Benny Griessel Mystery #4: Cobra

Kindle Customer: Mix a police procedural with an all action thriller, throw in some political machinations and shrewd societal observations and what do you have? A novel from Deon Meyer aka the best thriller writer working right now. Did I mention the sharply drawn characters on both sides of the criminal divide and a believable dose of humanity, usually absent in these type of things?

This is the fifth Meyer book I’ve read and they are all of an unbelievably high standard, one after another. And I haven’t even gotten to Icarus, which the Times of London called one of the best thrillers of the last fifty years.

United States on Nov 16, 2020

Belgian Man: The Plot was good and the explanation of the different political actions of various countries was excellent. Characters were fully fleshed out with both good and bad points as people really are. Based in South Africa and brings out info about the different ethniciticies interactions. Leaves you wanting a follow up.

United States on Sep 12, 2020

David Wade: Another Benny Griessel mystery. An English computer whiz, visiting South Africa, is kidnapped by the Cobra, an infamous hitman. Tyrone is a young pickpocket who takes something the Cobra wants, and the assassin will do anything to get his hands on it. Benny Griessel is trying to catch the Cobra and find the missing item. Good story, good writing.

United States on Jun 09, 2020

millhall: This is the 4th book in the Benny Griessel series. Griessel is a flawed South African detective who still has the knack of tracking down awful criminals. Originally written in Afrikaans, the transaltor does an excellent job of keeping the writing style sharp, though a few words of Afrikaans are left in for effect. Having read the three previous books, I think this is as good as any. The plot centres on internet crime on an international scale and the solution relies on using advanced mobile phone technology. I found the plot to be fairly original and the final 50 pages are gripping. Like so many detective novels, I will forget this one all too soon but Meyer deserves his place in the ranks of leading detective writers.

United Kingdom on May 06, 2019

David Craggs: By any thinking person’s criteria, Deon Meyer is a quality writer.
His deftly plotted thrillers are set in a post apartheid South Africa that is beset with all of the issues associated with a country coming to terms with itself.
The opportunities, tensions and problems created by positive discrimination within an under resourced police force form the backdrop to his highly charged story that encompasses both corruption within the world banking system and South African politics and life on the streets for a petty criminal who is simply trying to do the right thing for his sister.
Meyer weaves a tangled web and you would never, in a million years, guess the outcome as there is nothing remotely formulaic here. Deon Meyer is a true original who deserves to be right at the top of any discerning thriller aficionados reading list.
Brilliant stuff.

United Kingdom on Sep 26, 2017

Debbie Wakelin: I really love Deon Meyer's writing style. After each Benny Griessel book I just download the next one without even reading the reviews. It helps to be South African and to understand the culture, the undercurrents and the local vernacular thrown in. We live with the high crime rate, the corrupt government, the undercurrents of anger at BBBEE and the racism. Deon not only brings this home in the story, but throws light on the subject from different viewpoints, which goes a long way to helping us all to understand how others experience things.

There are a lot of questions around the political appointments in the Hawks at the moment, so it is really great to read what they are actually do. We all thought all was lost when the Scorpions were disbanded and replaced with the Hawks. It's good to get the feeling that the Hawks themselves worry about what the government will do with certain information and, even though it is fiction, to get the impression that not everyone should be tarred with the same brush.

Don't get me wrong. It's not all politics, doom and gloom. The storyline is fantastic and keeps me up at night when I should be asleep as I really cant put it down, but...

United States on Feb 16, 2016

Kenneth C. Mahieu: Before commenting on the plot and writing I wish to offer some comments germane to the ebook version of COBRA. I found the e-book production quality of COBRA unacceptable. After so many years of ebook availability, I feel it is about time for publishers to overcome these seemingly trivial challenge First, the pages of COBRA are not numbered, so the reader is once again stuck with location numbers. . Secondly, there were a number of typos. One example - for some strange reason, any word beginning with "fl" seemed to be followed by a number of spaces and then the rest of the characters. So, "flat" becomes "fl at"; ditto for "fl ower" etc etc. In addition, there were other typos including missing spaces between words. Finally, and worst of all, the ebook version did not have line spacing between paragraphs when a setting changed within a chapter. On a number of occasions, I would be two or three paragraphs into a different scene before realizing it. Very distracting, causing me to backup and re-read every so often, and unfortunately losing the thread of the story on occasion. I am not a publishing expert but it seems to me that given the price of ebooks and the reduced costs of...

United States on Sep 08, 2015

MR G M COUPLAND: Since the early nineties Deon Meyer has been at the leading edge of South Africa's burgeoning noir-thriller scene, with his books straddling the bridge between genuine social commentary as well as providing a cracking crime narrative. There have a couple of missteps, notably Dead at Daybreak, with it's unsympathetic protagonist, and his debut Dead Before Dying, which whilst accomplished in it's own right served a more of a prototype for what was to come.

It's with great pleasure then, that I confirm what many have already come to realize. That Cobra - or Kobra, in it's original Afrikaans form - is yet another victory for a writer who's fast becoming an indispensable guide for those wishing to navigate the simmering cauldron that is the modern Rainbow Nation. Taut, lean, and fizzling with colorful characters, most notably the roguish Vaughn Cupido and the irascible Mbali Kaleni, it transcends it origins as a gumshoe crime procedural and blooms into a genuine critique of the direction that democracy in South Africa is drifting into.

Benny Griessel, the main protagonist, is given a genuine arc that see's him overcoming the doubts expressed in previous novel 7 Days and...

Spain on Apr 01, 2015

marsha l. reid: I have eagerly awaited this latest book from Deon Meyer and was not disappointed. A brilliant British mathematics professor mysteriously disappears while sequestered at a winery outside Capetown. His private body guards are found murdered and the only clue are the shelling casings left behind engraved with the mark of a cobra snake. Why is a British mathematics professor hiding away with body guards in South Africa? Who is the chilling assassin "Cobra"? And who is Cobra working for? And then a young pickpocket inadvertently disrupts everything. Benny is back, leading his team through this mystery filled with international political intrigue while facing down his old demons. As they follow the clues, doubts grow as to whether they can trust their own government and they must make a choice - follow the clues to wherever it takes them and risk losing everything. A suspenseful, fast paced plot that never usurps the richly drawn characters created by Meyer.

Canada on Feb 08, 2015

markb: I have read several books by Deon Meyer and they are all superbly written tightly plotted thrillers. Cobra is no exception. This is a totally enthralling read.
What starts off as a mysterious kidnapping becomes a more sinister, darker, plot, involving corruption and death across borders. The main protagonist Captain Benny Griessel is a genuinely complex character. Details about his emotional and personal life genuinely enhance the plot, rather than detract from it, as is sometimes the case in crime writing.
The South African setting is vividly brought to life for British readers. It is not long before we can appreciate the subtlety and complications of life in the "rainbow nation". This is made clear when we recognise how detectives drawn from South Africa's diverse peoples can only rely on each other's professionalism to avoid destruction.
The last few chapters are a compelling roller- coaster holding the reader until the plot reaches its climax. A fine book, or, in Afrikaans, a lekker read.

United Kingdom on Jan 22, 2015