The Dark Flood

A Benny Griessel Novel (Benny Griessel Mysteries Series, Book 8)

By: Deon Meyer

Narrated by: Saul Reichlin

Having jeopardized their careers in an unauthorized investigation that threatened to reveal the corruption in South Africa's halls of power, Benny Griessel and Vaughn Cupido have been demoted from the elite Hawks police unit. While waiting to be transferred from Cape Town to seemingly mundane duty in Stellenbosch, Griessel receives a disturbing, anonymous letter: "I can only trust you and Captain Cupido. There is an adder in our bosom. Be careful of phone calls."

Assigned to investigate the disappearance of Callie de Bruin, a young university student and brilliant computer programmer, they hit dead ends until the trail, including the death of a fellow officer, leads to a series of gun heists and the alarming absence of certain weapons from the police registry.

As Griessel and Cupido intensify their search for de Bruin, real estate agent Sandra Steenberg confronts her own crisis: state corruption has caused the real estate market to crash, exacerbating the dire financial straits facing her family. When billionaire Jasper Boonstra contacts her to represent a major property he wants to sell, she pushes aside her concerns about his reputation as playboy and swindler. And then Boonstra himself disappears, and Griessel is forced to juggle between Boonstra's bitter wife, protective lawyer, and Steenberg, the last person to see him alive.

©2021 Deon Meyer; English translation copyright 2021 by K. L. Seegers (P)2022 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books

Masterpiece

As a former South African which took the gap, I did not think I would enjoy the expose' of the socio economic conditions I left behind. But the, story, the narrator and his interpretations of the characters constant tension and the juxtaposition of the legal, enforcement and humanity of the South African state were fascinating.

Excellent story but . . .

Excellent story, character development and current history from a reliably excellent author but having imprinted Simon Vance's voice for the characters from the proceeding books, if he isn't the narrator for future books in the series, I'll be reading print copies instead.

Another excellent Deon Meyer work

I have read and/or listened to all of Mr Meyer’s books and have never been disappointed. I did miss Simon Vance’s narration here and wish he could have been contracted to do it. But it’s a serviceable job done by Mr Reichlin. The story is again a good one. And if you’re a fan of Benny and Vaughn you won’t be disappointed. Best to reread a bit of the previous book, “The Last Hunt”, to understand the beginning of this one. But my advice overall is: start with “Dead Before Dying” and listen to them all.

Great story

Always love that characters. And from time to time it could be funny. Wish it has sequel

Another Fantastic Book.

I have read all of Deon Meyer's book that have been translated into English. They are all excellent. This one is one of my favorites. I look forward to more.

Waited Till The End

I listened to the Benny Griessel Series back to back and enjoyed each book immensely. Author Deon Meyer wrote creative plots with intertwining subplots, with realistic settings. His writing also endeared you to the main flawed but heroic characters; it is what pushed me from one book to the next. Meyer injects humor within tragic circumstances and ties it all together in the end.

I must admit that I was accustomed to Simon Vance’s voice and excellent narration but it didn’t take me long to realize Raúl Reichlin was a good replacement and his talents shown through in this last book.

My only disappointment was that the series came to an end. Of course, I’m already in book two of Meyer’s other series; the characters in those books are linked to Benny Griessel and Vaughn Cupido as well as the settings.

Bravo!

Sounds like you are there.

The reader has a South African accent, so you get the real flavor. Others have faulted the frequent references to the state capture aspect. However, it is essential to the notion of a otherwise stable if floridly unfair society committing slow suicide.

Cliché and Dull

This was undoubtedly an attempt by the author to demystify and humanize a community in South Africa that is known for its arrogance, opulence and racism. That aside, the plot is decent and so to the storytelling. However, the unnuanced state capture narrative and implicit anti-Zuma rhetoric makes for a sour reading experience. If that’s not bad enough, the narration is awful! The narrator’s accents and pronunciations are cringe. After reading his previous book which was almost as disappointing, perhaps it’s time to give this author a break.