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Grove Press
Atlantic Monthly Press
Atlantic Monthly Press

The Last Hunt

by Deon Meyer Translated from Afrikaans by K.L. Seegers

From internationally acclaimed crime writer Deon Meyer, a new thriller featuring investigative superstars Benny Griessel and Vaughn Cupido

  • Imprint Grove Paperback
  • Page Count 384
  • Publication Date April 20, 2021
  • ISBN-13 978-0-8021-5693-8
  • Dimensions 5.5" x 8.25"
  • US List Price $16.00
  • Imprint Atlantic Monthly Press
  • Page Count 384
  • Publication Date April 07, 2020
  • ISBN-13 978-0-8021-5692-1
  • Dimensions 6" x 9"
  • US List Price $27.00
  • Imprint Atlantic Monthly Press
  • Publication Date April 07, 2020
  • ISBN-13 978-0-8021-5694-5
  • US List Price $27.00

When a cold case dossier lands on Captain Benny Griessel’s desk, he and his partner Vaughn Cupido, fellow member of the Hawks elite police unit in South Africa, reluctantly set to work reviewing the evidence of the disappearance—and possible murder—of ex-cop Johnson Johnson on the world’s most luxurious train line. Two fellow travelers might have the answers Griessel and Cupido need—but they too seem to have disappeared into thin air, and the few clues that exist suggest a cover-up.

Meanwhile, Daniel Darret has settled into a new, quiet life in Bordeaux, far from his native South Africa and his revolutionary past. But when a man from that past reappears to commission his unique skills one more time, Daniel is forced to decide whether to remain anonymous or to strike a forceful blow against a corrupt government.

The two storylines eventually crash together in an ending as dramatic as it is unexpected, leaving Griessel and Cupido uncertain of their own future. With its rapid-fire plotting and beloved characters, The Last Hunt shows one of today’s great crime writers operating at the peak of his powers and makes a brave and powerful statement about the pervasive corruption that has stolen so much from Meyer’s native country.

Praise for The Last Hunt:

Named a Best Book of the Year by Deadly Pleasures Mystery Magazine

“[The] latest entry from Mr. Meyer’s outstanding series . . . In word, deed, and spirit, Mr. Meyer’s humane and engaging characters are indeed among ‘the best of the best.’”—Tom Nolan, Wall Street Journal

“A geopolitically complex, richly populated, and textured book . . . Terrific.”—Air Mail

“Why choose between a murder mystery and a thriller when you can have both? The Last Hunt, Deon Meyer’s new Benny Griessel novel, is actually two books in one. It’s a tense assassination thriller set in France, and it’s an intriguing police procedural set in South Africa . . . Weaving two apparently independent stories together, keeping the tension ramping in both, and bringing them to a simultaneous climax, is a challenging undertaking. Meyer pulls it off seemingly effortlessly. He’s that good.”—New York Journal of Books

The Last Hunt serves up mystery and intrigue in South Africa . . . An explosive, suspenseful, and unexpected ending that will have readers applauding.”—Florida Times-Union

“Superb . . . Meyer keeps the suspense high as the reader tries to figure out how the two plotlines connect. This may be the breakthrough book this author deserves.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Two disparate plotlines merge to form an explosive conclusion in this political thriller . . . Despite their human flaws, Griessel and Cupido have integrity, which they display as they encounter massive corruption in the current South African political administration, corruption that proves to be at the centers of both plotlines. The latest Benny Griessel novel is a compelling page-turner and a searing portrait of the author’s native country.”—Booklist (starred review)

“A double-barreled tale that’s sprawling, shape-shifting, and, in the end, deeply satisfying.”—Kirkus Reviews

 

Praise for the Benny Griessel Series:

“Deon Meyer is one of the unsung masters.”—Michael Connelly

“The undisputed champion of South African crime. Meyer grabs you by the throat and never lets you go.”—Wilbur Smith, bestselling author of Courtney’s War

“Mr. Meyer, the leading thriller writer in his native country, traffics in crime-novel situations familiar the world over: drunken cops, charming robbers, dangerous murderers, sudden violence—and sometimes, issues of race. Mr. Meyer’s South Africa, however, is unique. His books, translated from Afrikaans, are usually set in the Cape Town region, where mountains spectacularly meet the sea on the Horn of Africa. Amid these vistas his detective confronts his own—and his country’s—tortured past and the legacy of Apartheid.”Wall Street Journal, on Cobra

“Meyer . . . vividly depicts the story of South Africa in his novels, from the hope and turmoil of the fall of apartheid to the corrupt and desperate aspects of present-day Cape Town . . . Meyer’s novels have an insistent forward motion, and the ones featuring Captain Griessel in particular have a pleasing relentlessness.”Los Angeles Review of Books, on Cobra

“A serious writer who richly deserves the international reputation he has built.”—Washington Post, on Cobra

“Deon Meyer’s name on the cover is a guarantee of crime writing at its best.”—Tess Gerritsen, New York Times bestselling author of Playing with Fire, on Icarus

“Deon Meyer’s South Africa is laid bare in Icarus; it is as glittering and hard as the diamonds his country is famous for . . . Meyer utilizes the crime fiction genre as an apparatus to create a multifaceted, unsparing picture of his country.”Independent, on Icarus

“South African author Deon Meyer’s Benny Griessel series is one of the high points of contemporary crime fiction, and the fifth title, Icarus, is his best yet . . . [An] expertly engineered tale of sex, lies, and fraud.”Guardian (Best Recent Crime Fiction Novels), on Icarus

“Deon Meyer continues his string of superb, tightly constructed timeline thrillers. Coming on the heels of the breath-holding Thirteen Hours, Seven Days takes us into the heart of a major police hunt for a killer targeting policemen as he demands the investigation of a seemingly unsolvable cold case.”Globe & Mail, on Seven Days

Thirteen Hours has breathtaking suspense, psychological understanding, and one of the most inspiring detectives ever. Deon Meyer deserves his international reputation.”—Thomas Perry, author of The Burglar, on Thirteen Hours

“Unputdownably brilliant.”Mail & Guardian (South Africa), on Thirteen Hours

“A smashing story. Imposing a strict time limit and a tight location on his plot, [Meyer] ramps up the suspense to an unbearable degree. Best of all, his sharply drawn characters really feel part of the new South Africa, where loyalties and beliefs must always be questioned.”Financial Times, on Thirteen Hours