Rating: 5/5
Review:
Another excellent book from Meyer
I thought The Last Hunt was excellent. I have enjoyed Deon Meyer’s
books in the past and I think think is one of his best.
Benny Griessel (now
sober and living with Alexa) and Vaughn Cupido are sent to
investigate a dodgy death on a luxury train and immediately come up
against secretive obstruction from other agencies. Meanwhile we also
get a seemingly unrelated narrative of Daniel Darret in Bordeaux who
turns out to be an ex-fighter for The Struggle, trying to make a new,
peaceful life for himself. What follows is a beautifully paced and
completely gripping mix of excellent police procedural and a sort of
Day Of The Jackal story, all of which I found believable and
involving.
The great strength
of the book is its characters in Daniel and, of course, in Vaughn and
especially Benny, who is at his most human as he tries to raise the
courage to ask Alexa to marry him. The other fine aspect is the
picture of South Africa under Jacob Zuma and the frightful extent of
corruption and “state capture” by Zuma and the Gupta family who
are never named but often referred to. The writing and translation
(by K.L. Seegers) are excellent and I was wholly absorbed from start
to finish.
Even if you haven’t
read any of the previous books in this series, this is a very fine
novel and a great read. Very warmly recommended.
(My thanks to Hodder
& Stoughton for an ARC via NetGalley.)
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