Customer Reviews

Wake Up Dead: A Thriller

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book flat out kicks a**! I think the most amazing aspect of Smith's writing style is how he allows you to see the characters in a certain manner for a few chapters and then he puts you into their heads and turns your impression of them completely upside down. The characters all have their own story to tell and Smith tells them all with a style that keeps you hungering for more of their narrative. Smith is one of those writers that switch narrators and when he leaves one perspective you feel angry because you are into that character's point of view, but then you start the next chapter and think "Oh...I couldn't wait to see what this character was up to". Smith is one of the newer hard-boiled noir authors along with Millar, Zeltserman, Flexer and Chaney that is giving the genre new life. Smith has already established himself as a force to be reckoned with in the noir field and his writing seems to have gotten even better in his second book.

I don't know the etiquette about reviewing on amazon a book that you blurbed, but man, I love this book and its great compulsory vibe. With its large cast of characters that violently collide throughout the course of Wake Up Dead, this book reads a bit like very violent Elmore Leonard. Roxy Palmer is looking to escape a bad marriage and bad situation (as well as bad life decisions), soldier-for-hire Billy Afrika is looking for payment and redemption, a cold-blooded killer and gangbanger Piper is looking for his true love---and how these 3 lives are going to intersect in Cape Town, South Africa leads to one of the best crime thrillers to come around in years. Right now I don't think anyone is writing better crime thrillers than Roger Smith.

After a carjacking in Cape Town leaves Roxy Palmer's gunrunner husband dead, she must stay out of the sights of the carjacking gang members, Disco and Godwynn, two of the many dark and disturbing characters, an ex-cop turned mercenary, Billy Afrika; and Piper, a psychopath bent on renewing his vows with his jailhouse "wife," Disco.
Roger Smith definitely paints a dark image over Cape Town, especially the Cape Flats area. Dont' expect any heroes in this latest thriller. What you get is a dark and unsettling thriller that will make your stomach curl. The atmosphere the author creates is real and palpable. A crime thriller that will surround you with its bleakness. Don't expect a happy ending in the old fashion sense but more in an authentic sense.

I'm not sure what's darker in this breezy noir: the hyper-seedy realization of modern Cape Town* or it's desperate cast of how-low-can-you-go characters. When the hero of your story is a freelancing mercenary for a Blackwater-like security company, you know the bad guys are going to be pretty bad. I also couldn't tell whether it was winking at trashy pulp or actually wallowing in it. Either way, once I got into it, I couldn't put it down. Be prepared to see people at their worst, committing acts that would make a Russian mobster blush. Just don't expect any of the following: ambiguity, subtlety, or a realistic setting. Everything (cast, setting, plot) is over-saturated and amped up to provide immediate sensory impact. I would usually dismiss tactics like this, except here they work so well. Or maybe my standards are lower because it's July and makes great beach reading.

If you really want to see how modern literary noir is done, go get Colin Harrison's "Afterburn".

SPOILER ALERT BELOW

*I know nothing of what life is like for the average South African mobster, whereas the author of this book is actually FROM there. However, I propose that, even in Cape Town, criminals do not often drive around with people tied to the back of their cars, disembowel one another with chainsaws, or murder people while passersby look on nonchalantly. That kind of stuff only happens in Boston.

Roger Smith's second novel (the first was the excellent Mixed Blood) is set once again in Cape Town, South Africa. It starts with an act of violence and never lets up on the violent theme. Yet it is a book that you will read quickly and remember.
He creates an array of characters to include an gorgeous blond American model, her corrupt husband, an ex-cop turned mercenary who is returning to his home in South Africa, two evil gang leaders, one who is in jail and one who is on the violent streets of Cape Town and both who are maintaining their vicious acts from their own location (Why does the prison gang leader want to escape and then be captured again? Read and be shocked.) various drug addicted punks, a corrupt cop, a widow of an ex-officer and many other key characters. It is a story of multiple reasons for these leads to seek revenge against each other. If you read Robert Crais this is his level of brutality times 10. Who survives and who doesn't forces the reader to turn pages slowly and be shocked at what happens.
The first 25 pages introduce these many characters in dazzling and sometimes confusing fashion. Then Smith provides magnificent background as to their history and motivations for their individual beliefs and desires. So be patient and your patience will be rewarded quickly as you gain vivid knowledge of the people.
Smith subtitles this book as "A Thriller" and that is a perfect description.
Be forewarned, this is one bloody and often horrifying story. The deeds and methods of killing committed by various people in this book are described in thorough and often cringe inducing fashion. If you find revulsion in reading about brutal murder, this book may not be for you. However if you want a book that shows the dark side of South Africa today and creates superb drama, then don't miss this one.

This brutal, violent thriller offered an interesting peek into a world I knew nothing about - drug/class/race warfare in Cape Town, South Africa.

Smith does a great job portraying the various players in this story, few of whom have any redeeming characteristics. They are all liars, thieves, drug dealers, and murderers; however, through the book we come to know their backgrounds and understand their motivations.

In this world, good does not win over evil. The victors left standing at the end are those who dodged bullets, watched the other idiots make more mistakes, and ultimately got lucky. It's an exciting, fast, gritty, morally ambiguous tale and a satisfying read. Just don't expect to feel good about it.

This was a very gratifying read. The author's writing is not wordy but concise, as most authors don't seem to be able to do. Mr. Smith gets right to the point of his story, moving his plot very smoothly. I wish more writers were like that. I couldn't put it down, except I had to kinda glance over most of the brutalty because, for me, it was too graphic. However, the storyline was tight, interesting, and heart stopping. The story had me grasping my throat of what was going to happen next. This book was super-to-the-max pure excitement! The main characters, especially Roxy who began this whole fiasco, and Disco, Billy, and Piper were unforgettable; and for me, it had a satisfying ending.

I also recommend the first book I read by Roger Smith "Mixed Blood." I give it four stars.. It's a very good read too. I can't wait for his next book to come out. Hurry up Mr. Smith. There aren't many out there like you!

Other authors I recommend, if I may, are Robert Crais and Mike Lawson. I have every book they've written.

I was looking for someone new to read when someone suggested I check out Wake Up Dead.

I did and got more than I bargained for.

It's the best suggestion anyone has given me in a long time. Smith's style is poetically engaging. Some beautiful and evocative, but concise, descriptions. (You'll read these little bits twice; once aloud.) He has a good ear for dialogue. He moves between multiple characters well without any trickery or annoying break in action. The pacing is expert; switching easily between action and emotion; quiet, insightful characterization and stone-cold violence.

In the future, I'll keep my eye out for more by Smith.

I am not going to describe the action of the book. It's been done in some of the other reviews here.
I love books, books of any genre that take no prisoners. Fussy writing turns me off faster than a nerd turns off a princess. This book sure is not fussy. It rocks along, but the author somehow keeps it from being a cartoonish action book. The characters have a subtle reality to them, that shows this guy Smith is turning into a master of the written word. Rarely does a writer have the ability to write action, non stop action at that, but still have real characters, still have a strong sense of place.
Talking about a sense of place. Smith writes about a world, Cape Town, that no other author comes close to describing. Smith's knowledge of the sunny side of the street and the dark corners is unparalleled. People may talk about Connelly being the master describer of LA. Smith in my opinion makes Connelly look like a wooden prose artist. Smith oozes you into a world you have never been and more than likely never go to except in fiction. This is a tour through a world that will make you glance over your shoulder and lock your door at night. The average tourist never experiences all the nooks and crannies of Cape Town that this author takes you too.
last year after reading Smith's debut novel Mixed Blood I wanted to read more. Now the person who discovers this writer now has two books he can read back to back.
If you like good genre writing. These two books will make you realize what you have been missing up till now.

I owe my interest in South African crime writers to Roger Smith. I was hooked with Mixed Blood: A Thriller and Wake Up Dead set the hook. Like Roger's first novel, Wake Up Dead is a fast paced, very violent, crime thriller set in Cape Town, South Africa, mostly in the Cape Flats area. Thrillers can be disposable entertainment but Smith's books combine three criteria that make a book last for me: story, characters, and location and Smith takes these up a level in Wake Up Dead. He doesn't sacrifice character for story instead he populates the book with well developed, interesting people that include common variety street thugs and ex-cons, a scary psychopath in love, a former model from the U.S named Roxy, and an ex-cop/ex-mercenary product of the Flats with the great name of Billy Afrika. Billy is back in town to get what is owed (legitimately) to him and Roxy is the means to that end. He is a little better than the forces he is up against but he has a depth that makes him intriguing. Smith keeps several plot threads working and the body count mounting as he brings everyone together for a satisfying ending. The location of the story is very important. The vivid descriptions of the Cape Flats area of Cape Town brought me forcefully into the story. The Flats were apartheid's dumping grounds, where the government forced non-whites to live. It is also home to gangs and drug trade. Think of the Baltimore of the HBO show, The Wire, only much more dangerous. Wake Up Dead does have scenes of brutal physical violence but the violence is a reflection of the environment and not there for its own sake. Before you start reading Wake Up Dead, take a look at this item that plays a large part in the story Cold Steel Kudu Lock Folder Knife. It will make the story even more vivid.