Thobela Mpayipheli lost his wife a few months ago, and now he’s lost his son as a result of a gas station robbery—the old in-the-wrong-place-at-the-wrong-time scenario. While in custody, the perpetrators escape. Thobela decides he’ll hunt them down and serve his own justice, especially since the law and the courts are likely to fail him. To assuage his pain when the trail grows cold, Thobela sets out to rid the world of people who harm children.
Detective Inspector Benny Griessel wakes up from a drunken stupor to his wife telling him to get out and not come back until he can prove to her that he’s clean and dry. Kicked out of his home with no place to go and facing the trials of alcohol withdrawal in order to save his marriage, Benny tries to solve what the press is calling the Assegai Murders—because the killer uses a long, sharp knife of the same name to kill his victims. The last thing he needs right now is a vigilante on his hands, but that’s exactly what he’s getting.
Christine van Rooyen became a sex worker just because she could make good money at it. It’s a great way to support herself and her daughter Sonia. For the most part, her clients are sane men who don’t demand too much of her. But then she meets Carlos Sangrenegra, a drug dealer who wants her all to himself and will do anything to make it happen. Christine becomes afraid for herself and for Sonia, so she hatches a plan that’ll draw the killer right where she needs him.
Meticulously thought out, Devil’s Peak pulls you deep into the world of three tortured characters. You may not agree with the way they handle things, but it’s human nature at its most truthful.
Though Devil’s Peak is a thriller, it also carries weight that goes deeper than mere thrills. You get inside the character’s minds, see the way they perceive the world, and oftentimes you can understand why they do the things they do, even though it’s a shade over the wrong end of the morality line. Then you’ll be shocked by a turn of events that will hit you right between the eyes.
Deon Meyer is at the top of the heap for the best mystery/thriller authors out there. Pick up a copy of Devil’s Peak, and I guarantee you’ll want to read everything this guy puts out.
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