Be My Enemy

A thrilling tale of chaos and survival in the Highlands

Christopher Brookmyre author

Format:Paperback

Publisher:Little, Brown Book Group

Published:27th Jan '05

Should be back in stock very soon

Be My Enemy cover

In this thrilling installment, Jack Parlabane navigates a chaotic team-building weekend that spirals into danger, revealing true character under pressure in Be My Enemy.

In Be My Enemy, Christopher Brookmyre invites readers into a chaotic team-building weekend that takes a sinister turn. Set against the backdrop of the Scottish Highlands, a group of professionals—including lawyers, advertising executives, and even a journalist named Jack Parlabane—embarks on what they believe will be a fun and rejuvenating experience. However, as the weekend unfolds, it quickly becomes apparent that this is no ordinary retreat. With unexpected challenges like stalkers, power outages, and mysterious disappearances, the participants find themselves grappling with their own fears and hidden strengths.

The atmosphere shifts from light-hearted camaraderie to tense survival as the group realizes that they are not just facing the usual team-building exercises. The isolation of the location, with no vehicular access for thirty miles, raises the stakes significantly. As paranoia sets in and the first body is discovered, the tension escalates, forcing the characters to confront not only the external threats but also the darker aspects of their own personalities. In this unpredictable narrative, the line between friend and foe blurs, and survival becomes the ultimate goal.

Be My Enemy is a masterful blend of humor and suspense, showcasing Brookmyre's sharp wit and keen insight into human nature. Readers will find themselves questioning the motives of each character while being entertained by the biting humor that permeates the story. This thrilling tale promises to keep you on the edge of your seat, leaving you with a new perspective on seemingly mundane activities like snooker.

'Ingenious satire.' HEAT 'This is a wickedly funny crime novel.' SUNDAY TIMES 'Satisyingly develops the rare combination of jokes and jolts of which Brookmyre is the finest exponent apart from the American writer Carl Hiaasen.' GUARDIAN 'His dialogue fizzes with energy and wit, and the often gruesome, black humour is unparalleled.' VENUE 'Brookmyre segues from comedy to thriller without missing a beat.' ARENA 'Leaves you breathless with excitement.' DAILY EXPRESS 'Pacy, funny and genuinely thrilling... It's the kind of thing Agatha Christie would have written if she'd been off her tits on manky crack.' TIME OUT 'Christopher Brookmyre is a mischievious satirist, and here he is at his best.' DAILY TELEGRAPH 'As a writer he's a one-man delivery system for witty one-liners, as well as being bitter, cynical, hard-bitten, and pragmatic to boot.' IRISH INDEPENDENT 'The most mischievous white-knuckle writer on the bookshelf' Daily Express 'Sharply satirical and poignantly funny, this is a gripping and highly entertaining read.' Time Out 'Chris Brookmyre is a genius.' Mirror 'Brookmyre has no equal.' Maxim 'Brookmyre is a brilliant satirist...an absolute must read' Punch 'Exhilarating linguistic fluency and keenly subversive intelligence' Scotland on Sunday 'By now, readers know what to expect from the remarkable Mr Brookmyre, and Be My Enemy has all the hallmarks of his caustic wit. The protagonist of his earlier books, the wry Jack Parlabane, makes a welcome reappearance, faced with an intriguing professional problem: he is to take part in a weekend of "corporate teambuilding" in the comfortable surroundings of a secluded estate. But quite what sort of course is this? Jack's instincts as a no-holds-barred hack, skilled at uncovering unpalatable truths, warn him that something unusual is in the offing--but he's not quite prepared for the extremely dangerous sideshow that is to accompany the corporate makeovers. This is wonderfully abrasive stuff, full of the scabrous insights that we read Brookmyre for, and it's good to see ideas shoehorned into the satirically biting prose; while never neglecting the crucial task of keeping us turning those pages, Brookmyre makes some sharp points here; one of them being that we all harbour certain fascist tendencies, stifling a desire to put paid to those who go against us. The Highland country house in Be My Enemy functions as a hot house in which certain ideas along these lines can be explored--and Brookmyre's conclusions are just as likely to upset politically correct leftwingers as they are to ruffle the feathers of staunch conservatives. But don't get the idea that this is any kind of a tract: Brookmyre is a man who knows that ideas in novels must always be at the service of the narrative and that's very much the case here. Jack Parlabane's one-liners are as spot-on as ever, and the juggling of violence and black humour is as precisely judged as we expect from this writer.' - Barry Forshaw, AMAZON.CO.UK REVIEW

ISBN: 9780349116815

Dimensions: 196mm x 130mm x 28mm

Weight: 340g

416 pages