Blood Safari (Lemmer Mysteries, 1)

Some women are attracted to dangerous men. I'm not, in real life, but I do like my fictional heroes to be deadly competent in a fight and able to take on multiple attackers. That's Lemmer. He makes a great bodyguard, because he never gets involved, trusts no one, and is combat-ready with tremendous stamina and martial arts skills. He's a freelancer, currently assigned to guard a rich and beautiful woman named Emma Le Roux, who believes someone wants to kill her. Lemmer thinks she's making it up, but it turns out to be all too true. Blood Safari is a terrific love story, partly because it has an archetypical quality: the brave warrior protecting the princess-like female against tremendous odds. And it's a terrific thriller, because the people who are after Emma are very bad, and Lemmer has numerous opportunities to tangle with them. Lemmer is no detective, but he's forced to think like one. Karate moves alone are not enough to solve the mystery of why Emma's parents died, why her brother disappeared, and why Emma herself is being shot at. What fuels events is Emma's search for her lost brother. The search takes her and Lemmer into remote regions of South Africa. Blood Safari has an environmental theme that's central to the plot, and in fact inspired the book, according to the author. Africa's wildlife and ecosystem is under threat by poachers and developers. Emma, Her bodyguard and the reader get an ecological education, and experience some very tense moments, while visiting nature preserves and wildlife rehabilitation centers. I loved this book. It's rich in engaging characters -- black and white, male and female, hetero and lesbian. The wilderness setting is wonderfully exotic. And the action never lets up.

Blood Safari is the story of a bodyguard named Lemmer (he goes by his last name) and the client who has hired him for protection, Emma le Roux. When Emma narrowly escapes an attempt on her life in her own home, she hires Lemmer to accompany her while she searches for the identity of her ruthless attackers, and the truth about her (presumed) dead brother. What starts out as a simple search for answers quickly escalates into a dangerous quest in the velds of South Africa. Blood Safari is an exceptional novel that offers suspense, mystery, and well-developed characters. The pacing of the book is perfect, and the plot alternates rhythmically and satisfyingly between tension and release. Meyer's writing is skillful and polished. He doesn't bore with superfluous descriptions or unnecessary details. Instead, his prose is meshed seamlessly with dialogue to convey a story of intrigue, injustice, cruelty, and love. Meyer portrays realistic characters who stay with you even after you've put the book down. This was the first book I've read by this author, and I am eager to read other books by him. Recommended.

Meeting Lemmer, Meyer’s new character in his book, Blood Safari, is almost like bumping into another “self”: Lemmer has suffered as a child (egotistical and violent father faced with a mother who continuously searched for love) and retreated into his own, highly controlled world of own rules, restraining his “red mist” moments of absolute loss of control and violent reaction, which had led to his incarceration for man-slaughter. High discipline and military training leads Lemmer to a career as exceptional (“invisible”) bodyguard to the famous and wealthy and when off duty, retreats to his home in the small South African Karoo town of Loxton, with its own eclectic collection of small-town and past-avoiding characters, offering amusing discourse to a lonely by choice, Lemmer. Blood Safari takes one on a thrilling rollercoaster ride into the eastern parts of South Africa following the trail of his beautiful client (Emma)’s brother, who has reappeared after being missing for years, now accused of murder. Endangered wildlife, eco-terrorists, violence, racial tension and corruption intertwine in this fast-paced novel, capturing one’s attention, but adding the realism of good research (endangered vultures) keeps the story grounded, offering a glimpse into the “real” world of a modern South Africa. As with his other novels, Meyer challenges our view of our reality; our day-to-day lives, probing our hypocrisies with his clever use of psychology and casting light on our “shadows” as individuals, nation and humanity. A good read!

The story is set in South Africa, with Lemmer, a bodyguard with a checkered past, being asked to guard Emma, a woman looking for her brother. Emma thought her brother, Jacobus, had died twenty years before, but then she thought she saw him on television, wanted for murder. It becomes even more complicated and Lemmer must deal with it. The writing is good, like all Deon Meyer books, and the storyline kept my interest. A good read.

Fast moving, great characterisation, wealth of information about the history of the Hoedspruit area, a good, riveting story, a love story.

L'auteur capture toute la complexité de l'Afrique du Sud de ce début du XXIe siècle. Le rythme est rapide, la traduction bonne. Excellente lecture qu'on connaisse le pays ou non, mais le lecteur ne doit pas s'attendre à en retirer une impression positive du pays et de son avenir !

Good suspense Good read

inhaled this book , Deon Meyer just knows how to keep you hooked to the story, great descriptions of the south african landscape, bush and scenery.

An excellent story which teaches us about society besides keeping one yied to the book from beginning to end. Really worthwhile reading!

Enjoyed the story line, the characters and how it panned out but: it could have been 100 pages or more shorter. Some of the narrative went on and on and I consider it could have been covered in much fewer words. Tension would build and then a narrative on endangered species or history would interrupt the flow. It reminded me of authors who want to show their technical expertise of weapons being, used only this revolved around all things African. I'll give another of his books a go because I enjoyed the basic story and characters but if it's of similar vein I'll give him away.