The Cry of the Hangkaka
Anne Woodborne (Modjaji Books)
***
Book buff
The adult world seen through the eyes of a child is a popular device. Here the child is Karin whose mother, Irene, is shamed in post-World War II South African society by the stigma of divorce and rushes off to marry Jack: a drunken mining engineer who takes his new family to Nigeria. Karin makes her escape in reading, her curious choice being a longwinded blood-and-guts tale of Vikings. Jack is so irredeemably nasty it becomes hard to believe in him. But Woodborne has nevertheless created a powerful view of a suffocating 1950s colonial society. — Margaret von Klemperer
The Loving Husband
Christobel Kent (Little, Brown)
***
Book thrill
Fran Hall’s husband is murdered outside their farmhouse in rural Norfolk. Isolated, with two young children, she finds herself being badgered and bullied by the police. Sleep deprived and grieved, Fran is slow to awaken to uncomfortable truths: how people can use you and betray your trust, and that misogyny still lurks inside organisations sworn to protect you. The Loving Husband is a disturbing domestic thriller that delves into the darker side of marriage, revealing that not all abuse is physical. — Tiah Beautement @ms_tiahmarie
Permanent Removal
Alan S Cowell (Jacana)
****
Book buff
A thriller about a US diplomat returning to South Africa at the time of the TRC to face his own involvement on the wrong, or at least morally dubious, side of the struggle against apartheid. A slightly well-worn trope perhaps, but the lively pace flows well through both past and present. It resonates with questions about the motives of liberal whites who became involved in the struggle and leaves the reader with no trite, easy answers. Just beneath the surface are questions about the anti-terror campaigns now being waged by the US. The author spent many years as a foreign correspondent in South Africa in the 1980s and it shows. His details ring largely true, except for a few lapses – like referring to the communities of Crown Mines as Old Deep. — Hamilton Wende @HamiltonWende
Deathlist
Chris Ryan (Hodder & Stoughton)
***
John Porter, hero of the Strike Back novel and TV series, returns in this fast-paced, often-violent adventure. It’s a prequel, set in the late ’90s. After the SAS suffers a massacre during a training exercise, Porter leads an M16 strike team to exact retribution, tracking the perpetrators throughout Europe with his trademark icy precision. The geopolitical shenanigans which form the backdrop to the novel provide insight into the Bosnian genocide and its aftermath, with an unexpected plot twist at the end that hints at collusion within the British military establishment and the aristocracy. Ryan’s intimate knowledge of special forces operations makes this a very plausible novel. — Ayesha Kajee @ayeshakajee
Book details
- The Cry of the Hangkaka by Anne Woodborne
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EAN: 9781920590604
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- The Loving Husband by Christobel Kent
EAN: 9780751562385
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- Permanent Removal by Alan Cowell
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EAN: 9781431423439
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- Deathlist by Chris Ryan
EAN: 9781444783575
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