Rating: 3.75* of fiveThe Publisher Says: From rising South African thriller writer Deon Meyer, a gripping suspense novel about revenge, forgiveness, and the race to catch a trained killer.A young woman makes a terrible confession to a priest. An honorable man takes his own revenge for an unspeakable tragedy. An aging inspector tries to get himself sober while taking on the most difficult case of his career. From this beginning, Deon Meyer weaves a story of astonishing complexity and suspense, as Inspector Benny Griessel faces off against a dangerous vigilante who has everything on his side, including public sympathy. A gruesome abuse case has hit the newsstands, and one man has taken it upon himself to stand up for the children of Cape Town. When the accused is found stabbed through the heart by spear, it's only the beginning of a string of bloody murders - and of a dangerous dilemma for detective Griessel. The detective is always just one step behind as someone slays the city's killers. But the paths of Griessel and the avenger collide when a young prostitute lures them both into a dangerous plan - and the two find themselves with a heart-stopping problem that no system of justice could ever make right. My Review: For once it's a good thing I don't keep good track of who it was suggested I read something. Whoever suggested this book to me: Don't fess up or there will be split lips and black eyes in your immediate future.I hated this reading experience. Hated it. Fathers with murdered children, children in jeopardy that they can only desperately struggle to save, oh my bloomin' garden I was hit from every emotional angle and then smacked from behind and then misdirected into several dark corners and therein kneecapped. I started reading the book and, six and a half hours and one piddle break later, emerged on the other side of the dust jacket with bloody stumps in place of my ground-away teeth, hurting belly from all the unaccustomed muscle-clenching, and a serious need for a shower and hair wash to rid myself of the stress-sweat stink.I am still in a state of high dudgeon at being made to participate in the shenanigans surrounding vigilante justice that I can only say I approve of (oh how that hurts to type) and police corruption scandalously indifferently treated (pause for blood to stop boiling over) and a miserable alcoholic a-hole with a serious need to destroy, himself his life the world, whatever comes into range, who happens to be the one being Diogenes would light up with that damn lamp...!So. Unless you want to be lifted from the confines of your safe little rut, smacked into walls and hit with unbearably terrifying images of loss and its unending damage, beaten with the sensory overload of immersion in a landscape and a culture alien and familiar and overwhelmingly pungently vibrantly present, don't even think of reading this book.Poor you, if you don't. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
SETTING: Cape Town, South AfricaSERIES: Somewhat related to previous booksRATING: 4.75Thobela "Tiny" Mpayipheli hasn't lived an exemplary life. The closest he's come to pure happiness is in his relationship with a young woman, Miriam, and her son, Pakamile. After Miriam's death, the father and his adopted son lead an almost idyllic existence. Pakamile is a wonderful boy, and Thobela blossoms in the role of fatherhood. When Pakamile is killed, Thobela is beyond devastated; his whole reason for living is gone. He seeks vengeance for his son's death; at the same time, he becomes aware of how many children are hurt and abused every year and sets off on a course of vigilante justice.Christine Van Rooyen is another person whose life is only made meaningful because of her child, Sonia. Christine is a sex worker whose goal in her profession is to earn enough money to leave the life and raise her daughter properly. On the whole, she manages the relationships well, until she meets up with a drug dealer who has become obsessed with her and who threatens Sonia. Christine exhibits unexpected cleverness in dealing with her situation.And then there's Inspector Benny Griessel, who is standing at the edge of his own personal abyss. He's fallen deep into the bottle over the past 10 years, and his wife has just given him an ultimatum—she has kicked him out of the family home and given him six months to become sober. Rarely have I seen such a truthful portrait of an alcoholic. Meyer has portrayed the condition perfectly, taking us deep into Benny's psyche to show his deluded self-rationalizations for his behavior and the convoluted way that an alcoholic thinks. The regrets he feels for the pain that he has caused his wife and children are poignantly rendered; at the same time, the difficulty of struggling with extreme temptation isn't overlooked. Despite his problems, Benny at heart is an excellent cop; but his erratic behavior causes problems in his professional life as well.These three lives become linked in inextricable ways. Benny is the lead investigator for the vigilante murders and becomes involved with Christine when she reports the abduction of her child. Thobela's and Benny's worlds collide, and Christine's actions impact all of them—the result is a resolution that one could never predict but which is absolutely perfect. Meyer does a superb job of weaving together the threads of the three sub-plots. Each character has a complex tale to tell; Meyer seamlessly travels between the stories and connects them believably. Each of the characters is dealing with love and loss, and the theme of revenge and the quest for justice is a common denominator. The characters are flawed but sympathetic.Deon Meyer is a South African author who is best known for his first book, Heart of the Hunter. Devil's Peak may just supplant Hunter as Meyer's best work. It's wonderfully done and a book that should be on the shelves of every crime fiction reader.
What do You think about Devil's Peak (2007)?
Book blurb: A young woman makes a terrible confession to a priest. An honorable man takes his own revenge for an unspeakable tragedy. An aging inspector tries to get himself sober while taking on the most difficult case of his career. From this beginning, Deon Meyer weaves a story of astonishing complexity and suspense, as Inspector Benny Griessel faces off against a dangerous vigilante who has everything on his side, including public sympathy. This is the first of five books in the Benny Griessel series, and the second book I've read by the author. I listened to the audiobook, which is wonderfully narrated by Simon Vance. The story is set in South Africa, and unfolds via three narrators: Christine the prostitute, Bennie Griessel the cop, and Tobela Mpayipheli the man who decides to set right some of the wrongs of this world. And you just know that their worlds will collide one day. The writing is really good, the sense of place wonderful, and the characters are fully fleshed out. I quite liked some of the themes this story explores: What does justice look like? Are there some crimes that can be forgiven, encouraged even? People have an idea of who they will be, so how do they lose their way?I really enjoyed the author's skill at spinning an interesting yarn, and I've already picked up the rest of the series.
—Elizabeth A
Deon Mayer is a new writer to me. A South African whose books are translated from Afrikaans, he writes with passion about his country today and does not shirk from discussing some of the social problems openly and with refreshing bluntness. This thriller involves three complex, interesting but flawed characters and addresses some very uncomfortable issues such as the predilection towards child rape, born from the pervasive myth that it can provide a cure for AIDS. It’s an uncomfortable and uncompromising read but it rewards with a satisfying plot and a description of post apartheid life in the Cape Town area that is interesting and insightful. I’ll read more of his books.
—Andrew Smith
WOW! I found myself saying this over and over again as I read Devil's Peak. It's just so masterfully written and the characterization of policeman Griessel is particularly impressive. Deon Meyer gives such an emotional powerhouse story about one man out for revenge for the death of his son and the heinous crimes committed against the children of South Africa as he sets off on a trail of revenge of bloody murder on all the cities killers. Only one man stands in his way, as Inspector Griessel gets hot on his trail, in what will probably be his last case, but always ever just that one step behind the vigilante called Artemis one fateful meeting with a prostitute might just reunite inspector and Vigilante and the two find themselves in more danger and more sinister circumstances than two could ever have imagined. The vigilante is swift and cold-blooded killer when he has to be, but still he has the hearts of the sympathetic public on his side. He definitely has me rooting for him, as Meyer creates such a detailed and gruesome backdrop for these events. The city is one I could hardly have imagined until now.
—Aysel Capinoglu
