Book review: 'Kill Your Friends' by John Niven
Don't know why, just thought I'd be sharing some of my thoughts on the odd book or two that I read.
First up, the misadventures of Steven Stelfox in the novel 'Kill Your Friends' by John Niven. There may be some spoilers ahead, but nothing too drastic, and nothing that the title or blurb on the book won't hint at.
I thought that this book was truly amazing. Incredibly well-written, plot so intriguing that I just couldn't put it down. Not a devastatingly complex plot full of twists and turns, but sometimes you just don't want that. And this book didn't really need it. The business dealings of Stelfox don't really require twists and turns. But you are rooting for Stelfox (to your own curiosity and perhaps vague disgust) and so you need to find out whether his latest deal/scheme is going to succeed, and how he is going to maneuver himself out of the tricky situations he finds himself in.
Stelfox is an A&R man in the London music industry of 1997. It's a greedy, luxurious, disgusting and hedonistic lifestyle, with drugs, sex and - literally - rock and roll. Or dance music.
It's a cut-throat industry and Stelfox is well-suited to it. He's one of the best. That is, he's a master at manipulation, with practically no redeeming features, a really nasty piece of work; always managing to ruin everybody else's life, getting them to take the blame without the poor souls even realising what he's doing (as is evident only 19 pages in with the unfortunate case of Rob Hastings) while staying relatively safe himself. And it's a joy to read.
You may find yourself feeling a little uneasy at how much you are enjoying watching this thoroughly awful man's manipulation of everyone and everything, but that is the mastery of this book. I think it's a sign of truly great writing when an author can create the most irredeemable monster of a character, and yet have the readers fiercely rooting for him all the way through. No matter what lengths he stoops to. In this case, the character can murder several people and do something that is - perhaps - even worse to another character. And yet you want this man to succeed. If business isn't going so well for him, you feel frustrated for him, you feel indignant on his behalf of every slight aimed his way. You cheer at his every victory.
Oh yeah, and it's painfully funny, too. There are so many little gems, little one-liners, that had me cackling long after I'd finished the book. And for most of these, you know that you shouldn't be laughing, you know that's it's a terrible thing to say, but it's just so damn funny.
It's like the politics and intrigue of medieval courts or the Roman forum, but in modern day. You've got the power play, shameless manipulation, the effort to stay on top, the betrayal, the victories and the defeats (even Stelfox has a few, but this hardly matters because his stunningly vicious and cruel intellect are established so firmly that you never really have to worry about whether he will come out on top, you have complete confidence in the monster. And it's horribly fun to watch his schemes form in his mind).
If I had to recommend one book of the month, it would be this one. Definitely worth a read, and you'll be so eager to know how things pan out that you'll probably devour the book indecently quickly. Whenever I thought that I really must stop reading at the end of this chapter, I just had to carry on. I'd end up thinking, 'Just a few more pages, that's all.' I finished the book in two days.
First up, the misadventures of Steven Stelfox in the novel 'Kill Your Friends' by John Niven. There may be some spoilers ahead, but nothing too drastic, and nothing that the title or blurb on the book won't hint at.
I thought that this book was truly amazing. Incredibly well-written, plot so intriguing that I just couldn't put it down. Not a devastatingly complex plot full of twists and turns, but sometimes you just don't want that. And this book didn't really need it. The business dealings of Stelfox don't really require twists and turns. But you are rooting for Stelfox (to your own curiosity and perhaps vague disgust) and so you need to find out whether his latest deal/scheme is going to succeed, and how he is going to maneuver himself out of the tricky situations he finds himself in.
Stelfox is an A&R man in the London music industry of 1997. It's a greedy, luxurious, disgusting and hedonistic lifestyle, with drugs, sex and - literally - rock and roll. Or dance music.
It's a cut-throat industry and Stelfox is well-suited to it. He's one of the best. That is, he's a master at manipulation, with practically no redeeming features, a really nasty piece of work; always managing to ruin everybody else's life, getting them to take the blame without the poor souls even realising what he's doing (as is evident only 19 pages in with the unfortunate case of Rob Hastings) while staying relatively safe himself. And it's a joy to read.
You may find yourself feeling a little uneasy at how much you are enjoying watching this thoroughly awful man's manipulation of everyone and everything, but that is the mastery of this book. I think it's a sign of truly great writing when an author can create the most irredeemable monster of a character, and yet have the readers fiercely rooting for him all the way through. No matter what lengths he stoops to. In this case, the character can murder several people and do something that is - perhaps - even worse to another character. And yet you want this man to succeed. If business isn't going so well for him, you feel frustrated for him, you feel indignant on his behalf of every slight aimed his way. You cheer at his every victory.
Oh yeah, and it's painfully funny, too. There are so many little gems, little one-liners, that had me cackling long after I'd finished the book. And for most of these, you know that you shouldn't be laughing, you know that's it's a terrible thing to say, but it's just so damn funny.
It's like the politics and intrigue of medieval courts or the Roman forum, but in modern day. You've got the power play, shameless manipulation, the effort to stay on top, the betrayal, the victories and the defeats (even Stelfox has a few, but this hardly matters because his stunningly vicious and cruel intellect are established so firmly that you never really have to worry about whether he will come out on top, you have complete confidence in the monster. And it's horribly fun to watch his schemes form in his mind).
If I had to recommend one book of the month, it would be this one. Definitely worth a read, and you'll be so eager to know how things pan out that you'll probably devour the book indecently quickly. Whenever I thought that I really must stop reading at the end of this chapter, I just had to carry on. I'd end up thinking, 'Just a few more pages, that's all.' I finished the book in two days.