henriques og dernæst overmandet Scarlatti ombord i en flyvende helikopter, hvor også piloten og Mary befinder sig i yderste livsfare pgra Scarlattis små virusglas.Scarlatti ender med at begå selvmord ved at hoppe ud fra helikopteren uden faldskærm.En meget hårdtpakket thriller med en halt og halvblind supermand som den gode helt, der beskytter kone og fædreland og en superskurk, der kan bryde ind i tomsikrede regeringskontrollerede laboratorier og stjæle dommedagsvåben.Bortset fra det helt usandsynlige plot er bogen god underholdning til en mørk vinteraften. Den kan dog ikke anbefales, hvis man har sarte nerver og en kulbunke i kælderen
    • 4/5
      I have recently been reading a novel taken right from the library of top ten nightmares facing us today. One of the free world's worst fears is that some lunatic will get their hands on a super germ and unleash it upon us. In a world where anthrax and sarin have become household names, the niggling concern that some fanatical genius will create a bug even more powerful, deadly, and impossible to detect lives deep within each of us.This book is about a man-made virus that is highly contagious, fatal if swallowed or breathed, and has no vaccine. On top of that, this virus is impossible to kill. Now, in the book, the premise is that the good guys accidentally created this virus (how does one accidentally create such a thing, I wonder?) and, upon discovering what they had, stored it away in a super-secret, super-secure facility and began working night and day to discover a vaccine.But before they are able to do so, somehow the secret gets out, as one might expect, and the bad guys find a way to steal three vials of the stuff.Cue the good guys to draft their best heroes in an effort to get it back, while an evil madman holds the world hostage.Sounds like an episode of 24, doesn't it?But this novel was published in 1962. Forty years and more ago. Funny, isn't it? During the cold war, and for many years after, we were all so worried about nuclear Armageddon. Humanity was finally smart enough to mitigate that threat, but I guess we forgot about the whole super bug thing along the way, because nearly five decades on it is still on our list of things to worry about.The book was written by Alistair Maclean, and it is entitled The Satan Bug.This is not my favorite book by Alistair Maclean, but it is quite good. Of course, one could argue that it almost has to be, given that it was written by one the preeminent writers of thrillers in recent history. Many have tried to emulate him, with varying degrees of success.Odd thing about Maclean's plots is that they are often predictable, or at least I find them so. I say that is an odd thing because you'd think that would detract from the novel. But it doesn't really; almost all works of fiction are predictable to a certain degree, aren't they? The great strength in Maclean's novels is the development of his characters. He is a Scot, and, as is only natural, the majority of his protagonists hail from the UK. As such, many of them have a dry, sarcastic wit that I enjoy. His heroes, male and female, are usually of the true blue sort; strong, selfless, self-effacing, self-sacrificing, courageous, and tough. Which makes them a bit predictable as well, I suppose, but Maclean somehow always manages to add something to them that makes them admirable rather than a mere caricature.I've read many of Maclean's novels over the years, and have enjoyed most of them. This is my first foray into this one, but so far I quite like it.
    • 4/5
      I read this years ago and reread it recently after channel-surfing into the 1965 film starring George Maharis and Anne Francis. The movie is entertaining, but Alistair MacClean’s book is far more visceral and fast-paced. Maybe transplanting the plot from the cold, wet UK to sunny Southern California is part of the problem. In any event, read the book if you like a good thriller.Originally published in 1962 under the pseudonym of Ian Stuart.