Blurb...... An American fugitive hides out in Cape Town—one of the world’s most beautiful and violent cities—in this riveting debut thriller that asks: Can you ever outrun your past?
Reluctant bank robber Jack Burn is on
the run after a heist in the United States that left $3 million missing and one
cop dead. Hiding out in Cape Town, South Africa, he is desperate to build a new
life for his pregnant wife and young son. But on a tranquil evening in their
new suburban neighborhood they are the victims of a random gangland assault
that changes everything.
Benny Mongrel, an ex-con night watchman
guarding a building site next to Burn’s home, is another man desperate to
escape his past. After years in the ghetto gangs of Cape Town he knows who went
into Burn’s house. And what the American did to them. He also knows his only
chance to save his own brown skin is to forget what he saw.
Burn’s actions on that night trap them
both in a cat-and-mouse game with Rudi "Gatsby" Barnard—a corrupt
Afrikaner cop who loves killing almost as much as he loves Jesus Christ—and
Disaster Zondi, a fastidious Zulu detective who wishes to settle an old score.
Once Gatsby smells those missing American millions, the four men are drawn into
a web of murder and vengeance that builds to an unforgettable conclusion.
I was unaware of Roger
Smith, until a recent browse around a Waterstones had me scurrying to the till
with Dust Devils. I was intrigued enough to dig through his back list and track
down this copy of his first novel. I’m so glad I did.
Smith has delivered a
fast-paced, violent, gritty little book, peppered with intriguing characters
from both sides of the tracks; Burn – an ex- US marine with a gambling Jones
that forces him on the run, Mongrel - a survivor of the ghettos and some
serious jail-time, now trying to move on with his life and leave the gangs
behind and Gatsby – a corpulent, stinking, corrupt and zealous-Jesus loving
cop, feared by all on the impoverished Cape Flats.
With Burn fearful of
losing his family and his liberty after dealing with a violent home invasion,
witnessed by Mongrel and Gatsby under threat from an outside investigation, led
by Zondi, their paths cross.
Gatsby cracks Burn’s
cover and senses opportunity to get out from under Zondi and mayhem follows.
In addition to the
strong characters Smith has drawn, none of them particularly likeable, but all
memorable; his portrayal of a city of contrasting fortunes acts as an
interesting back-drop for the book. Gangs, ghetto, drug use, tik-whores,
poverty and apathy......it’s all in here.
Having recently read
both Deon Meyer and Mike Nicol, I would put Smith and Mixed Blood equal first
with Nicol’s Payback and a little way ahead of Meyer’s Trackers, in my SA crime
league table. I have further books to read from all three, which I’m hoping
will enliven the months ahead.
As this was Smith’s
debut novel, can he possibly get better with his subsequent books?
I’ll track down the others and find out,
Cape Town
Novels
Novellas
Best book this month so
far, 5 from 5.
Highly recommended.
I bought my copy on e-bay
after a bit of bargain hunting. 
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