Book review: Icarus by Deon Meyer. Benny is back. However bad things get he will be strong. Strong enough to drink!

 I blogged last year about Deon Meyer’s previous Benny Griessel novel Cobra and seeing the advanced publicity this year for his new novel Icarus, it went straight on my review list.

Icarus follows two parallel plots – the first, of Francois du Toit, a vineyard owner, slowly telling his story in a privileged discussion seemingly about to confess to his involvement in a crime to a criminal defence lawyer.  This first plot soon appears to be connected to the second, of a body found buried in sand dunes north of Capetown.  The dead man is Ernst Richter, head of Alibi, who specialise in producing fake documents for cheating partners.

Well, that’s the story, now the central character…after 602 days sober, Griessel’s resolve collapses and he gets spectacularly drunk.  He wakes up next to his partner Alexa, who confesses that she has relied on Griessel for emotional support and she doesn’t feel strong enough to cope with his relapse.  Griessel is made of sterner stuff though “I am strong now” he says “I want you to understand…I am strong enough now to drink”!  Griessel is well and truly off the waggon and then finds that his colleague Vaughn Cupido has been assigned to lead the case.  Running a big case with a drunk colleagues isn’t Cupido’s only challenge and his growing romantic feelings for Desiree Coetzee, Richter’s senior colleague, is just one more thing that makes this one of the trickiest investigations they have ever faced. Myer builds the story around two parallel plots, following the ups and downs of the case until the stories both reach a climax to converge and fuse together in the closing phase of the novel.

So, my thoughts – well, let’s start with the idea of parallel plots.  Lots of authors use this device and some do it well.  Meyer does it superbly – sharp, tight and at times it feels like you’re being teased and strung along and just when you’re sure you know where the story is going, he pulls the rug from under you – more than just once.

Meyer’s eye for detail is great – I found out so much about the history of the South African wine industry from the novel that I was tempted to drink a bottle of South African wine (a Syrah/Mourdevre blend from Bloem which we thoroughly enjoyed).  However it wasn’t just about the past – the story about Alibi is bang up to date, especially when someone threatens to leak Alibi’s customer database so everyone can see who the cheaters are! 

Next – the characters.  As you’d expect a great cast, not just Griessel, Cupido and the comradeship that binds them and the Hawks together, but all the others from Major Mbali Kaleni and her cauliflower aroma to Lithpel Davies and his high tech wizardry.  I’m particularly taken with the small walk on characters that sometimes just appear for a few lines but add depth to the novel.  In one scene, Cupido is in the street, utterly frustrated by the case and in a rage shouts “Jissis fok!” only to be pulled up by a passing “Aunty” who admonishes him for his bad language saying “Hai nee, boetie (oh no little brother). Your mother would cry herself to sleep if she heard you talking like that”.  And in case you think it’s just funny stuff, this humour contrasts sharply with Meyer’s chilling narrative of the formative years of Paul du Toit who’s not growing up to be the charming young man he seems to be, but a dangerous psychopath that nobody knows how to deal with.

Meyer’s writing brought South Africa to life for me again.  When I read Cobra, I got a real sense of place and atmosphere.  In Icarus it’s even stronger, with vivid pictures of physical locations as well as little character quirks, cultural attitudes and vignettes of detail that add real depth the portrayal of South African life in the novel.  If you want to see more for yourself, here is a link to Deon Meyer’s website:

http://www.deonmeyer.com/xtra_pages/xicarus.html

Here’s the link to my review of Cobra:

https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6406352304131345380#editor/target=post;postID=3770799970639721492;onPublishedMenu=allposts;onClosedMenu=allposts;postNum=162;src=postname

Final verdict – don’t delay, just get it as soon as you can.  I’ve even asked Mrs Romancrimeblogger for the earlier Benny Griessel novels for my birthday.  Enough said!

Romancrimeblogger