About Alistair MacLean

In this section of the site, we look at Alistair MacLean, the man and author. Resources here include a brief biography of Alistair MacLean and a review of Robert A. Lee's book Alistair MacLean: The Key is Fear, which examines the evolution and common themes of his writing style.

An interesting fact I hadn't known until long after I created this site: MacLean's second wife, whose maiden name was Mary Marcelle Georgius, co-wrote many books. On various volumes, she was credited as "Contessa Villeneuve De Plessis," "Mrs. Alistair MacLean," or "Mary M. MacLean." Her steady co-author was Milton Bowser, president of a firm called Sitare, which published her books. Many of them are listed at Amazon.com but are unavailable there because they are out of print.

I haven't seen any of these books; my information comes largely from this Goodreads entry about her. If you're familiar with her writing, please drop me a line.