All crime fiction is grim but this was was sad on every front. Nevertheless, I kept turning pages because it was compelling and well-written. ( )

The was a really interesting story. A bit confusing at first, it is 3 different stories and it is told from 3 points of view and in the beginning the stories don’t seem connected. The author also makes the from story to story and the different points of view, not at the chapter level but from paragraph to paragraph.
The story takes place in Cape Town South Africa
And was originally written in Afrikaans.
An alcoholic cop about to lose it all
A prostitute who is ready to give up
A serial killer killing those the justice system should have killed.
Read the book to see how they connect. ( )

Acabado el Apartheid, Thobela Mpayipheli por fin se ha podido refugiar en el anonimato. Vive junto al hijo que ha adoptado, una vez que desde el Gobierno y la Policía le han dejado en paz. Hasta que en una gasolinera su vida se tuerce de nuevo. Hace frente a dos atracadores, pero matan al niño. Detenidos y encarcelados, los dos delincuentes lograrán sin embargo escapar. Thobela, el cazador, el poderoso guerrero xhosa y temido ex agente de la KGB y la Stasi, no se quedará con los brazos cruzados. Huele la sangre y quiere justicia, pero esa otra justicia que poco tiene que ver con la legalidad: la justicia moral, la venganza infinita. Benny Griessel, un inspector al borde del más vergonzante de los castigos: ser expulsado por su mujer a patadas de su propia casa por borracho, deberá impedir que Thobela siga ejecutando a pedófilos y asesinos de niños. Pero el secuestro del hijo de Benny dará un giro a su destino. ¿Y si en vez de entregar a Thobela a cambio, como le piden, se alía con él? La aparición de Christine le dará la respuesta que necesita. A veces la única esperanza posible está teñida de sangre. ¿Pero es necesario?

I was really excited to find another Deon Meyer book... and then supremely disappointed almost as soon as I opened it up and started reading. The story isn't horrible, and a lot of the elements I really liked including the ending, but as a whole it wasn't great. It was also hard to follow since all the separate pieces were distributed in short passages all jumbled together in the first third of the book; it did not flow for me.

My copy clocks in at 406 pages, and it seems like half of them were devoted to Benny Griessel's alcoholism. I guess it makes sense on some level, but I quickly tired of the battles with the bottle and the "I could have been someone" endless mind-chatter and soul searching.

You have to read the book to understand the context, but it wasn’t until page 179 that I found a part I really liked; what I considered to be quintessential Meyer, but maybe I just don't know his writing all that well. In any case, I thought this exchange was great:

"Do me a favor, Doc. Tell him it was the mannequin."

"The mannequin."

"Yes. Tell him the man fell against the mannequin and the mannequin fell on the cash register."

"I will tell him."

"Thanks, Doc," said Griessel, and turned to the commissioner, who nodded and turned away. ( )

Digital audiobook performed by Simon Vance

Book #1 in the Inspector Benny Geissel mystery series, starring the South African detective. There’s a serial killer on the loose; the reader knows it is Thobela Mpayipheli, a man torn by grief over the death of his son who has sworn vengeance by killing those who have harmed children. A second thread involves Christine Van Rooyen, a sex worker with a need to confess. And then there’s Benny and his alcoholism; at the outset he awakens to find his wife standing over him with a packed suitcase – she gives him six months to sober up, or get out of the family’s life forever.

Knowing who the serial killer is does nothing to lessen the tension and suspense in this novel. Benny is such a flawed character and watching him try to make sense of his life and keep away from the bottle while he tracks the serial killer and becomes ensnared in the mystery Christine weaves had me backtracking and re-reading sections to try to make sense of what was happening. Meyer does a great job of adding layers to an already complicated plot. And the final chapters are a wild ride!

The audio version is performed by Simon Vance. Need I say more? ( )