Title:

Bear Island

Author:

Alistair MacLean

Category:

Mystery / Thriller

Rating:

Date Reviewed:

July 23, 2026

ong ago, way back when I was in high school, I read a lot of Alistair MacLean novels. I thought that they were ingenious mysteries. These were classic spy/thriller tales : Guns of Navarone, Ice Station Zebra, Caravan to Vacares, The Way to Dusty Death, Puppet on Chain, Where Eagles Dare - it was quite a list of good books. But somehow I missed reading Bear Island, even though I had it in paperback sitting on my bookshelf. I have finally rectified my oversight. It seems to me that this complicated plot could would still make a good movie (Bear Island came out in 1971). I just did a web search and discovered that there was a film version of Bear Island that came out in 1979; but the synopsis of the movie script sounds like it has been changed significantly from the book.

Bear Island features a large cast of characters - but fear not, dear reader, a lot of these characters end up dead, so you don't have to worry about them any more. The story is written in first person by Dr. Marlowe. Marlowe is on-board the The Morning Rose, an old fishing trawler that is laboring north through the Barents Sea in late October. Huge waves and howling winds pound the boat as it struggles to reach Bear Island, a remote, desolate place that lies 300 miles north of the Arctic Circle. Bear Island is so barren that not even polar bears live there. On board The Morning Rose is an eccentric crew of film makers from Olympus Productions. Their stated aim is to spend 22 days filming an epic picture in the few hours of daylight that Bear Island enjoys so late in the year (weather permitting, of course). The plan is so daft that Dr. Marlowe is certain that there is an ulterior motive, but of what purpose can there be in visiting such an unpromising outcropping of rock?

The plot starts off with a bang - the raging storm has made most of the actors and filmcrew sea-sick. Antonio abandons his dinner and runs from the galley, obviously sea sick. Except that when Dr Marlowe visits Antonio in his cabin, he finds that Antonio is dead and it is clear he has been poisoned. The situation quickly deteriorates, with deaths and mysteries rapidly multiplying. In typical MacLean fashion, many of the characters have secrets and hidden agendas. Skullduggery follows.

It is fascinating to read a book published in 1971 and see all the heavy drinking the characters engage in. Its not beer or wine; they are all pounding down whiskeys, vodkas, scotches - seemingly every character has a glass of hard alcohol or three. Did people really drink so much back then?

I don't want to give away too much of the story in thie review; I'll let MacLean reveal the plot in his own words. But the cover of my paperback says "4 months on the New York Times best seller list". And it is an Alistair MacLean novel, so if you like high-stakes mysteries, spies and violence in exotic locations, then Bear Island is worth a try.