Blood Safari

December 20, 2010
Simon Vance provides an assortment of authentic-sounding Afrikaans accents (think Scottish with a Germanic edge) for this first-class thriller that manages to include South African history and musings on apartheid and the environment without losing a beat of its feverish pacing. Meyer's novel is essentially one relentless chase across South Africa, with hard-boiled bodyguard Martin Lemmer and his beautiful client, Emma le Roux, on the run from a team of paramilitary killers possibly hired by her brother. For Lemmer, the book's narrator, Vance uses a tough, terse delivery that nails the character as a South African version of Lee Child's Jack Reacher. And he's just as on target in crafting variations of his accent for the rest of the cast. Men, women, white, black, friends and foes, Vance has their vocal number. An Atlantic Monthly hardcover.

Starred review from January 1, 2011

A South African bodyguard assigned to a beautiful young Afrikaner woman looking for a brother long thought dead wonders why she even needs protection--until a shocking act of violence thrusts him into a world of almost unimaginable greed and intrigue. In this taut thriller, celebrated crime novelist Meyer (www.deonmeyer.com) takes his characters into South Africa's game reserves. Though the book does contain scenes of brutal violence, its lurid-sounding title is misleading; it might more accurately be described as a journey into the troubled psychology of postapartheid South Africa. Ably narrated by Simon Vance (see Behind the Mike, LJ 11/15/08), this first-person tale--a best seller in Germany and South Africa, where it won the inaugural ATKV Prize for suspense fiction--offers a penetrating and often surprising look into modern South Africa that makes for compelling listening. Highly recommended. [The Atlantic Monthly hc also received a starred review, LJ 8/09; the mass market pb is available through Grove Pr.--Ed.]--R. Kent Rasmussen, Thousand Oaks, CA

Copyright 2011 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from July 13, 2009
Set mainly in the game preserves of South Africa, Meyer's stellar stand-alone thriller delivers muscular prose with a hero to match. When three masked men break into the Cape Town home of Emma le Roux on Christmas Eve, Emma manages to escape over the wall into her neighbor's yard. Emma fears the attack may be connected to recent evidence that her brother, Jacobus, who she thought died 20 years before while serving as a temporary game ranger, is actually alive. She hires professional bodyguard Martin Lemmer to protect her while she investigates. Lemmer is a true original, tough, with a checkered past, a restless inquiring mind and the skills to thwart the masked thugs who are determined to kill his client. After Emma is severely injured, Lemmer goes on the offensive, bent on revenge and determined to solve the ever-widening mystery that threatens to kill them both. Once again, Meyer (Devil's Peak
) shows he's a writer not to be missed.

November 29, 2010
Simon Vance provides an assortment of authentic-sounding Afrikaans accents (think Scottish with a Germanic edge) for this first-class thriller that manages to include South African history and musings on apartheid and the environment without losing a beat of its feverish pacing. Meyer’s novel is essentially one relentless chase across South Africa, with hard-boiled bodyguard Martin Lemmer and his beautiful client, Emma le Roux, on the run from a team of paramilitary killers possibly hired by her brother. For Lemmer, the book’s narrator, Vance uses a tough, terse delivery that nails the character as a South African version of Jack Reacher. And he’s just as on target in crafting variations of that accent for the rest of the cast. Men, women, white, black, friends and foes, Vance has their vocal number. An Atlantic Monthly hardcover (Reviews, July 13).