He’s standing among the parents when Zara picks up Kyle from school. He could be another dad in the waiting knot. He’s so close he could smell her. The orange fragrance of her shampoo; the soft jasmine of her deodorant. He likes the secret of being near her. He knows her; she doesn’t know him.
Page 190
In a nutshell
Falls the Shadow is a fast-paced crime thriller that digs into the murky world of police corruption in South Africa. When a shocking murder-suicide exposes a network of illegal gun trading within the police force, Captain Zara Dewane of the Internal Crime Unit starts uncovering the truth. A truth that puts her directly in danger as she finds herself up against powerful forces determined to silence her.
Book Club Notes
South African crime – both fiction and non-fiction – is a genre I tend to avoid. If reading is meant to be an escape, stories set in your own backyard can hit a little too close to home. And yet, when Falls the Shadow landed on my desk, I decided to set aside my hesitation and give it a chance. I’m glad I did. It introduced me to Mike Nicol, widely regarded as one of the country’s finest crime writers.
He pulled me into this vivid world not through neat, quotable lines, but through layered characters who are neither wholly good nor bad, a storyline that constantly shifts, and nuances that immerse you in the setting and the distinct diction of each character. In short, I was hooked – deeply invested, often frustrated with our heroine Zara, and desperate to see how it would all end.
Read If
You want to read more South African fiction and love a good crime thriller.
Rating
Writing – 9/10
Character Development – 7/10
Plot Twist – 8/10
Shareability – 7/10
The Nitty Gritty
Published by: Pan Macmillan
Genre: Fiction, Thriller, Crime
ISBN: 9781770109469
Pages: 367
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A note on our book ratings
Storyline: How good is the storyline? Is it believable and complex or does it make you shake your head in its ridiculousness?
Writing: How well written is the book? Do you find yourself wowed by the writing or unimpressed?
Character Development: Do the characters evolve and grow through the book and are they multi-dimensional?
Plot Twist: Were you able to predict the end, or did the author give you some surprises along the way to keep you on your toes?
Shareability: How likely are you to share the book?
