This novel is a fantastic literary example of a "french braid," a game from my comedy improv days. You begin with three completely separate scenes that have nothing to do with each other. Each time a scene is played out in turn, however, the stories begin to align and vague connections are made. By the end, all three scenes are woven into a complete whole (usually via rather humor ways). The idea is that the audience has no idea how the improv performers will weave three seemingly disparate scenes together--thus, a french braid.

"Devil's Peak," from South African author Meyer, is the story of three disparate individuals--a former government hit man, a prostitute and an alcoholic police detective. Each faces their own demons and struggles, but their stories do not appear to overlap. Meyer skillfully jumps from one story to the next, slowly building up each characters' background, motivations and subsequent actions. Meyer's writing is such that the reader doesn't feel jolted with each shift in perspective or feels that he is losing the thread of one narrative in lieu of another.

The connections between the characters gradually become clearer as the novel progresses. While this is not a mystery novel, there is tension and suspense that draws the reader further into the characters' troubled lives. The final third of the book is simply great, as the action culminates and the actions of each characters reaches final consequences.

Ultimately, this is a wonderfully written (and translated) story of how the lives of three fractured individuals intersect in unexpected and complicated ways. Each character is richly drawn and compelling and the story is intricate and engaging. It is a book that, when I finished the last page, I said "Wow!" ( )

Soldiers never find it easy returning from war. So it is with Thobela Mpayipheli, former freedom fighter, trying to settle back into the new South Africa. But at least he has his boy, an adored companion who is a link to a happier past.Then the boy is taken from Thobela, one of a staggering number of children murdered or abused in South Africa, and Thobela knows only despair...and a cold desire for revenge. Thus is born the vigilante killer known as 'Artemis'.The police respond by putting on the case a man who can't afford tofail. Benny Griessel is on the brink of losing everything -- his job, his family, his self-respect --and this could be his last chance todrag his life back out of the gutter.And then Benny meets Christine, a young mother working as a prostitute in Cape Town. And something happens that is so frightening, the world can never be the same again, for Benny, for Christine, or for Thobela. © DnBB AS

Deon Meyer is an exciting, new South African author who brings Cape Town to vivid life in all it's beauty and squalor. This thriller deals with a vigilante who targets murderers and rapists of children and the on-the-wagon detective that slowly catches up with him. GZ ( )

En spændende, intens og barsk skildring af selvtægt. ( )