The Satan Bug (novel)

infobox Book |
name = The Satan Bug
title_orig =
translator =


image_caption = Early US paperback edition cover
author = Alistair MacLean (pseudonym Ian Stuart)
illustrator =
cover_artist =
country = United Kingdom
language = English
series =
genre = Thriller novel
publisher = Collins
release_date = 1962
media_type = Print (Hardback & Paperback)
pages = 256 pp
isbn = NA
preceded_by = The Golden Rendezvous
followed_by = Ice Station Zebra

The Satan Bug is a thriller novel written by Scottish author Alistair MacLean. It was originally published in 1962 under the pseudonym Ian Stuart, and later republished under MacLean's own name.

Plot introduction

Like other of Maclean's works, the plot involves layers of deception, both of the nominal antagonists and of the reader. The first-person narrator, Cavell, is brought in by the Mordon Microbiological Research Establishment (probably based on Porton Down) to investigate the murder of a scientist and the theft of several ampoules of two deadly germ warfare viruses, including the laboratory-conceived, indestructible “Satan Bug”, a derivative of the poliovirus. There is no vaccine and a spoonful is enough to wipe out all of Britain in a week. With these phials of unstoppable power, a mad "environmentalist" threatens the country's population unless Mordon is razed to the ground. Cavell, blind in the left eye and with a bad leg, is a disenchanted British secret agent, former head of security at the lab, is the prime suspect until he clears himself.

It quickly becomes apparent that the break-in was faked from within. As the plot develops, we become aware of a scheme to blackmail the British government by threatening to release the Satan Bug in the City of London. All is revealed at the end as a hoax, designed to cause the City to be evacuated, allowing a criminal gang time to break into and rob major banks. The Satan Bug was never a real threat.

Release details

*1962, UK,
*1962, USA, Scribner's (ISBN NA), Pub date ? ? 1962, hardback

Film, TV or theatrical adaptations

*The Satan Bug - appeared in film in an April 1965 film loosely adapted from the novel and directed by John Sturges, with James Clavell contributing to the screenplay.

External links

* [http://www.alistairmaclean.de/Satan.htm Book review at Alistairmaclean.de (German)]