cover image Blood Safari

Blood Safari

Deon Meyer, , trans. from the Afrikaans by K.L. Seegers. . Atlantic Monthly, $19.95 (374pp) ISBN 978-0-8021-1903-2

Set mainly in the game preserves of South Africa, Meyer's stellar stand-alone thriller delivers muscular prose with a hero to match. When three masked men break into the Cape Town home of Emma le Roux on Christmas Eve, Emma manages to escape over the wall into her neighbor's yard. Emma fears the attack may be connected to recent evidence that her brother, Jacobus, who she thought died 20 years before while serving as a temporary game ranger, is actually alive. She hires professional bodyguard Martin Lemmer to protect her while she investigates. Lemmer is a true original, tough, with a checkered past, a restless inquiring mind and the skills to thwart the masked thugs who are determined to kill his client. After Emma is severely injured, Lemmer goes on the offensive, bent on revenge and determined to solve the ever-widening mystery that threatens to kill them both. Once again, Meyer (Devil's Peak ) shows he's a writer not to be missed. (Sept.)