The Dark Flood - by Deon Meyer (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

From internationally acclaimed crime writer Deon Meyer, a new thriller featuring superstar detectives Benny Griessel and Vaughn Cupido in the wake of their impulsive pursuit of state corruption that has left their reputations hanging in the balance

Having jeopardized their careers in an unauthorized investigation that threatened to reveal the corruption in South Africa's halls of power, Benny Griessel and Vaughn Cupido have been demoted from the elite Hawks police unit. While waiting to be transferred from Cape Town to seemingly mundane duty in Stellenbosch, Griessel receives a disturbing, anonymous letter: "I can only trust you and Captain Cupido. There is an adder in our bosom. Be careful of phone calls."

Assigned to investigate the disappearance of Callie de Bruin, a young university student and brilliant computer programmer, they hit dead ends until the trail, including the death of a fellow officer, leads to a series of gun heists and the alarming absence of certain weapons from the police registry, the ramifications of which could be devastating.

As Griessel and Cupido intensify their search for de Bruin, real estate agent Sandra Steenberg confronts her own crisis: state corruption has caused the real estate market to crash, exacerbating the dire financial straits facing her family. When billionaire Jasper Boonstra contacts her to represent a major property he wants to sell, she pushes aside her concerns about his notorious reputation as playboy and swindler. And then Boonstra himself disappears, and Griessel is forced to juggle between Boonstra's bitter wife, protective lawyer, and Steenberg, the last person to see him alive.

With propulsive and intricate plotting, sharp prose, and an ending that takes one's breath away just when the dust seems to have settled, The Dark Flood spotlights the state capture and corruption that has overtaken the country, lending political weight to a powerful story.

Review Quotes

Praise for The Dark Flood:

Longlisted for the Crime Writers' Association Crime Fiction in Translation Dagger

An Amazon Best Book of the Month (Mystery, Thriller, and Suspense)

"Deon Meyer is the monarch of South African crime novelists."--Financial Times

"Achieves a fine mix of suspense, action, political intrigue, and personal revelation."--Tom Nolan, Wall Street Journal

"Is Deon Meyer the most accomplished South African crime novelist in the genre's history? The Dark Flood is further evidence of that assertion . . . Every word earns its place, and there's no stinting on the usual critique of South African politics."--Barry Forshaw, Financial Times

"Many writers treat character and context as window-dressing for their plots. Meyer roots his novels in them. This makes Griessel's fate important to the reader and gives Meyer's writing the heft of Table Mountain, as well as the ability to take your breath away."--Times (UK), "Book of the Month"

"Detective Benny Griessel and his partner Vaughn, demoted and reposted to a wealthy South African town, track a seemingly mundane missing-person case that unearths gang ties and police corruption. Packed with cars, confrontations, and local slang, the fast-paced book excels when the detectives' easy patter and cooperation get a chance to shine."--Christian Science Monitor

"The return of the engaging duo Griessel and Cupido is long overdue. In a thriller packed with intrigue and biting social commentary, Meyer proves he is South Africa's finest crime writer."--Jon Coates, Sunday Express

"Excellent."--Deadly Pleasures Mystery Magazine

"A fast-moving South African police procedural . . . The plotlines are tightly knitted together, and the story ends with a nifty twist. A well-crafted blend of suspense, culture, and humor. Meyer is terrific."--Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"Absorbing procedural details lead to an explosive confrontation with a ruthless street gang and a police-corruption scheme that links South African Police Service to the country's devastating political scandals. It's a grim period for South Africa, but Griessel and Caputo remain loyal to justice and to each other. A gritty but surprisingly hopeful installment in Meyer's immensely popular series."--Booklist

"Fans of Jo Nesbø's similarly character-driven Harry Hole mysteries will find lots to like here."--BookPage

Praise for the Benny Griessel Series:

"[An] outstanding series . . . In word, deed, and spirit, Mr. Meyer's humane and engaging characters are indeed among 'the best of the best.'"--Tom Nolan, Wall Street Journal, on The Last Hunt

"Deon Meyer is one of the unsung masters."--Michael Connelly

"The undisputed champion of South African crime. Meyer grabs you by the throat and never lets you go."--Wilbur Smith, bestselling author of Courtney's War

"Mr. Meyer, the leading thriller writer in his native country, traffics in crime-novel situations familiar the world over: drunken cops, charming robbers, dangerous murderers, sudden violence--and sometimes, issues of race. Mr. Meyer's South Africa, however, is unique. His books, translated from Afrikaans, are usually set in the Cape Town region, where mountains spectacularly meet the sea on the Horn of Africa. Amid these vistas his detective confronts his own--and his country's--tortured past and the legacy of Apartheid."--Wall Street Journal, on Cobra

"Meyer . . . vividly depicts the story of South Africa in his novels, from the hope and turmoil of the fall of apartheid to the corrupt and desperate aspects of present-day Cape Town . . . Meyer's novels have an insistent forward motion, and the ones featuring Captain Griessel in particular have a pleasing relentlessness."--Los Angeles Review of Books, on Cobra

"A serious writer who richly deserves the international reputation he has built."--Washington Post, on Cobra

"Deon Meyer's name on the cover is a guarantee of crime writing at its best."--Tess Gerritsen, New York Times bestselling author of Playing with Fire, on Icarus

"Deon Meyer's South Africa is laid bare in Icarus; it is as glittering and hard as the diamonds his country is famous for . . . Meyer utilizes the crime fiction genre as an apparatus to create a multifaceted, unsparing picture of his country."--Independent, on Icarus

"South African author Deon Meyer's Benny Griessel series is one of the high points of contemporary crime fiction, and the fifth title, Icarus, is his best yet . . . [An] expertly engineered tale of sex, lies, and fraud."--Guardian (Best Recent Crime Fiction Novels), on Icarus

"Deon Meyer continues his string of superb, tightly constructed timeline thrillers. Coming on the heels of the breath-holding Thirteen Hours, Seven Days takes us into the heart of a major police hunt for a killer targeting policemen as he demands the investigation of a seemingly unsolvable cold case."--Globe & Mail, on Seven Days

"Thirteen Hours has breathtaking suspense, psychological understanding, and one of the most inspiring detectives ever. Deon Meyer deserves his international reputation."--Thomas Perry, author of The Burglar, on Thirteen Hours

"A smashing story. Imposing a strict time limit and a tight location on his plot, [Meyer] ramps up the suspense to an unbearable degree. Best of all, his sharply drawn characters really feel part of the new South Africa, where loyalties and beliefs must always be questioned."--Financial Times, on Thirteen Hours

About the Author

DEON MEYER is the internationally acclaimed, prizewinning author of thirteen thrillers, including The Last Hunt, The Woman in the Blue Cloak, Fever, Icarus, Cobra, Seven Days, and the Barry Award-winning Thirteen Hours. His books have been published in twenty-seven languages. He lives in Stellenbosch, South Africa.