Dead at Daybreak

Starred review from July 11, 2005
South African crime writer Meyer's expertly crafted second thriller (after 2004's Heart of the Hunter
) confirms his place as one of the genre's finest new stylists. Afrikaner Zatopek "Zet" van Heerden, a former cop, is slipping fast into drunken dissolution when a colleague pulls him up and gives him an opportunity. An attorney, Hope Beneke, needs a private investigator fast to find a missing will. An antiques dealer, Johannes Jacobus Smit, was recently found burnt with a blowtorch and shot execution-style, the contents of his walk-in safe, including his will, gone. Beneke and van Heerden have only seven days to find the document before Smit's considerable assets revert to the state, leaving his common-law wife destitute. It doesn't take long for van Heerden to discover that "Smit" wasn't the person whose papers he carried, and that someone very important, quite possibly the state itself, wants to hide his true identity. Meyer keeps the suspense moving throughout the third-person narrative, alternating back and forth with van Heerden's own first-person account of his past. This is a remarkable achievement from a singular new talent. Agent, Isobel Dixon at Blake Friedmann
.

Starred review from June 1, 2005
South African crime writer Meyer ("Heart of the Hunter") seamlessly merges two engrossing story lines in his second novel, at once a character study and a violent crime story set in Cape Town. In the first-person backstory, Zatopek "Zed" van Heerden traces his maturation from a boy in search of his soul mate to a hardened 38-year-old ex-cop who acts out at the slightest provocation. At first, Zed seems destined for a career as a criminal psychologist, cloistered in the world of academe. But when he tracks down the serial killer responsible years earlier for the brutal murder of his neighbor, he finds his true calling and joins the police force. He leaves after the death of his partner during a raid, but there's a much deeper reason for his guilt and despair. In the third-person crime story, Zed has been hired to find the will of Jan Smit, a murdered antiques dealer. As he begins to make headway in the case, sinister forces hinder his quest for the truth. A breathtaking pace, heart-pounding action set against a psychological backdrop, and a fascinating protagonist make this book a winner. Highly recommended for most public libraries. [See Prepub Alert, "LJ" 4/15/05.] -Ronnie H. Terpening, Univ. of Arizona, Tuscon

Copyright 2005 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from July 1, 2005
Chronicling events that transpire before those in 2004's excellent " Heart of the Hunter" , Meyer shifts focus here from Xhosa ex-assassin Thobela Mpayipheli to Afrikaner ex-cop Zatopek van Heerden (although both men play key roles in each other's stories). Zet, as van Heerden's famed artist mother calls him, quit the Cape Town homicide squad after failing to prevent his partner's death. He's still wallowing in guilt when an attorney hires him to track the missing will of a mysterious antiques dealer who was murdered 15 years ago with a blowtorch and an M-16. Zet has a week to uncover the man's true identity, find the document, and discover what secrets his walk-in safe used to hold. Meanwhile, in exchange for help publicizing the case, he must write his life story for a sexy but twisted media maven. Alternating chapters between Zet's soulful confessional and the explosive investigation, Meyer manages to ratchet up the tension so effectively that readers will have a hard time deciding which mystery they wish to pierce first. The author once again mines South Africa's fertile history of racial conflict and cold war gamesmanship for a narrative gem. (Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2005, American Library Association.)