Cobra

Deon Meyer

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From the author of Thirteen Hours - A Sunday Times '100 best crime novels and thrillers since 1945' pick

Why would a mathematics professor from Cambridge University, renting a holiday home outside Cape Town, require a false identity and three bodyguards? And where is he, now that they are dead? The only clue to the bodyguards' murder is the snake engraved on the shell casings of the bullets that killed them.

Investigating the massacre, Benny Griessel and his team find themselves being drawn into an international conspiracy with shocking implications. It seems it is not just the terrorists and criminals of Britain and South Africa who may fear the Professor's work, but the politicians too.

As the body count begins to spiral viciously, Benny must put his new-found love life aside and focus on finding the one person who could give him a break in the case: a teenage pickpocket on the run in the city. But Benny is not the only person hunting for Tyrone Kleinbooi . . .

Shortlisted for the CWA International Dagger, COBRA is a relentlessly suspenseful, topical and richly rewarding novel from an author who is acclaimed around the world as a brilliant voice in crime fiction.

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Praise for Cobra

  • Praise for Deon Meyer - . . .The narrative is well-plotted, and the novel brings to life the rich and volatile diversity of contemporary South Africa. There's nothing flashy here, just a good story, very well told. Would there were more like it. - SpectatorDeon Meyer is a top notch plotter and has created one of the best ensemble (and multi-racial) casts of any modern police procedural series. - Shots magazineDeon Meyer's gritty crime novels [are] part police procedural, part political thriller . . . What makes Meyer such a national treasure - and as good as anyone in the world - is that even if you have no knowledge or interest in South Africa's history or present, his books are compelling page-turners. Politics and race are just part of the intricately crafted superstructure bolted onto the rock-solid chassis of a top-quality crime thriller, driven by a writer with deceptive skill. - Books Live (South Africa)Crime fiction with real texture and intelligence. - IndependentTells a cracking story and captures the criminal kaleidoscope of a nation. - Times Literary SupplementThis year's great discovery: classy, edgy writing, subtly plotted and beautifully balanced between fast-paced action, pungent social comment and the process of investigation. - Weekend Australian

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Deon Meyer

Deon Meyer

Born in South Africa in 1958, Deon Meyer was a journalist, advertising copywriter, Internet manager and brand strategist before he became a novelist. Meyer has published fifteen novels and two short story collections. His books have been translated into 28 languages in more than 40 countries worldwide.

Meyer has written several series for television, six screenplays for feature films, and produced and directed movies. Dead Before Dying and Trackers have both been made into TV series in South Africa, and in 2023 the Benny Griessel series premiered under the name Devil's Peak on M-Net. Heart of the Hunter was released worldwide as a Netflix Original in March 2024 and was Netflix's number one streamed film for two consecutive weeks, with 25 million views globally in the first three weeks.

Meyer was knighted by France in 2021 as Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres. He lives with his family in Stellenbosch, South Africa.

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