I enjoyed LEO, but probably not as much as I would have if I knew anything at all about South Africa. This is a solid crime novel in a classic vein. Unfortunately, the geography and recent history of South Africa play such a big part in the narrative that parts of it were difficult for me to appreciate.

I might also say that this was absolutely the first crime novel I've ever read that included footnotes referring the reader to earlier books in the series to understand specific plot references. If I'd read the entire series, I might very well like that. But I haven't, and so I admit I found it downright annoying.

I love Deon Meyer, and the latest is no exception. Taut, entertaining and exciting you have another hit n your hands! I will talk it up as I always do….

The interplay between Benny Griessel and Vaughn Cupido comprises the largest amount of pages in this long novel, but much of that includes undertakings involved in the planning of Griessel’s upcoming wedding. Relatively little space is devoted to following up their main case—the torture and murder of a former soldier. In comparison, a huge amount of narrative space is devoted to the planning and execution of two heists carried out by a crew that includes Christina Jaeger, a crew that was not involved in the torture/murder of the former soldier. Three independent novellas appear to have been interwoven into a single story: Benny’s investigation of the torture/murder of the soldier, Christina’s heist capers with her team, and another torture/murder, this time involving an influential political fixer.

<b>Short Prognosis</b>

The novel begins with Benny Griessel and Vaughn Cupido, but after one chapter, it switches to a narrative about Christina Jaeger, and her recruitment into a heist crew. We follow the preparations and execution of the heist, involving millions of U.S. dollars, until the caper ends. Griessel and Cupido do not appear again until Chapter 20 and that is in response to the unexplained death of a university student on a mountain trail. They quickly solve the mystery of how the student met her death, but cannot prove their theory without definitive forensic evidence.

Then the narrative switches back to Christina (chapters 26-33), now living in Europe. When we return to Benny and Vaughn, there is a lot of joking around about Benny’s upcoming wedding before their case develops a sudden urgency; the man whose actions probably caused the student’s death, Basie Small, has been found tortured and murdered. Only now, at close to the 30% point, does the novel become interesting, closer in tone to Deon Meyer’s better-known works.

Basie Small was a former Recce—the South African Special Forces Brigade—and soon the focus switches to another former Recce, Tau Berger. The action switches back and forth amongst Griessel and Cupido (who are following up on the Small murder), Christina Jaeger (who has rejoined the heist crew), and Tau Berger (who has his own agenda).

<b>Culture and Politics</b>

The author, Deon Meyer, is a South African who writes in Afrikaans and his novels are then translated into English (and other languages). Sprinkled throughout LEO are numerous commonly used Afrikaans words. Many are exclamations and most are easily comprehensible within the context wherein they are uttered. Meyer includes a glossary of these Afrikaans words in LEO. South Africa has 11 official languages, so words in this glossary originate from several sources, not only Afrikaans.

To understand comments made by the fictional characters, as well as important aspects of the plot, a reader needs some knowledge of South Africa’s current and past economic/political situation—not an academic knowledge but general knowledge gained by following international newspaper articles. For example, “load shedding” is mentioned frequently and plays a part in the action; it refers to the country’s energy crisis, which results in frequent energy blackout periods.

I cannot imagine reading this novel without a basic knowledge of the rampant political corruption that occurred during the reign of the ex-president (replaced in 1918). A detailed knowledge is not necessary, but Meyer wrote it for his fellow countrymen, and a reader would be expected to be familiar with the political upheaval that occurred during that president’s tenure. I notice that the names of real people have been slightly altered for this fictional tale, I suppose for legal purposes, but even someone who only reads the newspaper should be able to identify how closely the fictional fraudulent behaviour mirrors the real malfeasance that took place during the ex-president’s tenure.

<b>My Perspective</b>

LEO starts slowly. Not only were Griessel and Cupido missing from the action, but I found Christina Jaeger, the primary character in the beginning section, to be uninspiring. The account of the heist failed to gain my interest, and the characterizations of crew members other than Christina not well developed; Themba Jola, in particular, was an unclear figure, identified only as a member of the Xhosa tribe, with no distinguishing features. This section is narrated from the POV of Christina. She and two other crew members initially appeared in the novel “Trackers”. I read it years ago. I still own the copy purchased from the now-defunct Book Depository, but I cannot remember any details about the characters or plot. Unlike some of Meyer’s early novels, such as “Heart of the Hunter”, “Trackers” was not “unforgettable”.

The worst part of this early section was a long monologue by Christina describing her background (chapter 29 and most of chapter 30). While I plodded through it, I thought to myself: “This is not Deon Meyer’s style; he is so good at subtly conveying characterization using actions, speech, and thought patterns. Why was this soliloquy dumped on us?” The information Christina conveyed had nothing to do with the rest of the novel. It merely slowed down the action and made Christina less likeable.

Thankfully, soon after this dreadful monologue, Griessel and Cupido take precedence in the narrative, and the story becomes more interesting. Soon too, we encounter Tau Berger, and Basie Small’s sister, both antiheroes, but interesting antiheroes. During the final 70% of the novel, the are a few low spots (too much time spent describing the wedding preparations) and lots of high spots. The reader knows all the facts but Benny knows only a few. It is not a whodunnit, a whydunnit, or a howdunnit. It is more like a jigsaw puzzle, where the reader has all the pieces but Benny doesn’t, and whether he will be able to join clues together, and make his wedding on time, is a race.

To me, the first 3o% of the book was average, worth only three stars, the next 35% definitely merited four stars, and the final 35%, which had me turning pages as fast as I could, was undeniably a five-star narrative. After pondering, I decided to give it a four-star overall rating—because I couldn’t award it 4.5 stars. It is better than most thrillers being published, but not as good as Meyer’s last two novels, “The Last Hunt” and “The Dark Flood”.

But still highly recommended.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My reviews for some other books in this series:
<a href = https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3351948739 > The Last Hunt (Benny Griessel #6) </a>
<a href = https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4323762141 > The Dark Flood (Benny Griessel #7) </a>

and also see:
<a href = https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3438641490 > Heart of the Hunter </a>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

LEO will be released in North America on February 18, 2025.
Thanks to Grove Atlantic for providing an electronic copy of this book via NetGalley. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinions.

Deon Meyer could write a grocery shopping list and it would still be more interesting and better written than 95% of the titles being released these days.

Two decorated detectives must put their careers on the line to find the link between three seemingly-unrelated homicides!! Good book! This book had suspense, intrigue, action, murder, mystery, a great who done it and a few twists and turns. The story was interesting! I definitely recommend reading this book! Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for sharing this book with me!