Book Review: Deon Meyer’s late

Book Review: Deon Meyer’s latest crime novel, ‘Cobra’

‘Cobra’ is a thrilling ride from the halls of power in South Africa’s intelligence world to a heart-stopping conclusion in Cape Town.

Book Review: Deon Meyer’s late

deon meyer cobra“The bullet wound in the forehead, diagonally above the left eye. A thin streak of blood, now almost black, ran down to the right. Under the head, which was turned to the left, a puddle, thicker, saucer-sized. Exit wound.”  So begins Cobra, Deon Meyer’s fourth novel  in the renowned Benny Griessel series, and is a  must for the lovers of the crime and thriller genre.

First introduced in Devil’s Peak, Captain Benny Griessel of the Hawks, a recovering alcoholic with a highly complicated personal and professional life,  is launched into his most difficult case yet. One man kidnapped, and three men dead, each  shot by a very professional bullet, each bearing the mysterious stamp of the Mozambican spitting cobra.  The death of three South Africans and kidnap of a tourist is bad enough, but the revelation that the missing man just happens to be an expert in global terrorism throws everything into confusion.

While trying to deal the dramatic changes in his personal life and fighting the pull of the bottle, Griessel must work with captains Vaughn Cupido and Mbali Kaleni to  track down an assassin on the loose in his city. Soon finding themselves shunted off their case entirely, the team embarks on a deadly game of cat and mouse, where the most deadly enemy may not be a man with a gun.

Griessel has come a long way since Devil’s Peak, and those acquainted with Meyer’s work will find well-known characters in his typically, fast paced, elaborately plotted style, with a new mystery on every page.  Those who have not read the series before will be spellbound by an exciting, dark and sometimes humorous novel, exploring the complicated world of South Africa, still recovering from the apartheid era. With the wonderful plus that by the end they will cry out for more.

Reports from the Metropolitan Police and emails have been created down to the last comma, which can be a little heavy going, but show the hours of research that went into writing the book – and makes you feel you are really reading a report on an international killer. The complicated plot can also be frustrating, but shows the struggles of politics and power in today’s South Africa, and the international fight against terrorism. Cape Flats slang, Afrikaans and Zulu take you directly into the world of the pickpockets and police of South Africa.

Be prepared for a thrilling ride, from the halls of power in  South Africa’s intelligence world, to a heart-stopping conclusion on Cape Town’s Metro system.

Cobra is published in the UK by Hodder & Stoughton and is available in Kindle and hardcover versions.