High Risk

This is a dark, raw and uncompromising tale of the human condition in extremis, drawing on the many lives of Ben Timberlake: as an archaeologist, Special Forces soldier, combat medic and drug addict.

Starting with Ben's first near-death experience - in a Nazi-themed bar in wartime Yugoslavia - High Risk is a whirlwind tour of everything from service in the SAS, combat in Iraq, and encounters with a gambling-obsessed 9/11 hijacker, to veterans blissed out on MDMA, hook-ups in the world of extreme sex, and battling a heroin habit on a remote Scottish island.

Ben pursued the rush, and the chase often took him over the edge. Instead of asking why, he asked, why not? Blending confessional narrative, classic reportage and acerbic humour, this memoir takes a gonzo look at terrorists, junkies, soldiers and strippers, through the tale of one extraordinary life.

'[Timberlake's] powers as both observer and writer make the journey utterly compelling...It's rare to nd a book like this where the writing is just as exhilarating as the thrills. It is dark, visceral, clever and very funny. Boy's Own with brains.' - Justin Marozzi, The Sunday Times

'Funny, chaotic but unexpectedly profound, [High Risk] provides not just a clear-eyed memoir of addiction, but an examination of human behaviour and the reasons why some people choose to put themselves in situations that most others would not.' - Times Magazine

'While publisher after publisher wanted him to tell an Andy McNab style story of hard men at war, Timberlake went his own way, writing a book that is as profound as it is eye-popping.' - Vice

'Full of scintillating prose and postmodern ruminations that explore topics ranging from the hive mind flow state of US Marines bounding through the city's hostile streets to...the unfathomable beauty of dropping ecstasy on a Ramadi rooftop at Christmas.' - Coffee or Die

'A damn scary book so of course I loved it. Ben Timberlake makes a neurobiological experiment in a laboratory that I'd advise everyone to stay out of-the self. High Risk is, in a way, the story of a wicked Mr Hyde inventing a serum to transform himself into a reputable Dr Jekyll. Let's hope the serum keeps working.' - P.J. O'Rourke, author of Give War a Chance and Holidays in Hell