The Enemy Within
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4.2 • 86 Ratings
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- $4.99
Publisher Description
SET TO BE ADAPTED FOR THE SCREEN. Like Michael Connelly’s Bosch, John Bailey will risk everything to get to the truth – and expose a deadly enemy.
Shortlisted for the 2022 Danger Prize.
Shortlisted for the 2022 Ned Kelly Award.
'He heard a voice, someone calling out in the distance, followed by a loud fluttering of birds. Bailey looked up just in time to see a body falling from the sky ...'
Investigative journalist John Bailey is doing his best to turn his life around after losing the woman he loved. He has a new job. He’s given up the drink. He even has a dog.
But then Federal Police raid his home with a warrant granting them unprecedented powers to take anything they want, including all his electronic devices and passwords. When Bailey protests, they threaten to put him in a prison cell.
Someone wants to stop Bailey doing what he does best – exposing the truth. He has been investigating the rise of a global white supremacist group and suspects that a notorious neo-Nazi in the United States has been directing deadly racist attacks on Sydney’s streets.
When the body of one of his key sources washes up on a nearby beach, it’s clear Bailey and anyone helping him have become targets. Bailey reaches out to a ruthless old friend – CIA veteran, Ronnie Johnson – to lure the enemy from the shadows.
An enemy who thought they were untouchable. Until now …
The brilliant third book in Tim Ayliffe’s John Bailey series. Bailey’s adventures in The Enemy Within, State of Fear and The Greater Good are to be adapted for the screen by CJZ Productions, Australia's largest independently owned production company series.
Praise for The Enemy Within:
‘A breathlessly written book, ripped from today’s headlines, this is a cracking read that blurs the line between fact and fiction. More please.’ Michael Robotham
'A cracking yarn told at breakneck speed. I couldn't put it down.' Chris Hammer
‘Sharp, gritty, sophisticated. Ayliffe’s criminal world is terrifyingly real.’ Candice Fox
Praise for State of Fear
‘Another brilliantly crafted thriller from Ayliffe that fits perfectly in today’s worrying world … Verdict: Get this guy on TV.’ Herald Sun
‘Sharp, incisive and scarily prescient, I was hooked from the first chapter to the final page.’ Sara Foster, bestselling author of The Hidden Hours
‘Utterly compelling and terrifyingly timely. I could not put it down.’ Pip Drysdale, bestselling author of The Sunday Girl
‘As a correspondent, I lived this world. Tim Ayliffe has written it.’ Stan Grant, writer and broadcaster
Praise for The Greater Good
‘A brilliantly written character starring in cracking crime thriller.’ Herald Sun
'Ayliffe delivers a taut, nail-biting page-turner, stamping his mark on the modern day Australian thriller.’ Better Reading
‘An absolute cracker of a thriller.’ Chris Uhlmann
Customer Reviews
Brilliant read
Crime drama at its very best. I’m working my way backwards through the author’s 3 published books & am yet to take breath! Fast moving, chapters hinging on the next & next until the Epilogue. Highly recommended & my new favourite author.
Entertaining if not particularly memorable
Author
Australian journalist, who is currently managing editor of television and video for ABC News Australia, and writes novels centred around an “old school” Sydney journalist and former war correspondent once held prisoner by Islamic terrorists in a sandy country far, far away.
Plot
Last time at bat, our boy’s GF was brutally murdered by bad guys in London. He is now back in Sydney, has reunited with his previously estranged daughter (who buys him a rescue greyhound to keep him company), and is working for a news magazine start-up funded by a rapacious billionaire of the type that normally make our boy upchuck. He’s pursuing a story on right wing terrorism of the white supremacist variety, and gets involved personally (as he always does) when an African immigrant gets bashed up after a rally involving an alt-right blowhard visiting from the USA. Bushfire season is in full swing. Sydney’s covered in smoke. Our boy doesn’t hold a hose. Not his job. Too much else to do. Yada, yada. And old flame female news reporter. Our boy’s old mate the CIA agent based in Sydney. Dodgy neighbours, Radicalised youth (white not Islamic), illegal gun importation, our boy thwarts a terrorist attack on Australia Day, then brings big wigs down too. The end.
Writing
Derivative as hell with familiar genre tropes aplenty. Crisp, pacy prose with a decidedly left wing slant.
Bottom line
Entertaining if not particularly memorable. Our hero should really spend more time off the field after head injuries if he hopes to make it volume 4.
Cracker
Love the simple Australian characteristics amongst a fast paced complex storyline.