Fear Is the Key

Fear Is the Key is a 1961 thriller novel by Scottish author Alistair MacLean, and a 1972 British film based upon it.

Plot introduction

In the prologue, set in May 1958, Talbot, owner of "Trans Carib Air Charter Co" was in radio contact with one of his planes en route to Tampa, Florida, as it is being shot down by an American military plane. This resulted in the death of Talbot's family.

Two years later, Talbot has apparently turned to a life of crime, for which he is now facing sentencing in a courtroom. He escapes, taking a young woman hostage. A reward is put out on his head, and he is captured by a thug who turns him in to the hostage's father. Instead of turning him over to the police, however, the father hires him for some not entirely legitimate tasks. The father, it turns out, has been consorting with some shady characters including a born killer. The story becomes straight action with car chases, gunfights, the mafia, a beautiful woman, mysterious doings aboard an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico, and a sunken DC-3 at the bottom of ocean with a secret treasure, as Talbot searched for answers to his long quest to find the murderers of his family. In typically MacLean style, the reader comes to find that nothing in this complicated plot is quite as it seems. In addition to a clever story, the level of tension is pitched extremely high. There is scarcely a let up from the action until reaching a gripping climax.

Film, TV or theatrical adaptations

Fear Is the Key appeared in film in a 1972 release directed by Michael Tuchner. The protagonist, Talbot, was played by Barry Newman, and the millionaire's daughter Mary Ruthven by Suzy Kendall. The movie features a soundtrack by Roy Budd.