( 3 reviews )
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Posted: May 15 2009
After many years (60?) since first reading him I decided to "pig out" on Nevil Shute and bought every available book on Amazon. Terrific selection! And I had not known that his last name is/was "Norway". I learned something new even as I groked Shute. Thanx muchly, Amazon!
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( 5 of 5 found this review helpful ) Posted: Jan 14 2002
I've read it many, many times. The characters are very believable (you will feel as though you have met people like them), and the suspense buildup is managed brilliantly. The ending, though poignant, is superb.About as good a war tale as you can get -- the plot is fast-paced, always developing. No wasted words. This book proves that good war tales can be told without lasping into profanity and gore -- neither of which are used by Shute.As with other Shute books, it is written from the viewpoint of a detached observer to the main tale -- a technique he has used rather well in other books.Read _Most Secret_ once and I guarantee you will never look upon fishing boats or Worcester Sauce in quite the same way.
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( 9 of 9 found this review helpful ) Posted: Mar 5 2000
'Most Secret' is, while not Shute's most famous novel, a very good read about WWII and the lengths to which some men will go to have veangance. The plot entails how a group of soldiers, mostly English, gain control of a French fishing boat, and set about planning to deal out justice to Germans occupying a vital position on the French coast. The climax of the novel conveys just what men will do for their own honor, and the for the salvation of their friends. This is a very good book, perhaps not quite on the level of Shute's others such as 'A Town Like Alice,' but still worth reading once or twice.
