Picking this book up from the library coincides with two major events in my life: one that I am very much involved in and one that is happening in my peripheral vision so to speak. The latter event being the 2010 FIFA World Cup which is hosted for the very first time by South Africa at the moment of this writing. The other event is the 2010 Global Reading Challenge which prompted me to look for a book by another African writer apart from the one I know and I mean the only one I know(!) ie Alexander McCall Smith, so I have a lot to thank the challenge for plucking me out of my safe cocoon and making me venture out into the big bad world and embrace more writers, both veteran and budding.
Set in post-Aparthied Africa, the whole story tells of Thobela "Tiny" Mpayipheli aka Umzingeli (the Hunter), a former KGB assassin, who turns fugitive motorcyclist when his old comrade's daughter asks him for his help in delivering a computer disk to a place thousands of miles away in Lusaka in order to free her father from captive. Apparently, the disk he is carrying contains extremely sensitive classified information on the government and intelligence service and the word out is that the authorities have the right to use any necessary force to stop him. The nationwide manhunt is sought by intelligence agencies, the military and the police led by a strange woman, Janina Mentz. Unfortunately, two innocent people became pawns in the chase, two people who are very close to Thobela's heart.
I cannot decide what to make of this book. The protagonist, Thobela "Tiny" Mpayipheli is the sort of hero who draws you to him because he is seemingly simple yet deeply mysterious. Caught between his past life and the present, he is thoughtful, kind, strong, loyal, humble, a good family man and yet, lurking beneath the unassuming facade is a dangerous and violent man. I like him.
It is quite hard to write of humour when one writes of dangerous missions and situations but if you read between the lines, you will find humour underlying the Reaction Unit headed by Captain Tiger Mazibuko and his "alpha team of morons!" Meyer paints an accurate account of Janina Mentz, a woman caught between family and the pressures of work in a man's world, of how a single moment in one's life fueled by a lifetime of struggles and frustrations can lead one to become a traitor and unintentionally cause a destructive path for others and loss of lives. When you write a story set in Africa, you cannot escape writing about its beautiful landscape, its people, its history and its culture and here, Meyer has given you a captivating locale's take on the changes affecting the people of today's South Africa. Meyer also writes thought-provokingly and empathetically on life and its many intricacies through his characters.
I shall have to re-read this book to get a better idea of what it is about because I did not get it the first time. Yes, some parts are very clear but some parts do not seem to connect and there are too many loose ends for me to re-connect with what happened previously . However, it is a terrific thriller. The fact that this is my first Deon Meyer book is probably the reason for my indecisiveness and I hope that I will have a different opinion after reading it a second time.
Heart Of The Hunter was longlisted for the IMPAC Prize and was selected as one of Chicago Tribune's '10 Best Mysteries and Thrillers of 2004.'
Check out amazing photos of Mpayipheli's BMW R 1150 GS and his terrifying adventure from Cape Town to the "Mighty Modder" at http://www.deonmeyer.com/xtra/xtra_hunter.html
Rating: 3/5 (Good)
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