JANUARY 2011 - AudioFile
Listening to this thriller, listeners will find themselves cast into a strange world in which politics, law, and race relations are very different from what they’re accustomed to. When a young American woman is murdered and another is kidnapped in the mountains of Cape Town, the competent police investigators have to deal with incompetence, tribal racism, and outright greed to solve the murder and rescue the kidnap victim. Narrator Simon Vance walks listeners through an unfamiliar land and a story that takes place in 13 hours. Detective Benny Griessel is determined that no more innocent blood will be spilled, and Vance lets listeners share in his determination and frustration. Vance does ample justice to an edgy crime drama that spans two continents and two worlds. M.S. © AudioFile 2011, Portland, Maine
Publishers Weekly
In South African author Meyer's impressive second thriller to feature Cape Town Det. Insp. Benny Griessel (after Devil's Peak), which spans just 13 hours in a single day, Benny lands a pair of explosive cases: the gang slaying of an American tourist and the murder of the husband of a washed-up, alcoholic popular singer. After teenager Erin Russel turns up on the street with her throat cut, her traveling companion, Rachel Anderson, goes on the run. Rachel, who fears the police are connected to her friend's slaying, is trying to stay ahead of her pursuers without the help of the authorities. A few hours later, Benny interviews Alexandra Barnard about the death of her husband, Adam, a record company owner. Alexandra was found next to Adam's body and to the firearm used to kill him. While the windup doesn't match the pulse-pounding opening scenes, this crime novel does further enhance Meyer's reputation as a deft storyteller. (Sept.)
Booklist
Best-selling South African novelist Meyer delivers another exciting if brutally violent crime novel. . . .Meyer also steeps his novel in the day-to-day life of a country still reeling in the wake of radical transition.”
—Booklist [starred review]
Winnipeg Free Press
Blistering . . . the fugitive girl’s desperate flight, and Benny’s equally frantic efforts to save her, deliver a heart-pumping yarn in an exotic locale.”
—John Sullivan, Winnipeg Free Press
— John Sullivan
Beeld (South Africa)
The message is simple: Thirteen Hours is available, it does not matter how much it costs, just go buy it. . . . You can’t read his books fast enough.”
—Gert van der Westhuizen, Beeld (South Africa)
— Gert van der Westhuizen
LitNet (South Africa)
Thirteen Hours once again proves that Meyer is in a class of his own.”
—Suzaan Hauman, LitNet (South Africa)
— Suzaan Hauman
Mail & Guardian (South Africa)
[Meyer’s] novels are so engaging that you can easily get paper cuts from turning pages too fast. . . . Thirteen Hours is a ripping good read guaranteed to keep you up until the last word.”
—Yolandi Groenewald, Mail & Guardian (South Africa)
— Yolandi Groenewald
Material Witness (UK)
[Thirteen Hours] is gripping, tense, cleverly plotted and beautifully balanced between action, investigation and social comment. And all of it rises towards a crescendo that is pitched to perfection.”
—Material Witness (UK)
Metro (UK)
The staccato story slips back and forth between the various strands at a breathless clip, doling out nuggets of plot in just the right amounts to have us salivating to know more.”
—Ben Felsenburg, Metro (UK)
— Ben Felsenburg
The Sunday Times (UK)
Twenty years after the release of Nelson Mandela, South Africa remains a troubled place, and Meyer’s novels give rare insights into the texture of everyday life. Above all, though, [Thirteen Hours] is a vigorous, exciting novel that combines memorable characters and plot with edge-of-the-seat suspense.”
—Joan Smith, The Sunday Times (UK)
— Joan Smith
Globe and Mail
There have been other South African crime novelists, but none are as deft at place as Deon Meyer. Thirteen Hours is Cape Town today, with all its exquisite beauty, tribal conflicts, loyalties and corruptions. . . .Meyer weaves all this into a tightly plotted story—with a twist that works beautifully—and unforgettable characters.”
—Margaret Cannon, Globe and Mail
— Margaret Cannon
JANUARY 2011 - AudioFile
Listening to this thriller, listeners will find themselves cast into a strange world in which politics, law, and race relations are very different from what they’re accustomed to. When a young American woman is murdered and another is kidnapped in the mountains of Cape Town, the competent police investigators have to deal with incompetence, tribal racism, and outright greed to solve the murder and rescue the kidnap victim. Narrator Simon Vance walks listeners through an unfamiliar land and a story that takes place in 13 hours. Detective Benny Griessel is determined that no more innocent blood will be spilled, and Vance lets listeners share in his determination and frustration. Vance does ample justice to an edgy crime drama that spans two continents and two worlds. M.S. © AudioFile 2011, Portland, Maine
