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Dead at Daybreak

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A brutal murder, an empty safe and a missing will - this is the central theme around which this thrilling who-dun-it from South African Deon Meyer evolves. The unlikely hero takes the form of Zatopek "Zet" van Heerden, a former policeman who once excelled in Police Science, but now is a lonely, aggressive alcoholic, bent on self destruction. It is also well known that the safest place to be when Zet fires a gun is directly in front of the target.

Zet was on the scene when an accused serial killer fatally shot his partner and mentor, but this is not the only skeleton in his closet. The author skillfully ties in his past and present, so we soon get a picture of what makes Zet tick.

At the beginning of the story, a drunken tussle with a group of five men lands Zet some jail time, but a former colleague links him up with attorney Hope Beneke, who has a job for him. Hope's client is Wilhelmina Johanna "Wilna" van As, significant other of Johannes Jacobus "Jan" Smit, the unfortunate target of the aforementioned murder and robbery. Zet has seven days to recover the missing will before Wilna loses her inheritance, and the investigation takes every ounce of his considerable skill.

It immediately becomes obvious that nothing can be taken at face value, and that the case goes back nearly two dozen years to 1976. Time is running out, the situation is getting desperate and the players are bringing out the big guns.

A richly embellished tale, laced with murder, mayhem, intrigue, a little romance and a lot of cooking.


Amanda Richards, January 14, 2006

The country of South Africa is the exotic and fascinating background to Deon Meyer's thrillers. His books are filled with names and places in the Afrikaans and traditional languages: Mzimkhulu, Mpayipheli, Van Heerden, de Jager, Groote Schur, Gerhardus Basson. I loved trying to pronounce these words. They sound so beautiful and rare in my attempts at verbalization. The book also deals with contemporary issues in South Africa, especially racism. Mr. Meyer has again created a top level thriller with Dead at Daybreak. After reading Blood Safari, which I loved, I decided to read all of Mr. Meyer's thrillers.

This novel is about several things - - a lost will, a lost man and an event that occurred thirty years ago that is leaving dead men in its wake today. Zet Van Heerden is a former police officer who has spent the last several years in a drunken haze, fighting and brawling as he tries to escape his personal demons. After a night in jail, a friend rescues him and sets him up with a job as a private investigator for a female attorney who is trying to find a missing will. Zet lives a lonely life. His main interests, when he's not drinking, are cooking and listening to classical music -- especially Mozart and Beethoven., Zet is very close to his mother who is a famous South African artist. As Zet chases down the will, a conspiracy unfolds, leaving many dead men in its wake and putting those close to Zet at risk.

Concurrent with the thriller's narrative, the story of Zet's personal history unfolds. Every other chapter in the book is a chapter in Zet's memoirs. We watch Zet grow from his childhood into the man he is today. We understand how he came to believe that all of us are evil, that we carry badness within us. We watch as Zet searches for the perfect woman only to be foiled over and over again. We come to really know him and his demons.

Thrillers are ubiquitous. How does a reader find the truly exceptional ones - - those worth reading. Once way is to pay attention to reviews. This is a fantabulous book, one that came up to my every expectation. I plan to read the rest of Meyer's books and hope they're all as good as the first two I've read.

Meyer's second work of fiction, Dead at Daybreak, is set in South Africa, as was his impressive first novel, Heart of the Hunter, once more proving that greed and murder are universal, humanity equally flawed anywhere in the world. Zet van Heerden is disenchanted with life since his partner's death, having quit the force, spending his days in alcoholic oblivion. His old cronies in the department think it is Nagel's death at the hands of a serial killer that has pushed van Heerden over the edge, but it is more than that, an unbearable guilt that the disillusioned detective carries in his heart.

When van Heerden, now a private investigator, receives a call from attorney Hope Beneke, he begrudgingly accepts an assignment to recover a handwritten will, stolen from Johannes Smit, an antiques dealer who was tortured with a blowtorch before being shot, execution-style, in the back of the head. Smit's specially built safe is empty, but nothing else in the house has been touched. The antique dealer's live-in partner, Wilna van As, has only seven days to find the will and claim the estate. Zet's job is made more difficult by the time restriction, his frustration mounting with each dead end. But when he discovers there is no paper trail for Smit prior to starting his business, the PI turns his attentions to Smit's activities pre-1983, opening a Pandora's box of killers, intelligence agents, mercenaries and assorted desperadoes, all of whom will do anything to keep certain information quiet, threatening van Heerden's life and those around him. Suddenly, Zet is pursued by faceless assassins and determined intelligence officers in an accelerating cat-and-mouse game that quickly degenerates into violence.

The chapters counting backward from day seven, the prose moves back and forth between present and past, the investigation of Smit's murder reopening old wounds, bringing to the surface what the protagonist so desperately wants to suppress. Within the plot of Dead at Daybreak, Meyer creates a parallel universe, the police procedural translated into a struggle to contain the despair that has crippled van Heerden's spirit. Forced to look into his darkest motivations, Zet sees only the evil, unforgiving and without compassion for himself, his concentrated self-denial usurps his waking life, poisoning the present and the future; only the jailer can unlock the cell. Ironically, van Heerden's mother and Hope Beneke have the patience that may foster his resurfacing, as both women allow him the freedom to escape from a moral quagmire of his own making.

Constructing a picture of a man in conflict, Meyer ties art to life in a subtle marriage of music, passion and imagination, giving a sense of purpose to suffering: "I didn't realize how finally, how dramatically the morning of my life would spill me over the edge like so much flotsam". In this fascinating drama, personal morality overlaps professionalism in a moral quagmire, the characters sharply drawn with complicated motives. Even Tiny Mpayipheli, the hero of Heart of the Hunter, makes an appearance, lending his critical support to van Heerden on the final bloody leg of their journey. Insightful and psychologically taut, this South African thriller is compelling, a thoughtful examination of denial and personal responsibility and the acceptance of human limitations. Once again, Meyers displays his impressive skills as an observer of human nature, with all its misplaced passions and yearning for compatibility with the interior landscape of the heart. Luan Gaines/2005.

Zapotek "Zet" van Heerden is beaten, bruised, and sleeping off a drinking binge in a South African jail when he is hired to work as a private detective for attorney Hope Beneke. Hope's client is the lover of Johannes Jacobus Smit, an antiques dealer who was tortured with a blowtorch before being shot and killed. His safe, reportedly containing two million dollars, has been emptied, and his will, purportedly leaving everything to his lover, has been stolen. If it cannot be found within a week, everything will go to the state.

Living on the edge and decidedly antisocial, Zet van Heerden is fighting numerous personal demons. Once honored as an intelligent and resourceful crime fighter, he feels responsible for the death of his mentor, Nagel, who was shot in front of him. Filled with rage which he does not even try to control, he now lashes out at the world and then escapes into an alcoholic stupor.

As van Heerden tries to unearth the will and information about Smit's past, he also investigates events from 1976, when Smit was in the army, and from 1983, when Smit accumulated an enormous amount of cash. During his research, Zet is haunted by two other cases--one from 1991, involving the murder and mutilation of a woman who lived behind him when he was a teenager, the event which led him to join the police force, and the recent tragedy involving Nagel's death, which led him to leave the force.

As van Heerden's family background, his past love life, and the events which have brought him to his present state unfold, the reader comes to appreciate how disturbed van Heerden really is and to feel sympathy for him. A wide variety of peripheral characters in various police organizations add to the depth of the novel and expand its scope, as van Heerden must deal with the Murder and Robbery division, a "friendly" gangster with a large security force, the Urban Anti-Terrorist Force, the military Defense Force, and the American consular office.

Meyer resists the temptation to turn this compelling psychological mystery and character study into a quasi-love story, choosing instead to involve the reader less through romance than through intriguing and alternating stories, time periods, and points of view. Details about South African life and the individual characters give immediacy and emotional intensity to the action, and Meyer's deliberate withholding of key information keeps the various mysteries fresh and exciting. The conclusion is satisfying on all levels, making this unusual and psychologically astute mystery far more intriguing than the typical police procedural. n Mary Whipple

This author is brilliant at plot, suspense, and developing three dimensional characters. I'm still waiting for more of his books to come to Canada.

A compelling read set in South Africa -- I'll leave the synopsis for Amazon's descriptions. Meyer is a very accomplished wordsmith. The first half of the book is an excellent example of keeping a reader's attention and character development, but you'll not even consider putting it down -- it's a gem to the end.

All in all, a well written, intelligent suspense novel and I wouldn't hesitate reading more by this author and highly recommending this one.

If you like this series, this is another winner. These stories are well written and heartfelt, a picture of South Africa that I had never experienced before.

This is a wonderful book. Whether you are familiar with South Africa, as a setting or not, Mr. Meyer writes adventures with plots and characters that could actually happen anywhere in the world. The South African history adds depth to the excitement as well as development of a poignant story. Mr. Meyer has wonderful descriptions and a unique style of writing that has me look forward to each of his books. I found this book a rich thriller with clever characters and plot twists. I highly recommend this book.

Once you get to know the main character, Zatopek van Heerden's tortured and artistic soul you will get to love him. This novel will keep you reading until the early morning hours. Deon Meyer is a an engaging and entertaining writer. Great book.

This is South African Deon Meyer's second thriller. His first release was Heart of the Hunter in 2004.

Former Afrikaner cop, Zatopek "Zet" van Heerden is a drunk. He"s in jail sleeping off a huge hangover after a fight with five (yes, five) dentists. This is definitely a man with a past and a lot of problems. In other words, he does not play well with others.

Hope Beneke is an attorney who hires Zet to locate a missing will. An antiques dealer, Johannes Smit, was killed execution style and his safe was emptied. As Zet tries to stay sober and learn more about Smit, he discovers the man did not exist prior to 1983. Zet attempts to learn who Smit was but there are others who will stop at nothing to prevent that. Things begin to happen and Zet's survival depends on what he can do in seven days.

Armchair Interviews says: Deon Meyers is a master storyteller. His action-packed novel is filled with scintillating tension, the characters are multi-dimensional and compelling and the plot is exciting. This book just plain sizzles and I can"t wait to get my hands on Heart of the Hunter. I am a new fan.

In South Africa, a mutual friend persuades attorney Hope Beneke to hire former cop Afrikaner and self pitying drunk Zatopek "Zet" van Heerden to find a missing will. Recently in Durbanville someone executed and burned with a blow torch millionaire antiques dealer Johannes Jacobus Smit in the victim's home; however, the deceased's will and other items in his walk-in safe vanished. The attorney further explains to Zet that he has one week to accomplish the mission or the state confiscates Smit's wealth leaving his common-law wife Wilhelmina Johanna van As of eleven years with zilch.

Sobering up Zet knows the probability of solving this case in seven days is impossible, but begins making inquiries. He quickly learns that Johannes never existed before 1983 making the case even more complex and needing a divine miracle. Zet tries to track who Smit previously was, but thugs and law enforcement officials do anything and everything to prevent his learning the dead man's former identity even as the clock ticks away.

Though self wallowing and loathing himself, Zet still retains the HEART OF THE HUNTER as he investigates who Smit was, why he was murdered, and what happened to the will. The story line is action-packed for the most part though when the hero looks back at his own life while searching for clues as to Smit, the tale, though interesting in terms of character development, slows down on these sidebars. Still this is an exhilarating legal thriller private investigative tale that showcases how talented Deon Meyer is while providing a deep look at South Africa then and now.

Harriet Klausner