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Meyer, Deon - 'Devil's Peak' (Unabridged Audiobook) read by Saul Reichlin (translated by K L Seegers)
Audio CD (Feb. 2008) Publisher: Whole Story Audio Books ISBN: 9781407422701

DEVIL'S PEAK is the fourth and latest in a 'loose' series set in Cape Town where a character from one book may appear briefly or take the major role in another. For example, Matt Joubert, the lead character in DEAD BEFORE DYING plays a supporting role in DEVIL'S PEAK.

DEVIL'S PEAK is the story of three unrelated people whose personal circumstances lead them to cross paths; Christine van Rooyen a beautiful Afrikaans woman who turns to prostitution and will do anything to protect her child; Benny Griessel, also Afrikaans, an alcoholic policeman whose wife has kicked him out of their home and given him six months to get sober and Thobela Mpayipheli, former freedom fighter, trained by the KGB, who becomes an avenging angel.

Thobela aka 'Tiny' is trying to have a normal life with his adopted son when a run-in with armed robbers at a petrol station leaves his son dead and him devastated. The murderers are caught, but the trial starts to go wrong when Tiny's past is brought up and things go from bad to worse when the two men escape custody. Tiny decides to track them down. Along the way though, he begins to get a calling when he sees how many children are abused or killed and how their attackers go unpunished. Buying a traditional spear, an assagai, he exacts revenge on those untouched by legal justice. He soon becomes known in the media as Artemis. Benny, a talented police officer when not drunk is put in charge of the Artemis case and both Benny and Tiny's lives will cross with Christine's when she has reason to call in the police.

DEVIL'S PEAK is absolutely absorbing. The story rotates between the three main characters and you just want to hear what comes next for each of them. Deon Meyer gives the reader a look at modern South Africa and the tensions that exist. It's an intricately woven tale which lingers in the mind afterwards and left me wanting to know what happens next to Benny and his family. I'd recommend this book to almost everyone (the exception being those who don't like lots of swearing and occasional violence in their books). I think this is an exceptional book and I was disappointed that it wasn't short-listed for this year's International Dagger award.

As well as being well written, it is splendidly performed by Saul Reichlin. Reichlin is also South African and his accent adds another layer of verisimilitude to the tale. He uses many different voices and it's easy to tell who is speaking and he's equally at home with the female voices. Indeed, the new Audible Sounds of Crime prize for the unabridged crime audiobook of the year was recently awarded to Saul Reichlin and David Hewson for the latter's THE SEVENTH SACRAMENT.

Karen Meek, England
June 2008

Karen blogs at
Euro Crime.

More crime fiction reviews can be found on the Reviews page.



last updated 8/02/2009 20:06