Rating system

I rank each of Alistair MacLean's books on a 10-point scale, showing how much I enjoyed them (a purely subjective quantity). This list contains every novel he wrote, as well as the fiction/nonfiction mixture The Lonely Sea (but not the "based on a story by Alistair MacLean" books published around and after his death). Within each category, books are ranked from best to worst; for example, I think The Satan Bug is the best of the 9-star books and Night Without End is the worst (but it's still a 9-star book!).

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦ (10 out of 10)

The Secret Ways

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦ (9)

The Satan Bug

Ice Station Zebra

H.M.S. Ulysses

Night Without End

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦ (8)

Where Eagles Dare

Puppet on a Chain

The Black Shrike

Fear is the Key

The Guns of Navarone

Caravan to Vaccares

Force 10 from Navarone

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦ (7)

The Lonely Sea

When Eight Bells Toll

The Golden Rendezvous

South by Java Head

Bear Island

♦♦♦♦♦♦  (6)

The Golden Gate

Circus

Breakheart Pass

The Way to Dusty Death

San Andreas

♦♦♦♦♦ (5)

River of Death

Santorini

Goodbye California

♦♦♦♦ (4)

Athabasca

Partisans

♦♦♦ (3)

Floodgate

♦♦ (2)

Seawitch