A harder book to get through than reading Devils Peak. The book is kafkaesque, and the African names get a bit confusing, but the writing is once again excellent and a very interesting story. ( )

Thobela "Tiny" Mpayipheli is my favorite kind of character. I totally fell in love with Stieg Larsson's Lisbeth Salander because she is an unassuming and somewhat invisible character, but underneath that facade is a complete and total badass. Tiny is a male version. They each are the proverbial "lone wolf" who have few real friends - if any - so no one really knows them or understands what makes them tick. Similarly few if any know their true skill sets. But those skill sets, when applied, are second to none. They may be violent, but when they need to take care of business, they never back down and it is still a thing of beauty.

The other analogy is like the old Louis L'Amour Westerns where the hero never goes looking for trouble, but somehow trouble always finds them. And when you are the complete and total badass, when trouble finds you, trouble is in trouble. Thobela, like Salander, just wants to be left alone, but nope, not going to happen. So we are left with a situation brewing along the lines: "don’t make me do this...." Oops, too late now.

I thought the story within Heart of the Hunter was just okay. Half was the actual story, and the other half was about Tiny (I liked all of the latter). This book has got kind of a Kevin Costner "No Way Out" storyline. Lots of unknowns and intrigue and misdirection, who is good or bad or what was once bad is now good and good is now bad, friends and enemies and frienemies boomerang on every page, page after page. It's good or good enough, but I didn't think it was great; maybe somehow too much, probable but too much of a stretch.

There were some, well, not exactly funny parts because people were dying, but still humorous elements with the media coverage and the motorcycle folks and even the special military unit hunting Tiny down. And Orlando Arendse was nothing short of awesome. But mostly a bunch of bad stuff happens, and little or no good stuff; I prefer it the other way around, or at least one should balance the other. In my opinion, far too few of the baddies were held to account for a satisfactory conclusion; neither the law nor street justice prevailed to the degree they should have. ( )

Dit was lekker om weer 'n boek in Afrikaans te lees. Dit het so rukkie gevat om weer gewoond te raak daaraan, maar toe dit lekker om so 'n storie van ons mense en plekke in my taal te lees... ( )

Tiny Mpayipheli wants nothing more than to live out the rest of his life with his wife and stepson. He is a good man. His plan is to save enough to purchase some land and farm. But he has a past and when he gets a message from an old friend to bring him a hard drive, it seems like an easy task. Unfortunately the drive contains information that may or may not be bait in international game of spies. Soon everyone is after him and he is trying to stay loyal to his new life and his friend. That may not be possible.

This is a terrific book. It's a real page turner but with heart and feeling for the people and country of South Africa. It's also an examination of good and evil.

Some passges:

But disillusionment followed, not suddenly or dramatically—the small realities slowly took over uninvited. The realization that people are an unreliable, dishonest, self-centered, self-absorbed, backstabbing, violent, sly species that lie, cheat, murder, rape, and steal, regardless of their status, nationality, or color. It was a gradual but often traumatic process for someone who wished only to see good and beauty.

“That is my problem with the media, Miss Healy. You want to press people into packages, that is all there is time and space for. Labels. But you can’t label people. We are not all good or bad. There is a bit of both in all of us. No. There is a lot of both in all of us.”

And he had said: “You know, whitey, it sounds like the new excuse to me. All the great troubles of the world have been done in the name of one or other excuse. Christianization, colonialism, herrenvolk, communism, apartheid, democracy, and now evolution. Or is it genetics? Excuses, just another reason to do as we wish. I am tired of it all. Finished with that. I am tired of my own excuses and the excuses of other people. I am taking responsibility for what I do now. Without excuse. I have choices; you have choices. About how we will live. That’s all. That’s all we can choose. Fuck excuses. ( )

Thobela Mpayipheli has settled into a sedate but rewarding life with the woman he loves - until an ex-boss asks him to perform a dangerous favor. His Xhosa warrior's heart racing, Thobela soon finds himself driving hard toward Nigeria with a hard drive full of secrets the unified government wishes to file away for good. HARD