Icarus (Benny Griessel Mysteries, 5) - Hardcover

Meyer, Deon

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0802124003 ISBN 13: 9780802124005

Publisher: Atlantic Monthly Press, 2015

Synopsis

South Africa’s preeminent crime fiction writer, Deon Meyer is internationally acclaimed for his razor’s-edge thrillers, unforgettable characters, and nuanced portrayals of contemporary life in his native country. The fifth pulse-pounder starring Captain Benny Griessel, a lead detective in South Africa’s priority crimes unit, delves into the country’s burgeoning tech and wine industries.

A week before Christmas, a young photographer discovers a plastic-wrapped corpse amidst the sand dunes north of Cape Town. The only thing found on the corpse is a dead iPhone, but it doesn’t take long for the police to identify the body as that of Ernst Richter—the tech whiz behind MyAlibi, an internet service that provides unfaithful partners with sophisticated cover stories to hide an affair. Meanwhile, Benny Griessel is called to the scene of a multiple homicide involving a former colleague, and four years of sobriety are undone on the spot. He emerges from his drunken haze determined to quit the force, but the take-no-sass Major Mbali Kaleni, now his boss, wants Griessel on the Richter case. The high-profile murder has already been the subject of fierce media speculation, with questions swirling about the potential for motive: could the perpetrator be one of the countless jilted spouses? An aggrieved client?

Before the week is out, an unexpected connection to a storied family winery comes to light, and Griessel’s reputation is again on the line. Mounting towards a startling conclusion, Icarus is another exceptional novel from the King of South African Crime.”

About this title

About the Author:

Deon Meyer is the internationally acclaimed, prize-winning author of ten thrillers includingCobra, Seven Days, and the Barry Award-winning Thirteen Hours. His books have been published in twenty-six languages. He lives in Stellenbosch, South Africa.

Review:

Praise for Icarus:

Shortlisted for the 2016 CWA International Dagger Award
Shortlisted for the 2016 Nielsen Booksellers’ Choice Award
Named a Best Book of the Year by the Boston Globe and Financial Times
One of Publishers Weekly’s Best Audiobooks of 2015

Deon Meyer’s name on the cover is a guarantee of crime writing at its best.” Tess Gerritsen, New York Times bestselling author of Playing with Fire

South African author Deon Meyer’s Benny Griessel series is one of the high points of contemporary crime fiction, and the fifth title, Icarus, is his best yet . . . [An] expertly engineered tale of sex, lies, and fraud.” Guardian (Best Recent Crime Fiction Novels)

Excellent . . . The richness of the characters, especially the multifaceted Benny, elevates this above most contemporary police procedurals.” Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Deon Meyer’s South Africa is laid bare in Icarus; it is as glittering and hard as the diamonds his country is famous for . . . Meyer utilizes the crime fiction genre as an apparatus to create a multifaceted, unsparing picture of his country.” Independent (UK)

Meyer delivers another expertly crafted thriller that feels exceptionally timely.” Booklist

Meyer’s prose is muscular yet beautifully rendered. A meticulously crafted portrait of modern-day South Africa, Icarus is a spellbinding tour de force.” New York Journal of Books

Rapid pacing, likable characters . . . Irresistible . . . A complex thriller.” Shelf Awareness

Present[s] an unvarnished picture of the social divisions in post-apartheid South Africa.” Financial Times (Best Books of 2015)

Praise for Deon Meyer:

With Deon Meyer you can't go wrong. He's a writer whose work I admire, wait for and then devour.” Michael Connelly

I love Meyer. . . . The problem with having Meyer on your nightstand is that you don't get any sleep. So if I look like hell, it's Meyer's fault. The guy owes me.” Don Winslow, author of The Power of the Dogs and Savages

Meyer has a fine eye for people and places. . . . Meyer is a serious writer who richly deserves the international reputation he has built.” Washington Post

Meyer’s thrillers . . . well understand the need to maintain momentum: mixing and matching multiple viewpoints, switching off between characters and portraying his native country as one in a perpetual state of flux and angst.” Los Angeles Times

About this edition

• Publisher: Atlantic Monthly Press
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 0802124003
• ISBN 13: 9780802124005
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 352