Product Description

When Johnny K is kidnapped and held to ransom, his daughter turns to the only man she knows can help her - his old friend - Tiny. The kidnappers want a disk from her safe that contains extremely sensitive data, and she has seventy-two hours in which to deliver, or her father will die. But there are those watching Tiny's every move, monitoring, waiting for him trip up and lead them to what they want. Two warring factions with innocents caught in the middle It is only a matter of time...

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #38579 in Books
• Published on: 2004-04-26
• Original language: English
• Dimensions: 7.05" h x 1.06" w x 4.41" l, .53 pounds
• Binding: Paperback
• 432 pages

From Publishers Weekly
A hulking black motorcycle-shop janitor named Tiny is the unlikely hero of this frantic, intelligent thriller by a South African crime writer. Tiny (aka Thobela Mpayipheli aka Umzingeli, the Hunter) is a former KGB-trained assassin who plied his trade in service of the struggle against apartheid. He is now a peace-loving family man, but when a plea for help comes from the daughter of an old friend, he is forced to race across the country on a motorcycle to deliver a coveted disk, chased by a homicidal special forces commander. His fear of revisiting the violence of his past feels real—the sincere hesitation of a dark-skinned man in a country where violent acts multiply like viruses, especially where black blood is involved. "His hands so terribly ready to kill, his brain clattering out the knowledge of the vital points on the soldier's body like machine gun fire, despairing, don't, don't, don't..." In other ways, this is a standard thriller complete with CIA involvement, an appearance by Muslim extremists and a loose, rat-a-tat prose that keeps pages turning. The central plot twist is predictable and too few of the many story lines are resolved, but the freshness of the context and the emotional complexity of the hero's journey are ample compensation for readers who want a more thought-provoking spy story.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
*Starred Review* Thobela Mpayipheli has settled into a sedate but rewarding life with the woman he loves. He works as a gofer at a South African motorcycle shop and readies his partner's young son for life on a farm--until an ex-boss asks him to perform a dangerous favor. His Xhosa warrior's heart racing, Thobela soon finds himself driving hard toward Nigeria with a hard drive full of secrets the unified government wishes to file away for good. Thrillingly competent at evading the police, intelligence services, and even a crack paramilitary team, Thobela struggles with the novel's core question--Can people change their essential nature?--while the authorities uncover his deadly past as a weapon of the antiapartheid movement on loan to the Soviet bloc. Like John le Carre's The Tailor of Panama, this novel examines the rippling horrors too often caused by so-called intelligence agents working for foreign masters in backwater nations. With simmering racial tensions, a bounty of natural resources, and a government whose members worked both sides of the cold-war fence, South Africa should prove fertile ground for many fine spy thrillers to come. Don't be surprised if quite a few of them are written by Meyer. Frank Sennett
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review
'A new book by Deon Meyer is a cause for celebration. Heart of the Hunter is not just an exciting story of a pursuit; it paints a thought-provoking picture of today's South Africa' -- Sunday Telegraph 20031110 'A brand-new talent and a welcome change of locale for thriller fans...An impressively tangled web and taut narrative keeps the reader guessing until the last couple of pages' -- Heat*** on DEAD AT DAYBREAK 20031110 'Despite the complexity of its tightly woven plot - skilfully revealed through newspaper articles and intelligence reports - Meyer's U.S. debut moves at a breathtaking pace that will carry readers away. A sympathetic protagonist and the landscape of South Africa add colour to the story. Highly recommended' -- Starred Review, Library Journal 20031110 'Exceptional...a taut post-Apartheid thriller pitting a common man against a corrupt government...Breakneck pacing, staccato dialogue...think Mystic River meets Rambo, in a setting suggesting The Gods Must Be Crazy' -- Bookpage 20031110 'Out of post-apartheid South Africa comes a thriller good enough to nip at the heels of le Carre...Wonderful setting; rich, colourful cast, headed by a valiant/vulnerable protagonist' -- Kirkus Reviews (Starred Review) 20031110 'Like John le Carre's THE TAILOR OF PANAMA, this novel examines the rippling horrors too often caused by so-called intelligence agents working for foreign masters in backwater nations. With simmering racial tensions, a bounty of natural resources, and a government whose members worked both sides of the cold-war fence, South Africa should prove fertile ground for many fine spy thrillers to come. Don't be surprised if quite a few of them are written by Meyer.' -- Starred Review, Booklist 20031110