The Tightrope Men, by Desmond Bagley
Filed under: bestseller, book review, Desmond Bagley, Thriller
The Tightrope Men is another of the high quality, exceptionally 
Giles Denison has a strange experience. His life is turned upside down when he awakes to find himself in a luxurious hotel in Oslo and, peering into the bathroom mirror, discovers the face of another man!
Denison has been kidnapped from his flat in London and transformed into famous Finnish scientist, Dr Harold Feltham Meyrick. Compelled to adjust to his new persona (including meeting his daughter) and to play out the role assigned to him by his captors, he embarks on a dangerous escapade from Norway to Finland and across the border into Soviet Russia.
As many other Bagley thrillers, this too has a plot that actually twists and characters that actually develop without too much unnecessary detail. The great use of geographical description – giving you the feeling that you are there, looking, seeing the place, along with the fast pace keep the pages turning. The Tightrope Men is another great read from an author who deserves to be much better known than he is.
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.The Satan Bug, by Alistair Maclean
Filed under: Alistair MacLean, book review, Thriller
The story revolves around the theft of two germ warfare agents, botulinum toxin and the indestructible Satan Bug (a laboratory-conceived derivative of poliovirus), from the Mordon Microbiological Research Establishment. Pierre Cavell, private detective and retired head of security for Britain’s Mordon Bio-weapon laboratory, is called back to public service to investigate the murder of the chief of the laboratory. Cavell quickly discovers that an incredibly virulent virus code-named the Satan Bug has been stolen.
Cavell’s investigation determines that the theft was an inside job by a ruthless criminal ready to run insane risks to achieve his goals. Cavell and the police must quickly find this man and the hostages he takes before he can escape or use the deadly virus. The chase takes Cavell and his police allies to London for a final showdown with the master criminal and his gang, where the stakes may include the destruction of the City of London.
The Satan Bug is well written, with fast paced action, and features a very twisting plot, excellent and sometimes ironic dialogue, along with the nail-biting finale that MacLean was so famous for. Highly recommended for fans of Alistair MacLean!
Running Blind, by Desmond Bagley – classic thriller
Running Blind is another of the thrillers by English thriller master Desmond Bagley that has been made into a movie. It is a great, very suspenseful roller-coaster of a novel that tied me to me chair. 
It all begins with a simple errand – a package to deliver. “It’ll be simple”, they said at the Department. “You’ll just be a messenger boy.” But to Alan Stewart, on a deserted road in Iceland with a murdered man at his feet, it looks anything but simple. Almost immediately, he finds himself in a maze of bluffs and double-bluffs. Set amongst some of the most dramatic scenery in the world, Stewart and his girlfriend, Erin, are faced with treacherous natural obstacles and deadly threats, as they battle to carry out the mission.
Stewart escapes a very cunning trap and in doing so stumbles, almost by accident, on the scary possibility that a top official in British intelligence may actually be a Russian mole. What follows is a spellbinding sequence of action involving the mole, the Russians, some stray CIA agents in fascinating pursuit all across Iceland.
Running Blind culminates in a shootout that contains a huge surprise, and a shocking conclusion.
An excellent thriller! The language and descriptions are excellent, the plot full of surprising twists, and the suspense almost intolerable. Running Blind moves at a faster pace than the average Bagley novel. Still very well worth reading!
The Day of the Jackal, by Frederick Forsyth
Filed under: book review, Frederick Forsyth, International bestseller, Thriller
The Day of the Jackal is a novel about whose main character is the 
Day Of The Jackal is at times a brutal book, unsparing in its detailing of government-directed torture, of casual murder, of the mass of luckless shadow people with their missing limbs. There is little humor, and no James Bond-ish glamor. It’s a book that forever changed the genre, from Fleming-ish humorous spy tales to real-life, no frills tough thrillers. It was a book that firmly established Frederick Forsyth as one of the world’s biggest thriller writers.
The Day of the Jackal is very well written and very exciting classic in its genre. The intense style and suspense that sets Forsyth apart as a writer and master of the thriller genre is visible already here in this early book. Day of the Jackal is not just Frederick Forsyth’s best book; it’s the best book in it’s genre. An extremely worthwhile read! It is, quite simply, as good as it gets in thrillers!
And, yes, the movie with the same name is based on this book!
You can use this link to order the DVD The Day of the Jackal from amazon.com
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