The First Friend

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.


Longlisted for the 2025 Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction


'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 


'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


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


'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