Trackers

By: Deon Meyer

Narrated by: Saul Reichlin, Rupert Degas, Sandra Duncan

A housewife running from years of domestic abuse. A bodyguard hired to escort a smuggled rhinoceros. A group of Islamic terrorists based in a quiet residential street. A secret government agency threatened with amalgamation within a bigger department. A retired policeman trying to get used to his new career in the private sector. Each of these strands of a brilliant narrative is populated with superbly-drawn characters, and woven into a stunningly exciting drama by the undisputed king of South African suspense fiction. Not only a heart-pounding thriller, but also a love story and a fabulous kaleidoscopic picture of South African society, this is the finest novel yet from an author whose reputation is growing all around the world.

©2011 Deon Meyer (P)2011 Hodder & Stoughton

Disjointed

I love Deon Meyer and have listened to many of his books. Parts of the book were really good but in the end he did not bring it together in the end for me.

Story of the decade

Loved it from the 1st chapter there was a bit of confusion when the story shifted to a typical Bennie Griesel style murder investigation that tied up nicely at the end but I was still excited all the way through. I really hope the whole series gets picked up for TV. P

Narrator spoiled it for me

This is an excellent book by a talented author. I read a hard copy approximately ten years ago, and have listened to several of Meyer’s books in audio format over the last five years or so. So I was hoping this offering would give me as much pleasure as the other in the Deon Meyer/Saul Reichlin canon.

Unfortunately Rupert Degas’ performance is severely lacking. It is unprofessional not to have researched the pronunciation of South African words like Karoo, for example! An unconvincing Lemmer, to say the least …

I cannot imagine why Saul Reichlin was not given the entire book to narrate. He has shown himself to have a mastery of the wide range of South African accents in his work on Meyer’s books.

Narration below par

Deon Meyer is a special writer and I love all his books. I was disappointed with how little effort Rupert Degas put into the correct pronunciation of some Afrikaans words like "Oom" and "Karoo" as well as some place names. When the word is used once like a place name one can grit your teeth and move on, but when the word is used repeated it gets too much - it spoils the experience to a large extent. Give me Saul Reichlin every time!

Another Superb Thriller from this Author

What did you love best about Trackers?

This book is one of those that you can't put down until you reach the end, it's really three stories in one, each one as exciting as the last, I recommend it

Great book, not so great narration

I enjoyed this Deon Meyer novel for a number of reasons. His insight into human behaviour and how he can get into his character's heads is remarkable. He had completely different storylines which came together at the end (this aspect could perhaps be done a bit better), but the story lines were interesting and intriguing in and of themselves.

Saul Reichlin is by far one of my favourite narrators and I am always amazed at his excellent rendering of various accents, especially his range of South African ones. But herein lies my criticism. With respect to the other narrators who also participated in this production, why did he not narrate the whole book on his own? He would have been more than capable of handling it himself. In my opinion the other voice actors detracted from the production and lowered the quality of the final product. Their accents were also not well researched at all, not getting basic words right like the Afrikaans "Oom".

The other thing I found strange is the use of the term "hell's bells" as a form of mild cussing. I have only listened to the English translation and don't know what the original Afrikaans term was, but I don't know of any Afrikaner who uses that term. Since I don't know the original I might be out of my place with this criticism, but I find that a highly unlikely and unauthentic translation of whatever the Afrikaans was.

Having said all this, I still think it is worth getting and listening to as Deon Meyer is an excellent author, Saul Reichlin is an excellent narrator, and the two of them makes a good team.

not bad but not the best

This book is made up of 4 smaller books which build up the whole story. It takes a bit of memory and concentration to find exactly where they overlap and I found the last book didn't reveal enough of the main story to justify the length. The book was OK.

A lot gets lost in pronunciation

Deon Meyer weaves an intricate tapestry of plots together bound by the idea of "tracking" and those doing the "tracking", namely the "trackers". The reader (listener) becomes a tracker her-/himself until all the different tracks tie into one knot.

This makes the book very enjoyable. Sometimes you might have to go back and listen to some parts again, especially if you lost the track yourself.

I found it very difficult to follow the hints in certain places. Initially I thought it might be a bad translation of the Afrikaans "Spoor" ("tracking", "tracing", "way"), but after taking time to figure out some of the awkward names of some of the characters, I realised that A LOT is lost in pronunciation of Afrikaans words. Often these words tie parts of the story together.

It would have helped a lot if Saul Reichlin, Rupert Degas and Sandra Duncan were exposed to Afrikaans pronunciation as they have put a lot of effort in the reading of the book. They should be commended for their professional and interpretative reading. Meyer's Fever is an example of where the narrators took the pronunciation of Afrikaans words in the English translation seriously, creating an excellent spell of alterity (foreignness) and commonality - their performance makes it foreign enough while giving the reader a chance to associate her/ him with the characters.

THough the book might feel disjointed at times due to the above, I still recommend it highly. Deon Meyer makes an excellent tracker out of his reader (listener), thus involving you in an intimate way in the story. See if you can track the little diamonds binding the story together.

An edge of the seat story

Well read great story and a very interesting read with a plot that keeps you going from the beginning to the end

a fascinating interweaving of seperate agendas

What made the experience of listening to Trackers the most enjoyable?

I relate to the people and places, being a South African, and I really enjoy Deon Meyer's portrayal of people I could meet, and places I know. Any of his books are a great introduction to South Africa for those who may be curious.

Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?

4 seperate dramas are brought together at the very last moment, the reader feels what it may be like to be a detective!

What about the narrators’s performance did you like?

Of course, love my country and it's variety of people, we really are like these characters, and we do talk like them.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The discovery of the bodies, and the revelation that Cornelia had tricked her innocent step sister into that fatal situation.

Any additional comments?

A book you may need to listen to twice to connect all the dots!