It was written in Mexico, where MacLean would not be taxed by US authorities.[2] The book deviates from MacLean's usual mystery/drama formula in that it is almost all action, with no mystery and no "traitor amongst them" sub-plot.
The book was a best seller.[3] The New York Times review said MacLean "stumbles badly".[4]
Plot introduction
Lord Worth, ruthless and fabulously wealthy, has made a lot of enemies in the oil business. His new offshore tension-leg platform oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico, named Seawitch, is one of the biggest in the world, the only one of its kind, and will put his competitors out of business. To destroy it and therefore be able to inflate the price of oil at will, the competitors get together and send one man to deal with Lord Worth. The villain has a personal score to settle with Worth and kidnaps his daughters. But Lord Worth's daughters are betrothed to the protagonists, Mitchell and Roomer, two former police detectives, now private investigators. They set trying to save Worth and his daughters from certain death, as the villain intends to leave them on Seawitch when he destroys it with a stolen nuclear weapon.
References
^Liebman, Walter H. (10 October 1977). "Blood, Love and Adventure On an Offshore Oil Rig". Barron's National Business and Financial Weekly. p. 43.
^Webster, Jack (1991). Alistair MacLean: A Life. Chapmans. p. 208.
^"Paperback Best Sellers: MASS MARKET TRADE". New York Times. 6 August 1978. p. BR8.
^TOM BUCKLEY (23 October 1977). "Three Thrillers". New York Times. p. BR7.
