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Dead at Daybreak
by
Deon Meyer
The newest headspinning thriller from breakout South African crime writer Deon Meyer: the story of an ex-cop who has seven days to solve a seemingly unsolvable crime--the answer to which lies in his own dark past. When Smit, an antiques dealer, is burned with a blowtorch then killed execution-style with a single shot to the back of the head, former cop Zatopek "Zed"...more
Hardcover, 384 pages
Published
August 23rd 2005
by Little, Brown and Company
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I really have very mixed feelings about this book.
It's probably been about three or four years since I've read a book in my native Afrikaans so it took a couple of pages to acclimate myself to the style. After the initial 'culture shock' the pages just flew by in such a frenzy that I read it in 24 hours - give or take a few. I especially enjoyed the characters and the South African nuances and references the writer let creep in (Living in one of the regions mentioned, doesn't hurt eith...more
It's probably been about three or four years since I've read a book in my native Afrikaans so it took a couple of pages to acclimate myself to the style. After the initial 'culture shock' the pages just flew by in such a frenzy that I read it in 24 hours - give or take a few. I especially enjoyed the characters and the South African nuances and references the writer let creep in (Living in one of the regions mentioned, doesn't hurt eith...more
Zatopek van Heerden is an embittered,hard drinking ex-cop who finds himself in jail after picking a fight with five men in a bar ("you can tell a man his 4 X 4 isn't going to make his prick any larger and he pretends to be deaf. But drag in his wife....") He is sprung from jail by his attorney friend, Kemp who wants him to look into an unsolved murder.Particularly,van Heerden has to find the murder victim's missing will.
With very little to go on,van Heerden reluctantly finds hims...more
With very little to go on,van Heerden reluctantly finds hims...more
Ca part pas très bien avec un ancien flic alcoolique et qui se traîne dans le dégoût de lui-même. Et puis ça prend petit à petit, on le voit remonter la pente à la faveur d'une enquête "de la dernière chance" tandis qu'en parallèle il déroule son autobiographie. Le côté sud-africain en toile de fond est présent sans être trop développé, Meyer n'insiste pas mais on voit bien qu'on n'est pas à L.A. Une bonne lecture au final sans être transcendante, ni pour le côté polar ni pour la pein...more
In South Africa Zatopek (Zet to his friends) van Heerden is an ex cop now working, reluctantly, as a private detective. Lawyer Hope Beneke hires him to find the will of an antiques dealer called Johannes Jacobus Smit who was killed in his home nearly a year earlier. If the will is not found within seven days Hope’s client, Wilna van As who was Smit’s live-in partner, will not receive any of Smit’s estate. One thread of this book takes off then as a fairly standard, if action-packed, procedural t...more
Deon Meyer is een van my gunsteling skrywers, en die feit dat hy 'n Suid Afrikaanse, en Afrikaanse skrywer is, is net die kersie op die koek.
Orion se hoofkarakter - Zatopek van Heerden is 'n Afrikaanse oud-polisieman met 'n verlede wat hom teister. Meyer beskryf sy wroeging so raak.
Die feit dat ek tot 3 uur in die oggend deurgelees het, omdat ek dit eenvoudig nie kon neersit nie, moet 'n aanduiding wees van hoeveel ek die boek geniet het.
Orion se hoofkarakter - Zatopek van Heerden is 'n Afrikaanse oud-polisieman met 'n verlede wat hom teister. Meyer beskryf sy wroeging so raak.
Die feit dat ek tot 3 uur in die oggend deurgelees het, omdat ek dit eenvoudig nie kon neersit nie, moet 'n aanduiding wees van hoeveel ek die boek geniet het.
South African cop with personal baggage is hired to find a will within six days.
More of a fictional biography than a conventional crime story with a twist. Still, quite an engaging read in a different location.
More of a fictional biography than a conventional crime story with a twist. Still, quite an engaging read in a different location.
This author is really good. Funny, good pace, great plot and South African, which means a bit of geographical and cultural familiarity for a relatively new resident of this diverse country. Going to find some more of his books, now...
One of the most finely crafted crime novels I have read: the characters are plausible and the lines between 'good and bad' blur in the best way. Highly recommend!
One of the best Deon Meyer book. If you want to read any South African thrillers, perhaps _Dead at Daybreak_ is a good one on which to start.
Excellent page-turner. Fun, interesting, and different. Great holiday read. Difficult to put down. I would highly recommend.
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A first class thriller, set in South Africa, and involving mysterious past secrets relating to security force activities. A damaged former academic police specialist turned PI, a few organised crime heavies, including Tiny (who features in subsequent Meyer books), senior cops and current security forces interplay, to say nothing of a sharp female lawyer and a renowned artist, mother to the PI. The style is tight, the story riveting, and the action is what the genre demands. A really good read by...more
Above average police thriller set in South Africa.
Absolutely gripping! After enjoying his more recent thriller, 13 Hours, immensely, was worried that the second Meyer book I read might be a disappointment but this was every bit as pacey and engrossing. Will look for more crime novels featuring Zatopek van Heerden, wonderful PI character who is every bit as intriguing as 13 Hours' Bennie Griessel.
One of Deon Meyer's best. Thoroughly enjoyable.
Using chapters that alternate between the plot and the main characters life story,
Deon Meyer provides both an entertaining thriller and a look at South African society.
Deon Meyer provides both an entertaining thriller and a look at South African society.
About a former police officer turned rowdy drunk who is hired to investigate the murder of a reclusive businessman. Lots of violence, lots of swearing, and a very unlikeable protagonist. It just wasn't one I wanted to stick with.
Set in S. Africa. Captures some of the social tensions in the place, but I would have liked more.
A good fast paced thrilled with the angst of the story teller always open for scrutiny.
11/24 rec via bookmooch
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Deon Meyer was born in the South African town of Paarl in the winelands of the Western Cape in 1958, and grew up in Klerksdorp, in the gold mining region of Northwest Province.
After military duty and studying at the Potchefstroom University, he joined Die Volksblad, a daily newspaper in Bloemfontein as a reporter. Since then, he has worked as press liaison, advertising copywriter, crea...more
More about Deon Meyer...
After military duty and studying at the Potchefstroom University, he joined Die Volksblad, a daily newspaper in Bloemfontein as a reporter. Since then, he has worked as press liaison, advertising copywriter, crea...more
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