First Friend

Nick Day's Review 

'Crackling with energy, irony, wit and terror, The First Friend is a timely and cautionary reminder of the stifling, murderous logic of strong man politics.' - Tim Winton

'Bleak, intelligent and fearsomely well-researched - I kept telling myself I shouldn't laugh, but couldn't help it.' - Michael Robotham

Born at the end of the Russian Empire in Georgia, Lavrentiy Pavlovich Beria joined the Communist Party in 1917 and played a major role in revolutionary activities throughout Azerbaijan and Georgia. By 1921, he was heavily involved in intelligence and counterintelligence, and eventually rose to become the leader of the infamous Cheka (secret police) in his home country. He became the Party Boss of the Transcaucasian republics in 1932 and oversaw the political purges across Georgia during what became known as the Great Purge. He was eventually promoted to the head of the NKVD, becoming one of fellow Georgian Josef Stalin’s most influential secret police chiefs.

Fast forward to 1938: Malcolm Knox’s book begins with Vasil Anastasvili Murtov, Beria’s stepbrother and best friend, in a world where the term “friend” has dubious connotations - and allegiance is to the state, not to your family. As Babilini, Murtov’s wife, declares: “Children love The Steel One most of all and me second.” The book slowly pulls back the curtain on the last 40 days of Murtov’s life, and his fictionalised relationship with Beria. The tension between the married couple is palpable, as Murtov uses his relationship with Beria to protect his family. But at what cost? 

While I acknowledge that some readers might find the book amusing, I felt intensely the tragedy of what unfolds. You have to ask: has Russia not learned anything from its history of despots, from the Tsars to the likes of Stalin, Beria and now Vladimir Putin. Malcolm Knox’s latest book feels like allegory for Vladimir Putin’s modern-day Russia, its long tyrannical shadow falling across Eastern Europe once again. The Kulaks of Ukraine are already suffering from another Great Purge, and Beria’s home state is once again in the crosshairs of Moscow.

This book is very much a book for and of our times. Highly recommended.

Publisher's Review 

A tour de force set in 1938 Stalin Soviet Union, this chilling black comedy it is at once a satire and a thriller, a survivor's tale in which a father has to walk a tightrope every day to save his family from a monster and a monstrous society.

'Razor-sharp, wildly imaginative, bold, brilliant and often as dark as the inside of a coffin. Another triumph from a truly extraordinary writer.' - Trent Dalton

'The First Friend is not just a cracking read, it's a masterclass in Machiavellian manoeuvres. This is a magnificent piece of gallows humour, bitingly funny and horrifyingly grim at the same time.' - Kate McClymont

'Shocking, distressing and, yes, discomfortingly hilarious, The First Friend rocks and rolls through the paranoia, and the maniacal and murderous egomania, in the aftermath of the Great Terror. It is nothing less than Amisian in ambition and achievement.' - Paul Daley

'A witty, absorbing and at times disturbing depiction of the banalities of horror. We know what's coming but can't turn away. Malcolm Knox has hit on a great idea and delivered a wonderful book: A gripping black comedy that is both a reflection on the past and a warning for the future.' Michael Brissenden

Even the worst person has a best friend.

A chilling black comedy, The First Friend imagines a gangster mob in charge of a global superpower.

The Soviet Union 1938: Lavrentiy Beria, 'The Boss' of the Georgian republic, nervously prepares a Black Sea resort for a visit from 'The Boss of Bosses', his fellow Georgian Josef Stalin. Under escalating pressure from enemies and allies alike, Beria slowly but surely descends into murderous paranoia.

By his side is Vasil Murtov, Beria's closest friend since childhood. But to be a witness is dangerous; Murtov must protect his family and play his own game of survival while remaining outwardly loyal to an increasingly unstable Beria. The tension ramps up as Stalin's visit and the inevitable bloodbath approaches. Is Murtov playing Beria, or is he being played?

The First Friend is a novel in a time of autocrats, where reality is a fiction created by those who rule. Reflecting on Putin's Russia, Trump's America, Xi's China and Murdoch's planet Earth, it is at once a satire and a thriller, a survivor's tale in which a father has to walk a tightrope every day to save his family from a monster and a monstrous society. Where safety lies in following official fictions, is a truthful life the ultimate risk?

'Sydney-based Knox is a writer who is unafraid to dip his toe in uncharted waters. This historical tragicomedy about the inevitability, relentlessness and banality of evil is one of his best books yet.' - Stephen Romei, The Australian