戦争文学
Lee Child thought the novel was MacLean's best and said it was influential on Child's own writing, saying "Looking back on it, it was a rather hysterical Cold War novel, but it had some of the best-drawn characters I had read in the genre... Even today I can sense MacLean's influence. I learnt a valuable lesson in how to write a hero who is totally full-blooded without going over the top."