From the author of Thirteen Hours – A Sunday Times ‘100 best crime novels and thrillers since 1945’ pick
The former freedom fighter known as ‘Tiny’ has finally achieved his dream of a peaceful life. But then his beloved son is taken away from him. In that moment, he unleashes himself upon a corrupt South Africa. His victims are those guilty of crimes against children.
He goes by the name of Artemis.
Benny Griessel, a fading policeman on the brink of losing his job, family and self-respect, is assigned the case. Benny knows that this is his last chance – both his career and the safety of Cape Town are on the line.
But then Benny meets Christine, a young mother working as a prostitute, and something happens that is so terrifying that the world will never be the same again for Benny, for Christine, or for Tiny.
The former freedom fighter known as ‘Tiny’ has finally achieved his dream of a peaceful life. But then his beloved son is taken away from him. In that moment, he unleashes himself upon a corrupt South Africa. His victims are those guilty of crimes against children.
He goes by the name of Artemis.
Benny Griessel, a fading policeman on the brink of losing his job, family and self-respect, is assigned the case. Benny knows that this is his last chance – both his career and the safety of Cape Town are on the line.
But then Benny meets Christine, a young mother working as a prostitute, and something happens that is so terrifying that the world will never be the same again for Benny, for Christine, or for Tiny.
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Reviews
With Deon Meyer you can't go wrong. He's a writer whose work I admire, wait for and then devour.
If you want a glimpse of the soul of the new South Africa in all its glory, and with all the gory details of its problems and corruption, Meyer is your man . . . I marvelled at the intricacy of the plotting . . . and I was stunned by a dénouement of awesome power and accomplishment.
Moving, expertly constructed story of a broken man's redemption.
A fascinating portrayal . . . a black, assegai-wielding former freedom fighter who turns into a vigilante and goes on a killing spree; a high-class tart; and a policeman who drinks to drown the sceaming that's waiting inside his head . . . gripping, shocking . . . Highly recommended.
It makes [Cape Town] come alive with a breathless urgency that recalls the 1940s Los Angeles of Dashiel Hammet or Raymond Chandler: a bit mad, a bit bad, a bit dangerous, but exotically vibrant, a society in adolescence. If it can produce popular literature as good as this, the new South Africa has a lot going for it . . . Deon Meyer [is] one of the sharpest and most perceptive thriller writers around.
DEVIL'S PEAK is tough in-your-face crime writing that spares nothing in language, visceral scenes of blood and mayhem (for Meyer is adroit at choreographing descriptions of slaughter), and never waivers from the compelling pace of the story. It also has a mean line in humour that comes through in the snappy dialogue.
Deon Meyer, who writes in Afrikaans, portrays a world of terrifying uncertainty, in which those who fought for liberation from apartheid are having to come to terms with the knowledge that freedom is not enough to wipe out cruelty. A thoughtful and exciting novel.
Meyer is a gifted writer . . . believable and disturbing.
