Enemies

by Richard S. Harris

Starts out like a Hitchcock story. — An innocent man makes a more or less innocent gesture (he sends a mash note to a beautiful woman in a bar) and soon is inadvertently caught up in a plot the KGB has code named 'Goodbye America!" Make your way to the terrific climax of Enemies and shudder." — Newsday —

Genres: Fiction

308 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1979

Reviews

[Richard Clay Stuart · Rating 1 out of 5]

Summary: A 4 star idea with a 2.5 star execution that got clobbered into a 1 star final rating because of the book's terrible ending.

Enemies is a spy thriller from the feel-bad, Jimmy Carter era and it shows. Our protagonist with the rather strange name of Flood is a milquetoast reporter whose defining character trait seems to be rampant, yet consequence-free, alcoholism. On paper, he sounds great: fluent in Russian, graduate of Yale, good looking, winner of the Pulitzer Prize (the author was, if my Googling is correct, a reporter in real life). And yet, he gets nothing but disrespect from every character in the book; of course, that doesn't stop the only three females in the book from wanting to sleep with him, and two of them--sisters no less--actually do. In real life, those ladies wouldn't give this guy the time of day, and that's the first of this book's three giant problems: the protagonist is a loser.

The second problem is that the protagonist's choices don't really matter. This is one of those books where gravity is reversed for the main character; while everyone else falls down, he somehow always falls up.

Finally, the third problem--and it's a showstopper--is the book's terrible ending. Put simply, the author had no idea how to end this book, and it shows. I won't spoil things by going into specifics, but I believe that books should pay off the reader's effort, and this one doesn't.

The sad thing is that this book actually started out with some great ideas, and there are moments--especially very early on--where the main character does some interesting things, but then the author decides to sabotage his hero rather than letting Flood rise to greatness. Maybe the name meant something?

[Rebecca I · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an older book and parts of it reminded me of watching an old movie - you look at the old clothes and cars, and phone booths, etc. and remember bygone days. But much of it is as relevant today as was back then. " You voted against the gun control bill just last month."..."Over three quarters of the American people want a strict national gun law but the gun nuts stop it every time, Flood said, his voice rising in anger. It was an issue he had written about repeatedly, without effect." This was written in 1979, before all the mass shootings and use of semi-automatic weapons on the streets.
It is a murder mystery and a spy tale and was worth the read.

[Gary Emig · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book about 35 years ago when I was 4 :). I only remembered the ending and it was so surprising. Even though the ending wasn't the typical positive spin, I really enjoyed this book. Well-paced and well-written.

[Bobby H · Rating 2 out of 5]

Starts off painstakingly slow. The MC is a the stereotype drunk reporter with a sad back story. He bumbles his way through the book, making mistakes that would have gotten him killed in any other spy thriller. Ending is obvious and lame.

[Bob Box · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read in 1982. Nothing on this book.

[Don Baker · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have never come across a better ending than Richard Harris has weaved in this captivating story.

[Jimmy Lee · Rating 2 out of 5]

Picked this up because I was looking for a thriller / mystery. I got a highly creative - one might say thrilling - premise, a leading character who was completely unsympathetic, and a very unusual ending.

John Flood is a alcoholic Pulitzer Prize-winning newspaperman who wakes up next to a dead woman in an alleyway and discovers, since he's neglected to die from the same poison, he's being framed for her murder. Inadvertently - after sharing a drink - he's been caught up with the woman in a giant KGB plot. And while trying to recover and escape, he's exposed to the details of the appalling "Dosvedanya Project."

Sadly, although he works in the same town he was born in, he has no friends, family, or people he can rely on while on the run from the KGB, police, and whoever else might be after him. Unfortunately he never runs from the bottle; throughout the book he's either craving a drink or actually having one. Whether it's the drink or he's just incompetent (and that Pulitzer Prize was a fluke), Flood keeps making mistakes for which we get to enjoy his self-castigation as he tries to find the murderers, better understand the horrific project, and then reveal their frightening plans to the President of the United States.

I found the plan of the perpetrators highly creative - but improbable from the start relying as it did on the unimpeded flow of massive obscure supplies. John Flood was just plain unlikable, and the story of his wife's death didn't make him any more sympathetic. I nearly put the book down at that point. And the governmental meetings were extremely unusual, as was the ending. Although Richard Harris certainly can string a complete sentence together, I could have skipped this one.

[Amy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Finally able to dig this out of the TBR pile to read it. True Richard Harris in the suspense, though I must admit, a bit dated, what with the cold war and state of technology. How jaded we have become by computers and cell phones!

[Gerald Patrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just picked this book up from a pile someone left at my condo complex. Have to revert back to time before computers and cell phones. Only 85 pages into a 308 page book. So far it's rather intriguing. This book will keep my attention.

[Feliks · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a freight-train paced, seat-of-the-pants actioner with a truly audacious inner-plot which drives it all forward. Shock ending. Memorable!

[Paul Rouleau · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bad Ending

[Chelsea · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh