Force 10 Fron Naverone

Force 10 From Navarone (1972) by Alistair MacLean — Condition: Fair (Crappy Old Books)

When Alistair MacLean wrote The Guns of Navarone, he gave the world one of the great wartime thrillers. But what do you do after you’ve blown up the un-blow-up-able guns? Simple: you write a sequel. Force 10 From Navarone (Fontana, 1972) sends Captain Mallory, Corporal Miller, and the gang back into action—this time parachuting into Yugoslavia on a mission involving partisans, Nazis, double agents, and the kind of impossible odds that MacLean characters treat like an afternoon jog.

The result is pure MacLean: brisk, banter-filled dialogue, set-piece action, betrayals popping up like weeds, and a sense that no bridge, dam, or railway line is ever truly safe when Allied saboteurs are in the vicinity. It’s pulp war fiction at its best—gritty, fast, and improbably entertaining, even if you occasionally need a map, a notebook, and a stiff drink to keep track of who’s about to get double-crossed.

As for the copy: this one comes from the hard-bitten stacks of Crappy Old Books, and it’s rated Fair. Which means: the cover has lived (creases, scuffs, maybe even a tear or two), the spine is visibly battle-worn, and the pages are yellowed like field dispatches left too long in the sun. Still, it’s complete and readable, with all its words intact and every explosion accounted for. No cigarette burns from Yugoslav safehouses, no mud from partisan boots, no bullet holes in the margins—just a well-worn veteran of many campaigns, still game for one more mission.

In short: Force 10 From Navarone is classic MacLean—lean, mean, and full of twists. This copy is in Fair condition: scarred, weathered, and perhaps not as pretty as it once was, but still very much alive and kicking. Another tough survivor from Crappy Old Books, where even battered paperbacks stand proud after the mission’s done.

I have glued the spine back as well as a semi-loose page inside, so mostly in good readable order.

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