Floodgate(novel)
 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification.(September 2018) |
 First edition cover (UK) | |
| Author | Alistair MacLean |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Genre | Thriller novel |
| Publisher | Collins(UK) Doubleday(US) |
Publication date | 1983 |
| Publication place | United Kingdom |
| Media type | Print (Hardback&Paperback) |
| Pages | 310 pp |
| ISBN | 0-00-222754-1 |
| Preceded by | Partisans |
| Followed by | San Andreas |
Floodgateis anovel by ScottishauthorAlistair MacLean,first published in1983.[1]
It is a rare example of inter-novel continuity in MacLean's writing, as one of the characters in his previous novelPuppet on a Chainmakes a re-appearance.
Plot introduction
[edit]A mysterious terrorist organization known as the "FFF" has detonated a mine which bursts dykes in the Netherlands and caused massive flooding ofAmsterdam'sSchiphol Airport.Unless their demands are met (i.e. immediate withdrawal of all British military forces fromNorthern Ireland), they threaten to detonate more mines, flooding Holland beneath a wall of water from theNorth Sea.
Colonel van de Graaf, the Amsterdam Chief of Police, puts Detective Lieutenant Peter van Effen, a man with a sardonic sense of humor and many hidden talents, in charge of the investigation. Lieutenant van Effen is also an undercover operative with connections to a Dutch criminal gang; posing as a criminal explosives expert and with the help of fellow undercover officers Vasco (as a corrupt Dutch Army officer) and George (as a black market arms dealer), he sets out to infiltrate the FFF and sabotage their plans one way or another. Matters, however, take an unexpected and dangerous turn when van Effen's sister Julie and Annemarie Meijer (an undercover policewoman and the daughter of a powerful Dutch industrialist) are kidnapped and held hostage by the FFF.
Note
[edit]Remarkably, in the Dutch translation of the book (Hoogwater),[2]the plot has been changed and Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport had not been flooded. In the Dutch version only aFokker Friendshipis destroyed on the runway.[3]
References
[edit]- ^Bloody Sunday Williams, Nick B. Los Angeles Times 6 May 1984: q7.
- ^Alistair MacLean, Hoogwater, 1984, Amsterdam, Elsevier, 237 pag.,ISBN90-10-04871-3.
- ^Flooding of Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport (in Dutch); Website:http://www.schipholwanbeleid.nl/?sid=70&nid=703Archived2011-07-24 at theWayback Machine
External links
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