High Risk: A True Story of the SAS, Drugs, and Other Bad Behaviour

by Ben Timberlake

This is a dark, raw and uncompromising tale of the human condition in extremis, drawing on the many lives of Ben as an archaeologist, Special Forces soldier, combat medic and drug addict.

Starting with Ben's first near-death experience--in a Nazi-themed bar in wartime Yugoslavia--High Risk is a whirlwind tour of everything from service in the SAS, combat in Iraq, and encounters with a gambling-obsessed 9/11 hijacker, to veterans blissed out on MDMA, hook-ups in the world of extreme sex, and battling a heroin habit on a remote Scottish island.

Ben pursued the rush, and the chase often took him over the edge. Instead of asking why, he asked, why not? Blending confessional narrative, classic reportage and acerbic humour, this memoir takes a gonzo look at terrorists, junkies, soldiers and strippers, through the tale of one extraordinary life.

Genres: Biography, Audiobook, Nonfiction, Military Fiction, History

311 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 1, 2021

Reviews

[Vicky · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s not often I am compelled to write a review, but this book blew my mind.
As someone who’s interests lie in psychology, extreme behaviour and sub cultures, and lives 5 mins away from the SAS base in Hereford, this book seemed right up my street. I wasn’t wrong.
I’m always looking for something to shock me, and even though many events in the book didn’t (mainly his accurate picture of Herefordian nightlife!), the lengths that he went to to satisfy his quest for excitement and risk were incredible/stupid/brave/insane.
This is a well written, well researched, intelligent book. Some of the more complex concepts are beautifully illustrated and explained without being dumbed down, which isn’t easy to achieve.
This a book that will stay with me for some time. My advice? Read it.

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book everyone should read

This is not your typical book about heroes and adventure. It’s about what drives us humans to do beautiful and stupid things told by a person’s journey through addiction and…maybe…redemption and something more.

[Anthony Lesurf · Rating 4 out of 5]

According to the book’s cover blurb, Ben Timberlake has been an archaeologist, Special Forces soldier (21 SAS), combat medic and drug addict. He is now also a writer: by all accounts, he touted his book around a number of publishers before it found a home at Hurst, but they all wanted him to write the standard macho ‘who dares wins’ Jason Fox, Ant Middleton style ‘hard man at war’ self-help book. This isn’t that—although it is a self-help book in its own way, just not that way. If you’re looking for that I wouldn’t bother with this book—there’s a short piece about an incident when he was a young ‘war tourist’ in a bar in the Balkans during the nineties, where he had a pistol shoved in his mouth, and another about a stint in Iraq, which feels a little aimless after his U.S Army sponsors (COIN specialists Travis Patriquin and Megan McClung) are killed the day before his arrival, which maybe accounts for how he ends up on a roof in Ramadi with a bunch of young US Marines dropping ecstasy on Christmas eve, and another where he is chased, high on crystal meth, through an unnamed middle eastern town by an angry crowd of locals.

In essence, High Risk is about addiction. It’s about Adrenaline, Endorphins and Dopamine, whether through action and pain, flow and game, BDSM, or drug addiction: mainly the author’s journey through SAS selection and then his own heroin and meth addictions and back.

The first thing I will say is that Timberlake is a really good writer and very well read: the research he’s included into the neuroscience of fear and addiction is brilliant—plus anyone quoting Bukowski and Musashi is a writer after my own heart.

In all, the book is filled with a strange mixture of fascinating yet somehow not quite relevant stories—one chapter discusses his relationship with an old veteran who tells a story of murdering his own officers in some far off colony, as well as his meetings with the now-deceased antiquities collector George Ortiz, that doesn’t really come to anything (a common theme in the book) and doesn’t appear to me to add anything to the narrative—although we learn that Timberlake not only dates very beautiful women, mainly strippers and BDSM specialists, but also wears nice expensive clothing: Balmain linen trousers, blue Voyage shirt and raw silk and linen jacket by Dunhill; coincidences--such as him and his friends bugging a tramps bench in the middle of London for fun and him later, an addict, ending up on the same bench; and a few unlikely scenarios--is it just me or did it seem unlikely that Niaz, the blown Jihadi, was going to be of any use in tracking down al-Qaeda dirty bombs.

Despite my natural cynicism, I thoroughly enjoyed reading the book and think that Timberlake is a natural gonzo warrior poet. I really hope that the book is all true.

[Jen Surname · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s a difficult book to review because it covers so much. I liked the author’s language and intelligence and some of his recollections as documented here are absolutely interesting and sometimes incredible.

I can’t quite put my finger on why I’m giving it three stars and not four. The author is very open right from the beginning - he told us what to expect, what not to expect, and that he’s an asshole. He was right on all counts.

But he’s a interesting asshole and his words are very often thought provoking, and I like that.
Without a doubt he’s documented a life that has been lived.

[Eric Banks · Rating 2 out of 5]

An ok book, usually my thing but found it difficult to finish and the narrative a bit waffley

[Hayley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, we really went all over the place with this one. Interesting insight into Heroin and meth.
Interesting and curious guy.
Really enjoyed this book.

[Will Hearn · Rating 2 out of 5]

The story would have been better if he removed about half of the heroin addiction descriptions. They were often flowery and sometimes pretty, but became superfluous. The part of the story that I enjoyed the most was his describing of the flow state and even some of his descriptions of getting high and his withdrawals. Just personally believe there was too much time spent in the throws of addiction. His explanations afterward were very solid, as we're his descriptions of places. I'm much more of a fiction person, so it's not quite fair of me, but I found the narrative flat, especially while he was repeating his descriptions of what it's like to either be high, be trying to get high, or trying to get over his constant need to get high. Kind of like reading that last sentence I wrote, I was just ready for it to be over.

[Tristan William · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, this book was amazing in so many ways and I think that the best part was the way that it helped me understand PTG. In a world of what just seems like pain, it gives life a glimpse of hope to know that trauma can help you grow. Next up is to find the book Ben Timberlake suggested for human growth by Abraham H. Maslow

[David Lillico · Rating 4 out of 5]

When you chase euphoria you have to go further and harder each time and there is only so far you can go. Great story, great characters, am glad it happened to someone else

[Sally Walker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stellar. Deeply disturbing in places; lyrical and sometimes savagely beautiful writing. A must read.

[Conor Spence · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Jim Fleming · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars for commitment to the heroin etc.

[Veli-Pekka Suuronen · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's difficult to even review, as this was probably the most brutally honest book I have read or listened to at least in a long time. The writing and events were equally captivating. Rarely have I felt such a suspense and relief and got to live through things being thankful at the same time that it's just a book and I don't need to do the things myself. 6/5