Icarus

By: Deon Meyer

Narrated by: Simon Vance

A week before Christmas, a young photographer discovers a plastic-wrapped corpse amid the sand dunes north of Cape Town. The only thing found on the corpse is a dead iPhone, but it doesn't take long for the police to identify the body as that of Ernst Richter - the tech whiz behind MyAlibi, an Internet service that provides unfaithful partners with sophisticated cover stories to hide affairs. Meanwhile, Benny Griessel is called to the scene of a multiple homicide involving a former colleague, and four years of sobriety are undone on the spot. He emerges from his drunken haze determined to quit the force, but the indomitable Major Mbali Kaleni, now his boss, wants Griessel on the Richter case.

The high-profile murder has already been the subject of fierce media speculation, with questions swirling about the potential for motive: Could the perpetrator be one of the countless jilted spouses? An aggrieved client? Before the week is out, an unexpected connection to a storied family winery comes to light, and Griessel's reputation is again on the line. Mounting toward a startling conclusion, Icarus is another exceptional novel from the "King of South African Crime".

©2015 Deon Meyer (P)2015 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books

Critic reviews

"The sublime voice of Simon Vance enhances this fascinating story.... Vance skillfully re-creates South Africa's melodious voices and diverse accents as the police question multiple witnesses and suspects." (AudioFile)

Enjoyable story spoilt by unacceptable performance

Would you listen to Icarus again? Why?

No. Simon Vance reading Icarus is like Danny Glover's narration of The Long Walk To Freedom. Terrible. Please can we get some authenticity into the narration, nothing irks me more than have mispronunciation of such a magnitude that you actually have to re-listen to finally understand that a simple South African word is being butchered. Please get Saul Reichlin to do the narration.

What other book might you compare Icarus to and why?

Long Walk to Freedom - narrated by Danny Glover instead of John Khani. The same terrible non contextual rubbish. The story is always only as good as the telling!

How did the narrator detract from the book?

Hugely. How can a non South African narrator be used? He could not pronounce everyday South Africanisms and it just sucked.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No...it grated on me due to the performance

Don't miss this series

What more can I say? Great characters. Excellent plots that come together (or do they?) in unexpected ways. Start from the first one and listen to them in order. Simon Vance does credit to the author by delivering a stellar performance in each novel. So sad this is the last one. Hope Mr. Meyer is about done with the next installment.

Another fine listen from RSA

Expertly written, expertly translated, expertly performed.
Deon Meyer crafts a compelling story, Simon Vance brings me back to South Africa.

My Least Favorite of Deon Meyer's Books

Would you try another book from Deon Meyer and/or Simon Vance?

Regardless of the mediocre novel this time the author is generally a very good read.

If you’ve listened to books by Deon Meyer before, how does this one compare?

This is the very bottom.

Did Simon Vance do a good job differentiating all the characters? How?

I am a Simon Vance fan and continue to be. The mid range rating is partially due to the matreila he had to read this time out.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

no

Any additional comments?

Can't wait for Meyer's next book since I am certain it will redeem my faith in him.

Excellent!

Deon Meyer is the best. Great characters , well written and absorbing.
When you present such interesting prose with Simon Vance as the narrator the result is perfect. I can’t recommend this book enough, it is a great listen.

Excellent Crime Drama

Highly professionally constructed crime drama, full of twists, humor and pathos. While the narrator is excellent, unfortunately like many performers that are not South African by birth, Simon Vance just cannot master the unique flat South African English accent, though in general the performance in terms of the drama and intonation is good. For a South African local or expat, one needs to simple hold back on the cringe, when a word like "ou" meaning a guy, is pronounced "ooh", or "kak" which in SA is pronounced "kuck", meaning shit is pronounced "kack" by the narrator, and on and on...No matter though. worth the time.