zumbador reviewed Infanta by Deon Meyer
Review of 'Infanta' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
This book is like a roller-coaster ride with none of the safety gear. It's utterly fascinating, funny, horrifying and tragic. Deon Meyer, for those of you not familiar with is work, writes crime thrillers set in South Africa. I prefer reading them in their original Afrikaans (he has a pitch perfect ear for regional dialog) but the English translations are excellent: they retain a surprising amount of the original feel and atmosphere.
Infanta is the first Bennie Griesel book. Bennie, the cop from the old days, still surviving in the New South Africa, trying his best to numb himself with alcohol. His story is interwoven with two others: Tiny Mpayipheli, the ex KGB hit-man, and Christine, a high class Afrikaans prostitute.
Meyer made me care for all three these deeply flawed and vulnerable people without in any way minimizing their faults.That makes for some interesting reading because, of course, they …
This book is like a roller-coaster ride with none of the safety gear. It's utterly fascinating, funny, horrifying and tragic. Deon Meyer, for those of you not familiar with is work, writes crime thrillers set in South Africa. I prefer reading them in their original Afrikaans (he has a pitch perfect ear for regional dialog) but the English translations are excellent: they retain a surprising amount of the original feel and atmosphere.
Infanta is the first Bennie Griesel book. Bennie, the cop from the old days, still surviving in the New South Africa, trying his best to numb himself with alcohol. His story is interwoven with two others: Tiny Mpayipheli, the ex KGB hit-man, and Christine, a high class Afrikaans prostitute.
Meyer made me care for all three these deeply flawed and vulnerable people without in any way minimizing their faults.That makes for some interesting reading because, of course, they are in conflict with one another. So you find yourself rooting for the killer as well as the cop hunting him, all the while on the edge of your seat to learn how Christine is going to outfox them all.
This book is really violent and has some pretty graphic sex but all of that is built into the story, none of it feels like it's done just for the thrills or in a manipulative way.
The ending has some really disturbing acts of sexual violence, so if that's not your thing, be warned.
Deon Meyer is one of the few writers I can read without closing my writer's eyes, as it were. I don't get pulled out of the story by recognizing the mechanics. His plotting, structure and characterization is so well done it adds an extra dimension of pleasure for me, noticing how he's making things work.
Meyer's books can all be read as stand alone stories, but they do share characters and story lines to some extent. So in this case, the character of Tiny was the hero of "The Heart of the Hunter" (Afrikaans version "Proteus") which is probably my favourite Meyer book.