Book review: Cobra by Deon Meyer. A fast paced action packed crime thriller from South Africa

I’ve never come across Deon Meyer beforehand I’m a little wary of the kind of superlatives publishers use when talking about the latest book – the quality of a novel is stunning, the characters are deep, captivating or incredibly true to life and the setting is usually rich, genuine and absolutely believable.  Please forgive my touch of cynicism.  This book passed the 20 page test with flying colours and I quickly read through to the end over a couple of nights.  

The opening scene sees detective Benny Griessel investigating a multiple murder – professional bodyguards ruthlessly and efficiently gunned down and Paul Morris the person they were protecting has vanished.  The British authorities seem reluctant to help the officers investigating the kidnap of one of their citizens and we soon find out why.  Morris is actually Patrick Adair, genius inventor of the Adair protocol, which provides the means to tracking and tracing the financial transactions of criminals and terrorists across the international banking system.  The protocol can be used to track down all manner of dodgy dealings and so is a threat to criminals, terrorists, corrupt politicians and crooked bankers alike.  Diligent research by Griessel’s team identifies The Cobra, a shadowy assassin, as the person responsible for Adair’s kidnapping.

Enter Tyrone Kleinbooi, a professional pickpocket whose good at keeping away from the law until he steals a purse that contains an encrypted memory card sought by The Cobra.  The theft puts him and his sister in what can only be described as a perilous position as the Cobra tries to get hold of the memory card, triggering off….

Well, no more for now, only to say that this is a really fast paced thriller where neither Griessel nor Kleinbooi know who they can really trust.  Both are in over their heads, trying to do what they think is right, whilst faced by threats from the ruthless Cobra and his gang as well as the intelligence services anxious to cover everything up for their own advantage.  It’s a well written book and Meyer’s writing skills really show through in the tense final part of the novel where he injects some dark, but genuinely laugh out loud comic humour, which some readers may not see as particularly politically correct.  You have been warned!

I thought the South African setting was great, the social and culture background came across well without being overtly politicised and I felt a warmth and sunshine about the whole place, which makes a welcome change from the damp and cold of the UK and Scandinavia.  I got the hang of the slang and vocabulary quickly and it added a richness to a really good cast of characters.  I didn’t copy that from the publishers blurb.  Honestly.

Final verdict – a top action thriller that I unhesitatingly recommend.  As Griessel would say “Ek se jou – dis’n lekker een die”

Romancrimeblogger