Mixed Blood: A Thriller

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2009 Trade paperback Advanced readers copy No dust jacket as issued. BOOK IN EXCELLENT CONDITION! ! ! ADVANCE READING COPY! In good condition with all pages intact. Glued ... binding. 304 p. Audience: General/trade. Thrillers. Reluctant bank robber Jack Burns is on the run after a heist in the United States that left three million dollars missing and one cop dead. Hiding out in Cape Town, South Africa, he is desperate to build a new life for his pregnant wife and young son But on a tranquil evening in their new suburban neighborhood they are the victims of a random gangland assault that changes everything. Benny Mongrel, an ex-con night watchman guarding a building site next to Burn's home, is another man desperate to escape his past. After years in the ghetto gangs of Cape Town he knows who went into Burn's house. And what the American did to them. He also knows his only chance to save his own brown skin is to forget what he saw. Burn's actions on that night trap them both in a cat-and-mouse game with Rudi "G Read more Show Less

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More About This Book

Overview

An American fugitive hides out in Cape Town—one of the world’s most beautiful and violent cities—in this riveting debut thriller that asks: Can you ever outrun your past?

Reluctant bank robber Jack Burn is on the run after a heist in the United States that left $3 million missing and one cop dead. Hiding out in Cape Town, South Africa, he is desperate to build a new life for his pregnant wife and young son. But on a tranquil evening in their new suburban neighborhood they are the victims of a random gangland assault that changes everything.

Benny Mongrel, an ex-con night watchman guarding a building site next to Burn’s home, is another man desperate to escape his past. After years in the ghetto gangs of Cape Town he knows who went into Burn’s house. And what the American did to them. He also knows his only chance to save his own brown skin is to forget what he saw.

Burn’s actions on that night trap them both in a cat-and-mouse game with Rudi "Gatsby" Barnard—a corrupt Afrikaner cop who loves killing almost as much as he loves Jesus Christ—and Disaster Zondi, a fastidious Zulu detective who wishes to settle an old score. Once Gatsby smells those missing American millions, the four men are drawn into a web of murder and vengeance that builds to an unforgettable conclusion.

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly

Screenwriter Smith offers a gritty tale of corruption and vengeance set in South Africa in his absorbing debut. On the verge of financial ruin, American Jack Burn, a security specialist, reluctantly joined a bank robbery plot that he hoped would save his family from disaster. The scheme ended badly, with most of his accomplices dead, along with a policeman, turning Burn, who made off with millions, into a wanted fugitive. Under a new identity, Burn has succeeded in making a new life with his wife and four-year-old son in Cape Town, South Africa. Their tenuous stability ends after two meth-heads invade the Burnses' home and threaten violence. While Jack manages to kill the intruders and dispose of the bodies, the incident draws the unwelcome attention of Insp. Rudi Barnard, a dirty cop who rules the area known as Cape Flats. The grim denouement may not satisfy all readers, but Smith's taut prose bodes well for future thrillers from his pen. Author tour. (Feb.)

Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Library Journal

Smith's debut is a fast-paced crime story set in Cape Town, South Africa, where an uneasy relationship exists among white, black, and "colored" people of varying ethnicity. Jack Burn, an American security-systems expert, fled the United States with wife and child in tow following his forced participation in a bank robbery during which a cop was killed. Now living in the wealthy heights of Cape Town, he and his family find their life further roiled when two thugs on meth invade their home one night. In order to save his pregnant wife and young son from harm, Jack is forced to kill both men. This event will threaten his marriage and his son's life; entangle him in the affairs of Benny Mongrel, an ex-con also trying to escape a desperate past; and put him in the crosshairs of fat Rudi Barnard, a corrupt Afrikaner cop who kills with the ease of a psychopath. Cleverly plotted, this is a gripping thriller that follows believable (if sometimes grotesque) characters along a desperate rush to ruin. The brutal landscape will remind readers of Deon Meyer's best South African novels. Highly recommended for all public libraries. [See Prepub Mystery, LJ10/1/08.]
—Ron Terpening

More Reviews (1) Fewer Reviews
Kirkus Reviews
An American attempting to outrun his past runs afoul of Cape Town locals on both sides of the law in this debut thriller. After Jack Burn participates in a bank robbery that leaves a cop dead, he and his pregnant wife decide to start a new life with their four-year-old son in this bustling city on Africa's southern tip. Things are going well until two small-time gangbangers, high on crystal meth, decide to break into Burn's house, terrorize his family and take what they want from his home. Of course the gangsters don't know about Burn's criminal past or his military training. Before things have a chance to get really ugly, both gangsters wind up dead on the floor, victims of Burn's skills with a kitchen knife. Being a wanted fugitive, he can't go to the police, so he's forced to dispose of the bodies himself. This sets off a complicated chain of events that thrusts Burn into the midst of Cape Town's dark, confusing underworld. He finds himself caught amidst three opposing forces: Rudi "Gatsby" Barnard, an obese, foul-smelling crooked cop; Benny Mongrel, a gangbanger turned security guard who witnessed the break-in from his post at a building site across the street; and Disaster Zondi, a reformer from the capital who is trying to clean up the local police department. Smith does an outstanding job of bringing Cape Town to life, taking us through the twists and turns of the local criminal world and the confusing labyrinth of racial identity in post-apartheid South Africa. His prose is crisp and efficient, but unfortunately, beneath this book's fascinating and vividly conjured location lies a pretty standard story peopled with pretty standard players. Genre fans will find nothingobjectionable, but others may long for something new, or at least for characters with a little more depth. Agent: Alice Martell/Alice Martell Agency

Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9780805088755
  • Publisher: Holt, Henry & Company, Inc.
  • Publication date: 3/3/2009
  • Pages: 320
  • Product dimensions: 6.52 (w) x 9.42 (h) x 0.98 (d)

Meet the Author

Roger Smith is an accomplished screenwriter, director, and producer. He is at work on a second stand-alone thriller set in and around Cape Town, where he currently lives.

Customer Reviews

Average Rating 4.5
( 6 )

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Sort by: Showing all of 6 Customer Reviews

  • Posted March 20, 2010

    I Also Recommend:

    9780741452610

    An in-your-face gritty drama

    In Mixed Blood Smith has a way of taking the most obnoxious, despicable character and painting them in such a fashion that you find yourself rooting for them, all of them. As each main character is introduced, each one worse than the previous one, you are able to find some unbidden trait that makes you want to see them succeed. From Jack Burn, the American bank robber, hiding out in Cape Town under an assumed name, to Benny Mongrel the ex-jail-bird and long time gang-banger to the slime-ball, power hungry Boer cop Rudi Barnard, each one reels you in.
    Jack's pregnant wife, coerced into his drama after the botched robbery, is wanting a divorce to move home and turn herself in. Benny has taken a real job and found a dog, the first thing he ever loved and is trying to stay on the straight and narrow. Rudi, for all the hard-nosed tactics he takes is just another Bible-thumping fat slob whose hemorrhoids ache and who never gets laid since his wife moved out. Something to feel for with each character, which makes the end result for each of them even more memorable.
    This in-you-face gritty crime drama will keep you turning pages until the book is done and well worth the time.

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  • Posted February 27, 2010

    Couldn't put it down!

    Great one or two day read.It sucked me back in everytime i put it down.Loved the characters

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  • Posted October 11, 2009

    more from this reviewer

    I Also Recommend:

    9780805088762

    Compelling Thriller from South Africa

    Sometimes, what I really want to read is a scorched earth, no prisoners, no quarter, no good guys just degrees of badness, thriller. It's like running Sodium hydroxide through the plumbing, it cleans out the pipes. This is why I was happy that I came across Roger Smith's Mixed Blood. But for me, Mixed Blood is more than a read-and-toss thriller, it reaches me at intellectual and emotional levels as well. South Africa has complex history and Mixed Blood and the effects of decades of apartheid are a subtext to the story.
    Jack Burn has a gambling problem. Back in the U.S., a large debt put him in the middle of a robbery that left a cop dead. Jack escapes with a large part of the loot and takes his pregnant wife and young son to Cape Town, South Africa. With a new identity and lots of money, Jack feels pretty safe until a random home invasion by a couple of drug dealing gang-bangers puts him in the sights of Rudi "Gatsby" Barnard, a physically and morally repugnant and corrupt cop. Rudi senses that there is more to Jack than just another American expat. Also drawn into the picture are vengeance seeking ex-con Benny Mongrel and Zulu police investigator Disaster Zondi who wants to settle an old score and at the same time take down a bad cop.
    Mixed Blood is a solid thriller with the plot, action, and violence that make this type of thriller enjoyable. But while I thoroughly enjoyed it as a thriller, there is something much more that makes it stand out for me. This is the role South Africa plays in the story. Consider Rudi "Gatsby" Barnard. His nickname comes from the signature South African sandwich, the gatsby, that he favors. With his horrible body odor, sumo-sized gut, air bag-sized butt cheeks and a love of "Jesus Christ, gatsbys, and killing people" you might dismiss him as a caricature of the bad cop. But Rudi is a holdover from South Africa under apartheid. Do a Google search with the terms apartheid and apartheid hit squads and you will see that Rudi is based on fact.
    Cape Town itself is a character in the story. Gatsby rules the aeolian sand flat known as Cape Flats. It blasted by winds in the summer and many areas flood in the winter. Here are the government-built townships where non-whites were forced to move; the Flats were apartheid's dumping ground. They are a place of terrible poverty, drug abuse, and gang violence. In contrast, Jack Burn and his family live on the wealthy Atlantic side. I recommend a visit to Roger Smith's web site where there is a video narrated by him. There is also a slide show of images of Cape Town and Cape Flats that will give you a good picture of the settings in the book.
    I enjoyed Mixed Blood as a straight-up thriller and also for the intense sense of place that Roger was able to weave into the story.
    Recommended highly for readers who like thrillers and don't mind a bit of stomach churning violence.

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  • Posted March 21, 2009

    more from this reviewer

    Kept Me Riveted!

    This very different type of thriller was a great ride through a frightening world in South Africa. John Hill and his wife and son are on the run from the American authorities and are hiding out in South Africa. They become the target of a random house attack. This sets into motion a very complex plot involving a corrupt cop, a crazed half-breed ex-con, a drugged out girlfriend and an investigative cop looking to bring the corrupt cop down. Some of the writer's descriptions are so vivid that they are horrifying and paint a very dark picture of modern day South Africa.

    I couldn't put this book down and the book must be read up until the very last paragraph before all loose ends are tied up. A great read!

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  • Posted February 27, 2009

    Mixed Blood is an exciting, gritty tale

    As a born and bred Capetonian growing up in a middle class suburb on the Cape Flats and later living in the "affluent" area described in this novel, I was pleasantly surprised how well Roger managed to capture the ethos of Cape Town in all its guises.

    While successfully translating the colloquialisms unique to the Cape Flats for non-Capetonians to enjoy, Roger still manages to retain and portray the gritty underbelly of the Cape Flats and creates a masterful, believable tale.

    This novel portrays an accurate window of Cape Town societe' not normally seen in glossy magazines or tourist publications.

    I cannot wait to see what Roger has in store for us in his next novel.

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  • Posted November 27, 2008

    more from this reviewer

    This exciting South African crime caper will enthrall the audience

    In the United States, American security specialist Jack Burn worries about the impact his recent financial failures will have on his family. When he is offered a chance to stay solvent, he reluctantly accepts the terms offered him. He agrees to join a gang planning to rob a bank.

    The plan was perfect; the execution a disaster. Most of the gang and a cop die. Burn escapes with millions, but is wanted by the law and the few robbers who survived the debacle. He, his pregnant wife Susan, and their four years old son Matt relocate to Cape Town, South Africa. Life seems peaceful and good until two meth users invade their home; Jack kills both, but now corrupt Police Inspector Rudi Barnard is scrutinizing the professional use of counter force inside his realm, Cape Flats.

    This exciting South African crime caper will grip the audience from the moment Barnard checks on the Americans, which begins the spin out of control somewhat fueled by career felon Benny Mongrel observing his fellow American. Susan will learn she don¿t know Jack as he piles lies on top of lies with her and with Barnard. With the cast divided between the innocent and the felonious, fans will enjoy Roger Smith¿s tense thriller while humming Bonnie Tyler¿s Holding Out for a Hero as increasingly none seem to surface.

    Harriet Klausner

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