Fear Is the Key Audiobook By Alistair MacLean cover art

Fear Is the Key

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Fear Is the Key

By: Alistair MacLean
Narrated by: Jonathan Oliver
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A classic novel of ruthless revenge set in the steel jungle of an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico – and on the sea bed below it.

A sunken DC-3 lying on the Caribbean floor. Its cargo: ten million, two hundred and fifty thousand dollars in gold ingots, emeralds and uncut diamonds guarded by the remains of two men, one woman and a very small boy.

The fortune was there for the taking, and ready to grab it were a blue-blooded oilman with his own offshore rig, a gangster so cold and independent that even the Mafia couldn’t do business with him and a psychopathic hired assassin.

Against them stood one man, and those were his people, those skeletons in their watery coffin. His name was Talbot, and he would bury his dead – but only after he had avenged their murders.

©1961 Devoran Trustees Lts (P)2017 HarperCollins Publishers Action & Adventure Crime Crime Thrillers Detective Fiction International Mystery & Crime Mystery Mystery, Thriller & Suspense Suspense Technothrillers Thriller Thriller & Suspense Traditional Detectives Assassin Technology Mafia Caribbean

Critic reviews

‘Guns, gangsters, sudden death, terrific action on land and under the sea … Fear is the Key has a plot that will require a lot of willpower to stop you looking at the last page.’
Sunday Mirror

‘Keeps tension at screaming point.’
Daily Express

‘Excitement and violence … the pace never slackens.’
Scotsman
All stars
Most relevant  
I have found a new favorite author.
For some reason I expect to be disappointed and exactly the opposite occurs.
The writing was brilliant and the performance was Justice brilliant.

Refreshingly Unique

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Awesome and gripping. Truly an E-ticket ride into the vortex of a EF-5 tornado. This is one of Alistair MacLean’s best.

Thrill ride

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One of the best books I've read and reread and repeated for a zillion times, and Mr Oliver has done 200% justice to it. Very well narated!

Awesomest!!!

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The narrator was excellent. So clearly understood MacLean’s laconic hero. The story is terrific and the characters are quickly but well drawn

Great yarn, beautifully read (by an actual human)

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Loved this book since first released in hardback, and never found fault in anything. This version had me incredibly annoyed with the voices and the emphasis put on certain words and sentences. Got the book out and checked and no it was not the sentence it was the way that words were emphasized. Love Alastair MacLean but don't think I'll buy any more.

Poor Narrator

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Story was great, but the reading absolutely phenomenal. I would recommend this strongly for anyone who likes suspense, plot twists, and self-deprecating humor.

Very very good

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Alastair McLean is a great writer and this is one of his classics. The performance was abysmal. The reader sounds far too old to be the character which was a continual distraction. Unfortunately most of McLean’s books use John Oliver and I will therefore be unable to listen to them.

Very good story – a bit slow starting

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Story clumsy and melodramatic with some of the worst dialog I have ever listened to completion. Maybe 50 years ago it would have seemed better.

Avoid this one

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I love most Alistair Macclean but this one is very tedious..I'm sorry I bought it.

t Tedious and boring

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