The Depths of Deception [Kindle Edition]

Ian Fraser (Author)

Book Description

There are only a few good solutions in a world gone mad.

America has disappeared some years ago. A neo-fascist Party has come to power in the UK. China is on the rise.

A submarine hurtles through the cold dark waters of the Atlantic en route to an unknown destination. Only the ship’s doctor knows its true mission, but he is not who he appears to be.

A sweeping tale moving from the violent heart of Apartheid South Africa, to the ruins of the United Kingdom, and down to the edge of the world in the frozen Antarctic landscape, The Depths of Deception is a tale of revenge, served as a shatteringly cold dish.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Ian Fraser is a multi-award winning playwright and author. He grew up in South Africa. Penguin Books published his autobiography, dealing with his army experience under Apartheid. His work was nominated for and gradually began winning most of the South African theatre awards. For a decade, both his solo comedy and dramatic works staged by various Arts Councils won awards and broke box office records at the Grahamstown Festival, Africa’s largest Arts Festival.
He relocated to the USA in 2006, and is now a naturalized US citizen. Since arriving, his work has been staged in Wisconsin, Florida, Scotland (in the UK), and in 2009, by Brown University. He’s completed four novels in the last two years. He writes fast.

Product Details

• File Size: 390 KB
• Print Length: 213 pages
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B004RPVVTI
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Not Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #196,845 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 18 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars meticulous revenge served on ice October 5, 2012

By Shoshana Hathaway

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

I have discovered many good authors, and more wonderful books since I bought my Kindle, but there are a few, a very few, authors who stand out for me. Each one has a distinctive voice, and each one pleases me so much that I will buy any book that author writes, with or without recommendations. Of course, that doesn't guaranty that I'll like each and every book, but the probability is that I will. I can count the number of these very special authors on the fingers of one hand ..and I have just added a name to this extremely short list. Ian Fraser is such an author, and here's why.

The first thing that impressed me was the writing style. It is unique, usually graceful, always sensuous in the true meaning of the word ...it involves all the senses ...and it can range from spare and direct when describing fast action to marvelously poetic with no pretentiousness, to dreamy and almost surreal.

Then I got involved in the story ...and while the elements aren't unique, the way they are handled are. The narrator remains a bit of a mystery in some ways; we learn about him gradually, as the story unfolds, and he is always presented in a way that keeps him just a little impersonal, although we learn a great deal about his life. I found this disorienting at first, because I'm used to learning such things as name, Nationality, and physical description right from the start, but I had to piece information about this character together as the book progressed. In other ways, however, we get to know him extremely well, and, while he seems to keep his distance from the reader, by the end, he becomes dear and important.

The world of this book is Dystopian, although that is not so prominent as to make this specifically a dystopian novel ..but a drama set against a Dystopian background ...and that background is all too believable for comfort. Within it, though, specific locales, especially in the 3rd world are presented brilliantly.

One of the things I treasure about this book, and what will remain with me, is the way Mr. Fraser can bring an exotic city to vibrant life. His descriptions of Thailand, some cities in India, and Africa are so vivid and full of life that I was in danger of forgetting, exactly, where I was. I could hear, see, smell, taste and touch his locales ..they surrounded and immersed me as though I walked those streets, and, for a while, I did. People tend to form their impressions of places not from grand buildings and monuments but from an amalgamation of minutiae ..and the author understands this, and uses it to wonderful advantage.

While the characters are not developed in the usual conventions of fiction, by the time the book is over, the reader realizes that these people are 3 dimensional, living, breathing human beings ...and that what happens to them matters.

At heart, of course, this is an action novel, and the action is fast, furious, deadly, and presented so well that this reader found out, precisely, how long she could last between breaths. The plot is tight, and has an inevitability about it that is so logical it couldn't have proceeded in any other way. It twists and turns and takes strange paths, always interesting, always engaging. I knew what had to happen, but, until the very end, I didn't foresee how it would happen; and that, when all was said and done, was also totally logical and completely understandable.

This book has managed to imprint itself on me, as truly wonderful books do, and I will be reading a great deal more of this author ...everything I can find, to be perfectly honest.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Deception February 6, 2012

By Jeff Dawson

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

Before I bought this book I read most of the reviews and then checked out the Authors page. Mr. Fraser is very intelligent and educated man. He is apparently well traveled and has encountered many interesting experiences in life. I gladly hit the buy button. That was the highlight.

I really thought this work was going to be in the likes of Clancy, Ludlum, or Allistaire MacLean. That is not the case.

I will say this, Mr. Fraser has an excellent command of the English language, but I wasn't looking for a book of literature, I was after a face paced exciting thriller, not a testament to current political ideals and beliefs.

Call me old fashion, but I like a definitive break with chapters. This was glaring missed. I found myself constantly going back to make sure where the change started.

The high point of the book was the description of his family life in Africa. This part flowed nicely, but this was supposed to be an espionage thriller, not the apparent life the author lived in-country. If you want to know how to live off of the land in Africa, he covers that with great description.

The beginning did grab me with the description of downtown London in shambles from a rebellion of sorts. But we are never informed just how this came about. I was looking for more background. When the main character gets into character and performs the job he was trained to do, assassination, he is precise and coldly meticulous, it leaves us wanting more, but alas, it isn't too be. The reader is whisked back to the Sahara's of South Africa.

I know many enjoyed this story, but "Ice Station Zebra" it isn't. So for what it is worth, if you are looking for a very well written book of literature you will enjoy it, if you want none stop action, this isn't for you.

15 of 20 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars I would have called it "Depths of Confusion" September 27, 2011

By dcleggett

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

As an avid reader of Spy/Assassin/Apocalyptic/Technothriller genres there is much about Depths of Deception I should have liked but unfortunately this novel fell far short of my expectations. That is not to say it is poorly written, in fact, I found very few grammatical errors and a descriptive style that lends tremendous authenticity to the locales - the author is either very well traveled or an excellent researcher. My problem is the overall pacing of the plot and the numerous "blind alleys" within it that create a sense of expectation that is ultimately unfulfilled. I suppose it is possible some of these issues could be addressed in a second book however the conclusion of "Depths" makes that unlikely. Consequently I am left with a treatise on the failures of modern society wrapped in a veil of technothriller revenge. While the other elements (America gone dark, UK in shambles, and China ascendent) add ambiance they are never used to further the plot. Key twists are never fully explained and serve to create a sense of disbelief in the story.

This novel felt a little like "Out of Africa" meets "Hitman" as envisioned by James Rollins. The ingredients are not bad but somehow it just never comes together.

"I had a farm in Africa"......

More About the Author

Ian Fraser is a South African playwright, writer, and comedian, now living in the USA. His memoir, My Own Private Orchestra, published by Penguin Books, was nominated for the CNA Literary Award in 1994.
His plays won a variety of national South African Literary and Theater prizes, including Amstel Playwright of the Year, Tonight-AA Life Vita Award for Comedy, and several Pick of the Fringe Awards at the Grahamstown National Arts Festival.
Recently, his plays were produced at the Brown/Trinity Playwrights Repertory Theater in Providence, RI and at Garioch Theatre Festival in the United Kingdom. Fraser was a nationally-syndicated columnist for the Johannesburg daily newspaper The Star, and wrote a weekly "Fraser's Razor" column for the Mail and Guardian newspaper.