Rate this book

7 Dae (2011)

by Deon Meyer(Favorite Author)

4 of 5 Votes: 5

ISBN

079815621X (ISBN13: 9780798156219)

languge

English

genre

Fiction

publisher

Human & Rousseau

series

Benny Griessel

review 1: I really liked the premise for this book - crime fiction set in South Africa. I was hoping for a romping good thriller with lots of cultural flavour. Unfortunately this book doesn't deliver either. The main character is an alcoholic detective currently sober and helping his friend/ wannabe girlfriend who's fallen off the wagon. He's given the unsolved murder of a yuppie type girl working in what I think is some financial institution but it was so unfathomable I'm not sure. Then there's a guy shooting cops until the girl's murder is solved. The story is slow paced and one dimensional. I found the names difficult and the Afrikaans words tricky although there is a useful glossary in the back. For me the story just didn't flow. I was happy to put it down after a chapter becaus... moree it didn't draw me into the next. This is the first novel I've read by this author so maybe if you've read others and know the character better it might help, but sadly I was unable to keep going with this one. Please note I received my copy free though Goodreads Giveaways.
review 2: This is my first exposure to Deon Meyer, and I'll definitely read his other works. As a thriller or suspense novel, this one is superb. It ramps up the suspense on every page. A classic summer beach novel in that way. I like the characters a lot. I'm not a fan of perspective switching to the murderer in these kinds of novels, it always feels like the author is cheating, but it does serve the purpose in this novel--creating suspense. Unfortunately, by the end of the book, you begin to realize the author was in fact cheating--Meyer didn't want to introduce the antagonist as an actual character in the story, and so had to provide insight into that character through the creaky device of switching perspective. But he commits the classic mystery author cheat of hiding facts from the reader that the character knows. That's why you don't do it this way--you never go to the murderer's perspective unless that's the essence of the story (usually a serial murder novel, which I also hate). In this case, it's not. I was also disappointed in the ending because of the very surprise, almost deus ex machina revelations about the murder and the motive. Too few clues, too little history for the main characters. So although the suspense writing is excellent, I can't give it full marks. Very enjoyable, though. less

Download links for: 7 dae

Advertising