Dead at Daybreak

By: Deon Meyer

Narrated by: Simon Vance

Length: 11 hrs and 45 mins

Publisher's summary

An antiques dealer robbed and killed, and the only clues are a scrap of blank paper and the unusual weapon used. Now ex-cop Zatopek "Zed" van Heerden has 14 days in which to fill in the blanks in this dead man's past - a past which only seems to begin in 1983.

©2005 Deon Meyer (P)2012 HighBridge Company

Critic reviews

"A remarkable achievement from a singular new talent." ( Publishers Weekly)

"Meyer manages to ratchet up the tension so effectively that [listeners] will have a hard time deciding which mystery they wish to pierce first.... A narrative gem." ( Booklist)

"Layers and layers of criminal history and political intrigue are exposed in Dead at Daybreak." ( New York Times Book Review)

Another Capetown police procedural, wonderful.

Zed Van Heerden, a former cop and now a private eye in Capetown, is referred to a young lawyer representing the mistress of an antique furniture dealer who was murdered with an M-16 rifle and tortured first with a blow torch. There is a safe, large with shelves built into the wall, which is left open and is empty except for a piece of paper used for rolling American bills. While the woman was never married to the dealer, they’ve lived together for several years and he left a will leaving everything to her. But the will is gone, and that’s what they want Van Heerden to find. But as he becomes involved in the case, he realizes he will have to solve the murder, and solving the murder brings him into contact with all kinds of South African and American military intelligence and puts his life and that of his mother and everyone else in danger. As is usually truewith these books, there’s also a back story involving why Van Heerden left the police force. It’s very good, and as usual Simon Vance does a wonderful job with the accents and the narration in general.

Dead at Daybreaj.

Great story, narrated very well and I can recommend this book to all my friends. Thank you for this book.

Suspenseful and Well Written

Any additional comments?

I've read several Deon Meyer books and I think this one is my favorite. Really keeps you going right to the end. There is a story within a story here with Von Heerdens background and finally the reason he's so self destructive. Written so well that the delving into his past history plays extremely well with the overall plot. Great characters and great character development. Top notch, this is what great writing and suspense are all about. Terrific performance...getting used to the South African names in an audio book takes a little work, but you do catch on fairly quickly.

Brilliant!

Just, just wonderful. All of it. The story, the narration, the writing. Then again, Simon Vance could read the telephone book and I would listen. As for Deon Meyer, he is a very clever, informed, psychologically astute writer. All his books are great and all read by Simon Vance. You don't get better than that.

Deon Mayer succeeds again

Each novel is unique and contains a story (or stories) within a story. Nothing can ever be taken for granted and no assumptions should be made. The flaws in the characters are humanistic and not flaws in the writing. Introspective and engaging is how I describe each of the authors novels.