International bestseller Deon Meyer is enjoying both chart and screen success with the Afrikaans launch of his new novel DONKERDRIF propelling him straight to another South African Number One, while in the UK the TV series TRACKERS, inspired by Meyer’s novel of the same title, has premiered on Sky Atlantic. As the Guardian wrote, this ‘full-speed South African thriller ratchets up the tension’, calling it ‘gripping’ and ‘a solid drama set against an action-packed backdrop of espionage, terrorism and political intrigue’ which ‘should raise heart rates.’
Human & Rousseau have sold more than 600,000 copies of Deon Meyer’s novels in Afrikaans and DONKERDRIF is the latest in the bestselling series featuring his much-loved detective characters, Benny Griessel and Vaughn Cupido. Deon’s novels are published in the UK by Hodder & Stoughton and in the US by Grove Atlantic, who brought out the most recent title THE LAST HUNT (Afrikaans title PROOI). Deon Meyer is also an international prize-winner and bestseller, published by Gallimard in France, Bruna in Holland, Aufbau’s Rütten & Loening in Germany and more than 20 other languages.
You can see more about Deon’s books and the various editions on his website here. DONKERDRIF will be out in English (again superbly translated by K.L. Seegers) and other languages in 2021.
TRACKERS is also published in the UK by Hodder and in the US by Grove Atlantic. The TV series, starring James Gracie, Sisanda Henna, Rolanda Marais and Ed Stoppard, is a co-production between Cinemax, South Africa’s M-Net and Germany’s ZDF, produced by Three River Fiction and Scene 23. The TRACKERS series was created by Deon Meyer, scripted by Robert Thorogood and others, and directed by Jyri Kähönen, with Ivan Strasburg director of photography. Full credits here.
The adaptation of TRACKERS interweaves three story strands into a sophisticated action-packed thriller that covers the length and breadth of South Africa, explosively colliding in Cape Town in a violent conspiracy involving organized crime, smuggled diamonds, state security, Black Rhinos, the CIA and an international terrorist plot.
Gracie plays Lemmer, a man who is seeking revenge while rebuilding his life in a small town after his career was destroyed in an earlier intelligence operation. Marais is Milla Strachan, a Cape Town housewife who has finally gathered the courage to walk out of her emotionally abusive home. She finds herself a new apartment and a job as a low-level data analyst for the Presidential Bureau of Intelligence and becomes an unlikely heroine as her new life and love puts her at the centre of a dangerous plot. Stoppard is Lukas Becker, an international man of mystery and alleged CIA operative who enters the PBI’s radar when Milla finds a major lead in her research. Sisanda Henna also won acclaim for his portrayal of Inkunzi Shabangu.
As Len Amato, President, HBO Films, Miniseries, and Cinemax said in a Deadline report: ‘Cinemax is delighted to partner with M-Net and ZDF in bringing Deon Meyer’s unforgettable characters and storytelling—all so richly rooted in the people and spectacular geography of South Africa—to screens around the world.’
TRACKERS has also been broadcast in the US, Australia and New Zealand, and across the Nordic countries and Europe.
Praise for Deon Meyer:
‘Deon Meyer should be on everyone's reading list.’ – Michael Connelly
‘Deon Meyer's name on the cover is a guarantee of crime writing at its best.’ – Tess Gerritsen
‘Deon Meyer is not just South Africa’s greatest crime writer, he’s up there with the best in the world.’ —Marcel Berlins, The Times
‘Deon Meyer is one of the best crime writers on the planet.’ – Mail on Sunday
Praise for TRACKERS
'TRACKERS is a cut way above the rest... a top-class thriller...' – The Bookseller
‘Critics were struggling to come up with new adjectives to praise Deon Meyer's TRACKERS, a menacing tale of smuggling and disappearances on a sprawling canvas of post-apartheid South Africa.’ – Barry Forshaw, Best Crime & Thrillers 2011, The 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.' – TLS
Praise for THE LAST HUNT
‘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
‘Superb’ – Publishers Weekly Starred Review
‘A relentless political thriller, as complex as it is dynamic.’ – Le Figaro Magazine
‘If he is wary of power and its excesses, Deon Meyer always trusts humanity. Even wounded and damaged by life, his heroes are magnificent.’ – Le Temps
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