Customer Reviews
A Cable Car Named Adventure - By: Jacquie Reaville, 18 May 2008 
A group of alllied soldiers are dropped by parachute into Germany in order to find a way inside Schloss Adler (the castle of the eagle), the combined headquarters of the German Secret Service & the Gestapo. They have to rescue Lieutenant General Carnaby, an American general who is the overalll co-ordinator for Operation Overlord, the Second Front, before he talks.
Someone though is sabotaging their efforts; can a member of the six British & one American Special Forces team be a traitor? The commanding officer, Smith, has brought a woman with him too, a fact unknown to the other team members. Added to that are the problems of the elite Alpenkorps being stationed at the foot of the mountain & the Castle, built on the side of the mountain, being only accessible by cable car.
This book was an extremely enjoyable read, with the twists & turns & plot loops, focussing on one then another as the guilty party. With the finale as exciting & explosive as one could wish for.
Although I already knew the story from watching the movie countless times (staring Richard Burton & Clint Eastwood), it was definitely well worth reading the original, especiallly for the ironic wit of Schaffer & Smith's exchanges.
All in alll, a World War II thriller, action packed & full of suspense, which I have come to expect from MacLean's writing. I wasn't disappointed at alll.
Cracking good yarn - By: L. Hay, 12 Mar 2007 For me, the book was spoiled by seeing the movie first. Apparently the screen play was written before the novel which explains why the book is identical to the film - in itself unusual. However it was an excellent read, & has everything one could ask for, good plot, twists & turns, & plenty action. I found the sequence involving the roofs of the cable cars rather confusing, but the film clarified that. Overalll it was an enjoyable book.
Surely one of thee best book and film combos ever... - By: , 12 Feb 2003 
This story has it alll... Secrecy, love, violence, good, evil, great characters & a massive backdrop.
The plot twists & turns & leaves us dangling over the edge of a certain cable car... avoiding tank fire, driving buses, flying planes & blowing up gestapo castles... All in a days work reallly.
An Excellent piece of jerry-bashing - By: , 31 May 2000 This is simply one of those can't put down, thrill - a - minute, will he won't he? classic books that have us reliving WWII. Bullets wizz, double agents crawl out of every hole & you are never quite sure of the outcome. Brilliant, I am so glad Maclean wrote thirty odd thrillers, I won't be running out for a while!
