Today Hodder celebrates the release of international bestseller Deon Meyer’s latest crime novel ICARUS. Originally published in Afrikaans by Human & Rousseau, ICARUS immediately shot to Number 1 in South Africa, garnering widespread recognition by holding on to the top spot for several weeks and selling over 40,000 copies. Now translated by K. L. Seegers, the UK can also experience a thriller set in a landscape that has never appeared so dazzling… or dangerous.
This novel witnesses the return of Benny Griessel, struggling to stay sober, and bruised by a policeman friend’s terrible suicide. Yet the discovery of a body buried beneath the sand dunes north of Cape Town will test his willpower even further. Why was notorious Ernst Richter, MD of a new tech startup, Alibi targeted? How exactly is a service that creates false appointments, documents and phone calls to enable people to cheat on their partners, linked to this high profile murder? With all eyes on Benny’s pursuit to uncover the truth, he will battle not just to track down the killer, but against the siren call of the whiskey bottle as well.
Grove Atlantic will publish in the US in October, and ICARUS has already received pre-publication praise:
‘Excellent … The richness of the characters, especially the multifaceted Benny, elevates this above most contemporary police procedurals.’ Publisher’s Weekly, Starred Review
Simon Lelic, author of RUPTURE and THE CHILD WHO, described ICARUS as ‘sharp and full of energy, Deon Meyer’s evocation of place and character second to none. The pace of the novel is breathless... Crime, wine and a thrilling finale: a rare and unexpected treat’.
Deon will embark on a European tour to celebrate the release of ICARUS later this year. Starting at Frankfurt Book Fair in October, he will spend a week in Germany with publishing house Aufbau, and will continue on to Prague, Cracow and Warsaw. He was also in Italy at the Salerno Crime Festival this summer, where he was warmly received.
Deon Meyer lives in Cape Town. His books are published in 27 countries, and have been awarded many prizes around the world: the Deutsche Krimi Prize in Germany, the ATKV Prize in South Africa, and Le Grand Prix de Littérature Policière and Le Prix Mystère de la Critique in France. His novel THIRTEEN HOURS was shortlisted for the 2010 CWA International Dagger, and HEART OF THE HUNTER, was longlisted for the 2005 IMPAC Prize and selected as one of Chicago Tribune's '10 best mysteries and thrillers of 2004'. Most recently, the spectacular COBRA was shortlisted for the 2015 CWA International Dagger.
Praise for Deon Meyer:
“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.
“Deon Meyer is one of the best crime writers on the planet” – Mail on Sunday
“A master on vintage form… He is a defining novelist of modern South Africa” – Barry Forshaw, Books of the Year 2012, Independent