Ensiklopedia Dunia

Technopedia Center

Faculty of Engineering and Computer Science
S1 Informatics S1 Information Systems S1 Information Technology S1 Computer Engineering S1 Electrical Engineering S1 Civil Engineering

faculty of Economics and Business
S1 Management S1 Accountancy

Faculty of Letters and Educational Sciences
S1 English literature S1 English language education S1 Mathematics education S1 Sports Education

The Dark Crusader - Wikipedia

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Dark Crusader
First edition cover (UK)
Author	Alistair MacLean
Language	English
Genre	Thriller Spy novel Novel
Publisher	Collins (UK) Scribner (US)
Publication date	1961
Publication place	United Kingdom
Pages	223 ^[1]
Preceded by	Fear Is the Key
Followed by	The Golden Rendezvous

The Dark Crusader is a 1961 thriller novel by Scottish author Alistair MacLean. The book was initially published under the pseudonym Ian Stuart and later under his true name. It was released in the United States under the title: The Black Shrike.

MacLean wrote it in part to prove he could have success writing under a new name.^[2]

Plot

Eight top-level scientists and their wives disappear after responding to newspaper advertisements for specialists in different areas of modern technology, so when a ninth advertisement appears, Agent John Bentall is recalled to London from a mission in Turkey by his superior, Colonel Raine. The advertisements offered high rates of pay to applicants who were married, had no children and were prepared for immediate travel. Bentall, a physicist who specialized in solid rocket fuels and is presently working for the British government on counter espionage, is paired with Marie Hopeman, a secret agent posted in the same job as Bentall in Turkey, assigned to pose as his wife. All eight couples had disappeared in Australia or en route there, and Bentall and Hopeman are themselves kidnapped at a hotel in Fiji. They escape from the kidnappers' schooner to the island of Vardu, a remote extinct volcanic island with a barrier reef in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, which is currently home to Professor Witherspoon, a noted archaeologist. The island has no radio transmitter and the next boat is scheduled to arrive in three weeks. Bentall finds Dr. Witherspoon somewhat sketchy. Bentall discovers Witherspoon is actually LeClerc, the ruthless mastermind behind a plot to steal a British experimental missile, the Dark Crusader, from a secret Royal Navy base on the other side of the island and send it to somewhere in East Asia for nefarious purposes.

Bentall's character displays a stumbling, self-deprecating demeanour and makes mistakes that lead to the pair falling into the trap set by the villains. The story becomes more complicated when Bentall and Hopeman find themselves falling in love as they try to defeat LeClerc. Neither the female secret agent nor the situation are quite as they seem. In the end Bentall chooses between saving Hopeman and preventing the theft of the missile, and finally unravels the last details of the plot with his boss, Colonel Raine back in London.

Reception

The book did not sell as well as earlier MacLean titles and was later reissued under MacLean's name. Film rights were bought by Simon Lewis in 1991 but no movie resulted.^[3]

References

^ The Dark Crusader at Google Books Retrieved 06/03/2013 16:31 UTC
^ Webster, Jack (1991). Alistair MacLean: A Life. Chapmans. pp. 113–115.
^ Webster p 116-117

External links

Book review at AlistairMacLean.com

v t e Works by Alistair MacLean
Novels	HMS Ulysses (1955) The Guns of Navarone (1957) South by Java Head (1957) The Last Frontier (1959) Night Without End (1959) Fear Is the Key (1961) The Dark Crusader (1961) The Golden Rendezvous (1962) The Satan Bug (1962) Ice Station Zebra (1963) When Eight Bells Toll (1966) Where Eagles Dare (1967) Force 10 from Navarone (1968) Puppet on a Chain (1969) Caravan to Vaccarès (1970) Bear Island (1971) The Way to Dusty Death (1973) Breakheart Pass (1974) Circus (1975) The Golden Gate (1976) Seawitch (1977) Goodbye California (1978) Athabasca (1980) River of Death (1981) Partisans (1982) Floodgate (1983) San Andreas (1984) Santorini (1986)
Non-fiction	All About Lawrence of Arabia (1962) Captain Cook (1972)
Screenplays	Where Eagles Dare (1968) Puppet on a Chain (1971) When Eight Bells Toll (1971) Breakheart Pass (1976)
Adaptations	The Guns of Navarone (1961) The Secret Ways (1961) The Satan Bug (1965) Ice Station Zebra (1968) Fear Is the Key (1972) Caravan to Vaccarès (1974) Golden Rendezvous (1977) Force 10 from Navarone (1978) Bear Island (1979) The Hostage Tower (1980) (TV) River of Death (1989) Death Train (1993) (TV) Night Watch (1995) (TV) The Way to Dusty Death (1995) (TV) Air Force One Is Down (2013) (TV)
UNACO novels	The Hostage Tower (1980) (with John Denis) Air Force One Is Down (1981) (with John Denis) Death Train (1989) (with Alastair MacNeill) Night Watch (1990)(with Alastair MacNeill) Red Alert (1990) (with Alastair MacNeill) Time of the Assassins (1991) (with Alastair MacNeill) Dead Halt (1992) (with Alastair MacNeill) Code Breaker (1993) (with Alastair MacNeill) Rendezvous (1995) (with Alastair MacNeill} Prime Target (1997) (with Hugh Miller) Borrowed Time (1998) (with Hugh Miller)
Golden Girl novels	Golden Girl (1992) (with Simon Gandolfi) Golden Web (1993) (with Simon Gandolfi) Golden Vengeance (1994) (with Simon Gandolfi)

This article about a spy novel of the 1960s is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

See guidelines for writing about novels. Further suggestions might be found on the article's talk page.

Categories:

Hidden categories:

Plot

Reception

See also

References

External links