The Enemy [Paperback]

Desmond Bagley (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1985

This series of readers is aimed at students at 6 levels from elementary to advanced. All stages have exercises for classroom or private use, plus a glossary to help with vocabulary. This thriller, at advanced level, concerns a man victimized by a sinister stranger.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Desmond Bagley was born in 1923, in Kendal, a rural town in England's scenic Lake District. He left school aged fourteen and worked for a number of years in the aircraft industry before embarking on an adventure - travelling to South Africa by road and supporting himself along the way by working in gold and asbestos mines. Bagley spent the Fifties in South Africa, working as a freelance journalist and critic, before moving to Italy with his wife, Margaret, and then to Guernsey. His first novel, The Golden Keel, was based on a true story overheard by Bagley in a bar in Johannesburg, about Mussolini's vast personal riches and the men who went looking for it. It was published in 1963 to great acclaim and followed by a further fifteen popular adventure ovels. Bgley's career spanned two decades and his influence can be seen in the work of several highly respected thriller writers. When he died, in 1983, his final novel, Juggernaut, was completed by his wife. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 255 pages
• Publisher: Harpercollins; 1st Perennial Library ed edition (September 1985)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060807725
• ISBN-13: 978-0060807726
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,696,355 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Some great ideas, but not that well executed, October 21, 2009

By 

H. Jin (Melbourne, Australia) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Enemy (Paperback)

At first, 'The Enemy' appears to be another of Bagley's intruiging thrillers. It starts of well: wealthy industrialist George Ashton flees the country when one of his daughters is scarred in an acid attack, and industrial espionage agent Malcolm Jaggard is sent to find him. Jaggard, engaged to another of Ashton's daughters, soon discovers a variety of secrets about Ashton, his research, and his associates.

It's a solid basis for a thriller, with a number of interconnected side-plots involving Ashton's past, inter-departmental infighting, and secret scientific research. However, 'The Enemy' doesn't really follow through on any of these. The book employs a number of twists which seem clever at first, but actually mean the various sub-plots end up either fizzing out or abruptly ending. So what you thought was a complex interlocking story turns out to be a collection of unrelated blind alleys and red herrings. The main story thread is actually something quite different from what is expected, and has little direct connection to what we believed was the central plot.

The book is also surprisingly preachy, especially toward the end, which is not something seen in Bagley's other thrillers. There were a few half-hearted "we must walk carefully" sentiments in a few of his early books, but nothing like what is seen here. True, it does give the ending a bit of an extra kick, but it seems a bit misguided. Possibly this is because the thing being preached against doesn't become significant until the end of the book.

'The Enemy' is not a bad book. Just not quite up to the standard of Bagley's best. There are some good ideas in there, but they are not handled as well as they could have been.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It twists and turns., August 25, 2007

By 

S. Forseth - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Enemy (Paperback)

I really like this book. It has a lot of unexpected twists and it is exciting to the end. On of my favourite Bagley books. Among the top 5 I would say.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A terrible ending, July 10, 2007

By 

anthony colin (TN) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Enemy (Paperback)

What? The hero does not sail off into the sunset in triump? Realistic perhaps but certainly not satisfying. In all my years of reading I've never encountered such an ending.