Cobra

Written by Deon Meyer

Narrated by Saul Reichlin

Why would a mathematics professor from Cambridge University, renting a holiday home outside Cape Town, require a false identity and three bodyguards? And where is he, now that they are dead? The only clue to the bodyguards' murder is the snake engraved on the shell casings of the bullets that killed them.

Investigating the massacre, Benny Griessel and his team find themselves being drawn into an international conspiracy with shocking implications. It seems it is not just the terrorists and criminals of Britain and South Africa who may fear the Professor's work, but the politicians too.

As the body count begins to spiral viciously, Benny must put his new-found love life aside and focus on finding the one person who could give him a break in the case: a teenage pickpocket on the run in the city. But Benny is not the only person hunting for Tyrone Kleinbooi . . .

Relentlessly suspenseful, topical, hard-hitting and richly rewarding, COBRA is a superb novel from an author who is acclaimed around the world as a brilliant voice in crime fiction.

English translation © K. L. Seegers. Originally published in Afrikaans in 2013 as Kobra by Human & Rousseau.

(P)2014 Hodder & Stoughton

• Language: English
• Publisher: Hachette UK Audio
• Release date: Jul 31, 2014
• ISBN: 9781444767940

Deon Meyer

Internasionaal bekende skrywer Deon Meyer woon op Stellenbosch. Sy publikasies sluit in dertien misdaadromans (onder meer Spoor, 2010, 7 Dae, 2011, Kobra, 2013, Ikarus, 2015, Koors, 2016, Prooi, 2018, en Donkerdrif, 2020). Orion, Proteus en Infanta is met die ATKV-prosaprys bekroon en Prooi met die ATKV-prys vir Spanningsfiksie.

Reviews for Cobra

[kroan-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Man, I love Deon Meyer's books. What a fantastic series.

[maneekuhi · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

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 production since printing, binding and shipping charges are non-existent suggest to me that it is not unreasonable to expect better quality.I have been a fan of Deon Meyer for several years now and I have read most of his books. COBRA is good and once again the protagonist is Benny Griessel, a Cape Town police detective, supported by the usual crew. The plot concerns the kidnapping of a visiting UK VIP, during which two members of his security team are assassinated. The killer has left casings behind with the figure of a particularly deadly cobra etched on them. As the case unfolds, other government and police organizations become involved and Benny and team are told to butt out. There is further complexity added with the introduction of a pickpocket with a heart of gold who unwittingly becomes involved.Two hints to ease your reading if you decide to invest in COBRA. First you might want to keep a scorecard of the characters along with a mini bio of each; there are a lot of them and the local names don't make it easy to differentiate them. Secondly, do a quick Google lookup of the Cape Town metro system (find a map) and I think this also make it easier to follow "who's on first" as the story approaches the climax.As usual, the story is fast-paced and interesting, the writing is very good, and the reader gets some insights into South African life. I do have some nits with the writing, however. I have no idea why Meyer felt compelled, in the middle of the story, to give a quick overview of each of the six steps involved in a human male's urination process. I can only wonder what the next book might hold. There is a final scene between a cop (not Benny) and the pickpocket, which is total fantasy, belonging perhaps only in the movie version. Lastly, the revelation of who is behind this whole kidnapping/killing/chase is an incredible stretch and, I believe, says maybe too much about Meyer's political beliefs and might be too much even for the movie version. So, my usual Meyer score is a 5, but a 1 point deduct for production quality, and a 1 point deduct for too much of the same vis-a-vis other Benny episodes. Think I'll give this series a break for a while.....Finally, I intend to comment on ebook production quality in future reviews until fixed and I suggest other reviewers do the same.

[martinhughharvey_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Another thoroughly enjoyable book from this South African author. A quick read, solid but not complex characters, a couple of seemingly disconnected stories that coalesce, and well paced for a uncomplex but not overly simple read.

[juju2cat · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I had a hard time getting into this book and wondered what Michael Connelly saw in it. It didn't take long to become utterly absorbed in this though! Meyer is a master of suspense. Loved every minute and was so sorry when it ended.

[ebyrne41_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is the fourth in the Captain Benny Griessel series based in and around post-apartheid Cape Town. In this thriller/police procedural, Griessel is in a race against time (isn't he always?) to find a kidnapped British scientist (Adair) before further killings ensue. Further that is to those that occurred when the scientist was kidnapped by an assassin, or group of, whose call signs are bullet casings engraved with a spitting cobra. They seem to be a very professional and ruthless group of hitmen determined to recover a memory card which has fallen into the hands of a pickpocket who plies his trade in an effort to support his sister who is attending college. With his sister's life also under threat, the pickpocket pursues his own means of safeguarding her life while maybe trying to profit from having the memory card in his possession. Invaluable information regarding global terrorism seems to be what's at stake, and maybe even the involvement of big business. Thus the mystery; who is behind efforts to recover the memory card and the kidnapping of the scientist? Will we find out? This is a pacy, well plotted suspenseful thriller, as are Deon Meyer's books usually. Much of the story revolves around the kidnapper and his role in proceedings, you might say at a cost to Griessel's own role. Griessel is a recovering alcoholic who does not always see eye to eye with his superiors, traits common it seems to principal police characters in crime/thriller novels. The ending is violent, but will it leave you satisfied? Read and see!

[mikedraper · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Deon Meyer provides the reader with his ninth police procedural in "Cobra."A famous English mathematician is kidnapped and his bodyguards killed in the picturesque Franschhoek wine valley of South Africa. The man was traveling under an alias and tried to keep his identity unknown. He has developed a formula that will help trail financial transactions and make terrorist and secret government financial actions more difficult to hide.When police arrive, the only apparent clue is the shell casings from the bullets. They are engraved in such a way that the police refer to the kidnapper/killer as the Cobra, a known assassin.Through Meyer's writing we see the rivalry between the Hawks, members of SAPS (South African Police Service" and the SIS, the government security service. It is akin to the territorial rivalry between local municipalities and our government agencies of CIA and FBI.Detective Benny Griessel leads the investigators with his colleagues. Benny is the central character along with Tyrone Kleinbooi, a 'coloured' pickpocket who is trying to pay for his sister's tuition at the university through his thievery. He's an interesting character as we see him plan for his needs and then steal what is necessary.Meyer tells us about Benny's past fall into alcoholism but he has been sober for over 400 days and even helped his girlfriend overcome her difficulty with the same ailment.We also see the tensions between white and black and the attitude many have where in the University they are teaching more English than Africanis.The action is well done and when Tyrone picks the wrong person to rob and the Cobra wants it back, it gets personal and suspense mounts. Tyrone tells the Cobra off and tells him not to mess with his sister.This is a very visual story with good action and good descriptions.”