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Dead at Daybreak

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Dead at Daybreak

By: Deon Meyer
Narrated by: Saul Reichlin
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About this listen

 A South African antiques dealer is murdered with a single bullet from an M-16 assault rifle. The contents of his safe are missing, and the only clues are a scrap of blank paper and the unusual weapon used: a gun that's generally the choice of mercenaries, not burglars. Now ex-cop Zed van Heerden has seven days to fill in the blanks in this dead man's past - a past that appears only to start in 1983.©2003 Deon Meyer (P)2003 W.F. Howes Ltd Action & Adventure Mystery Mystery, Thriller & Suspense Suspense Thriller & Suspense Fiction

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Critic reviews

"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." ( Publishers Weekly)
"The author once again mines South Africa's fertile history of racial conflict and cold war gamesmanship for a narrative gem." ( Booklist)
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Brilliant book, great story and great narration. Quite a lot of bad language and not for those of a sensitive disposition. This is my second Deon Meyer book, the other being 13 hours. Personally, I overall preferred this one. For a Brit like me it is a fascinating insight into life in South Africa just after the end of aparteid (the book is not political at all. )

Great stuff

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This is not a mindless thriller or 'whodunnit'. It has well developed characters, a plausible storyline, dry wit and irony, thoughtful insights and a great conclusion. I was riveted by the plot, the people and the author's comments about the dark side of every man. It ended too quickly.

Saul Reichlin does an excellent job at narration, and gets the accents and pronunciation of words correct. This adds to the authenticity of the story, and brings it to life even more. Some of the language is raw, but it fits in with the story. Don't play it with children in the car.

Raw harsh reality faced by a policeman with brains

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This Deon Mayer book is, if anything, better than his other work available on Audible. Good story with a plot that twists and turns. The relationship between the two central characters is fascinating for the most part as both their personality clashes and sexual tension build to the final uncovering of the mental damage suffered by one of them.

And while some of the usual thiller/crime cliches are present,their protrayal in the technicolour and visceral landscape of South Africa adds enough freshness that they do not grate. A good listen

Good story from a less well known author

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Gripping story, beautifully narrated. I'm running out of Deon Meyer books and will be hard pressed to find another author/narrator combination to match this quality.

Exceptional

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Reasonable read, but can see that Deon Meyer had a long way to go before writing entertaining reads like the Benny Griessel series and Fever.

Deon Meyer pre Benny Griessel

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My first Deon Meyer novel and I found it thoroughly enjoyable: good characters, back story and plot, and narrated in a lively and involving way.

Recommended.

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The narrator is the same as from the Benny Griesel series - good for the Meyer books.
The story was not quite as inventive as Meyer's others and the ending seemed a bit thrown together.

Not one of his best

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