Trackers - Couverture souple

Smuggling, missing persons and an edgy post-apartheid South Africa interlace in a riveting crime novel . . . This is the author's most accomplished novel to date. Following the thrilling plot of his best­selling Thirteen Hours was always going to be a challenge but he's visibly gained confidence, showing his technical skill and handling the different sections of the new book with effortless ease. It's a mesmerising read, and a ­startling revelation at the very end suggests that we haven't heard the last of these engaging characters. (The Sunday Times)

How fulfilling the rewards are for those seeking crime fiction with real texture and intelligence . . . The author presents an unsparing picture of social divisions in post-apartheid South Africa . . . But perhaps his key achievement is the astutely drawn trio: the conflicted bodyguard, streetwise but falling for a major deception; the young woman fleeing a desperately unhappy marriage and discovering something that changes her perception of herself; and the ex-cop, finding that the incendiary reserves of violence in his personality are nearer to the surface than he thought. TRACKERS is a sprawling, invigorating and socially committed crime novel. (Independent)

An ambitious, multi-threaded tale . . . comprehensively pulling the reader into the melee of modern South Africa . . . this is a book that tells a cracking story and captures the criminal kaleidoscope of a nation. (Times Literary Supplement)

Meyer is the leading chronicler of South Africa, and his latest novel shows off his technical skill... a dazzling performance. (Sunday Times Books of the Year 2011)

This year's great discovery: classy, edgy writing, subtly plotted and beautifully balanced between fast-paced action, pungent social comment and the process of investigation. (Weekend Australian)

The Thriller Shot of the Year title goes to South African Deon Meyer for his superb tour-de-force TRACKERS which combines a spy plot worthy of Le Carre ("spy the beloved country") with several tense and violent criminal sub-plots and a complex and stunningly impressive narrative structure. All in all, a masterpiece of South African crime writing; which is rapidly proving to be the bench-mark of international crime fiction.' (Shots)

This South African kind of crime is going global fast. TRACKERS shows why: three deftly-braided plot strands join political sophistication, strongly-drawn characters and a passionate concern with the Rainbow Nation's fate. (i)

An unusually intriguing story about modern South Africa. (Literary Review)

The book that stayed with me most from this year is Deon Meyer's TRACKERS . . . a dazzling performance. (Joan Smith, Sunday Times books of the year 2011)

Critics were struggling to come up with new adjectives to praise the South African writer Deon Meyer's TRACKERS, a menacing tale of smuggling and disappearances on a sprawling canvas of post-apartheid South Africa. (Independent Books of the Year)