Force 10 From Navarone by Alistair MacLean

As far as I know, this is the only Alistair MacLean novel that is a sequel, a follow-on to "The Guns of Navarone".  But, strangely, it’s a sequel to the movie version of that novel rather than the novel itself and consequently a little bit confusing given the changes to the characters.

This book picks up immediately after the events of the first (movie version).  And I do mean “immediately”.  Perhaps 10 minutes have passed and the survivors of that first mission, (Captain Keith Mallory and Corporal Dusty Miller) now on the rescue boat, are told to turn back to shore in order to take on a new mission.  They recruit their Greek comrade Andrea Stavros for the mission, code named “Force 10”. This time around, together with three redshirts British Royal Marine Commandos, they parachute into Nazi-occupied Yugoslavia.  Their mission: to aid the Yugoslav Partisans in their battle against the Nazi German occupiers.  Of course this is an Alistair MacLean novel so there is a hidden mission, hidden even from the British Commandos.

Aside from the slight confusion of this being a sequel to the movie version of a prior novel, it is actually a pretty decent read. There is more confusion however, due to multiple layers of deception.  The main characters act as double agents…and then triple agents and sometimes the characters themselves are unsure of who to trust.  It does, however, all make sense…as long as you can follow it all.

Bottom line:  not quite as good as Guns of Navarone but still worth reading, especially for MacLean fans.