by Deon Meyer. When Emma le Roux, a wealthy Cape Town advertising consultant, sees a TV photo of a man wanted for murder, she believes it is her brother, who disappeared 20 years earlier in Kruger National Park. After barely eluding three armed thugs who invade her house, she hires Lemer, a professional bodyguard. In ten years he's never lost a client, so when Emma is shot and left in a coma, Lemer seeks revenge. This leads to encounters in the veld with game rangers, more deaths, and angry police and officials in high places who go to extremes to prevent his discovering decades-old secrets. Like fellow South African crime writer James McClure, Meyer (Heart of the Hunter) is skilled at creating memorable black and white characters while also bluntly depicting the violent past that affects modern South Africa. In his fifth novel, he draws on his experience as a reporter to present striking characters and vivid African settings and to provide an honest look at South Africa's troubled political history. VERDICT Full of page-turning tension, this will strongly appeal to mystery and suspense fans seeking intelligent, hard-boiled action. Readers who like their crime fiction in exotic locations may also enjoy this excellent thriller. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 5/15/09; a best seller in South Africa and Germany, Blood Safari won the Inaugural ATKV (South Africa) Prize for Best Suspense Fiction. —Library Journal (Check catalog)
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Blood safari.
by Deon Meyer. When Emma le Roux, a wealthy Cape Town advertising consultant, sees a TV photo of a man wanted for murder, she believes it is her brother, who disappeared 20 years earlier in Kruger National Park. After barely eluding three armed thugs who invade her house, she hires Lemer, a professional bodyguard. In ten years he's never lost a client, so when Emma is shot and left in a coma, Lemer seeks revenge. This leads to encounters in the veld with game rangers, more deaths, and angry police and officials in high places who go to extremes to prevent his discovering decades-old secrets. Like fellow South African crime writer James McClure, Meyer (Heart of the Hunter) is skilled at creating memorable black and white characters while also bluntly depicting the violent past that affects modern South Africa. In his fifth novel, he draws on his experience as a reporter to present striking characters and vivid African settings and to provide an honest look at South Africa's troubled political history. VERDICT Full of page-turning tension, this will strongly appeal to mystery and suspense fans seeking intelligent, hard-boiled action. Readers who like their crime fiction in exotic locations may also enjoy this excellent thriller. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 5/15/09; a best seller in South Africa and Germany, Blood Safari won the Inaugural ATKV (South Africa) Prize for Best Suspense Fiction. —Library Journal (Check catalog)
