After a teenage American tourist has her throat slit in Cape Town, detective Benny Griessel must find her friend, Rachel Anderson, before she meets the same fate; and when he's also put on the case of a murdered music executive, he realizes he must solve both crimes for Rachel to survive
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.
In de periode van de negende eeuw tot ongeveer de tweede eeuw voor Christus ontwikkelden vier afzonderlijke streken religieuze en filosofische tradities die de mensheid tot op de dag van vandaag beïnvloeden: confucianisme en daoïsme in China, hindoeïsme en boeddhisme in India, monotheïsme in Israël, en filosofisch rationalisme in Griekenland. Deze periode, bekend als de 'axiale eeuw', speelde een cruciale rol in de spirituele ontwikkeling van de mensheid. Karen Armstrong onderzoekt in haar nieuwe boek de bijdragen van invloedrijke figuren zoals Boeddha, Socrates, Confucius en Ezekiel. Ondanks de verschillen benadrukken deze tradities een opmerkelijke overeenkomst: de nadruk op compassie boven haat en geweld. De wijzen van deze tijd streefden er niet naar om doctrines van één geloof te omarmen, maar om een leven te leiden dat geworteld was in geweldloosheid en empathie. Armstrong toont aan wat deze gelijkenis zegt over de religieuze impuls van de mens. Ze gaat verder dan spirituele 'archeologie' door te onderzoeken hoe deze oude overtuigingen een uitdaging kunnen vormen voor onze huidige beleving van religie. Dit werk is een ontdekkingsreis naar de vroege ervaringen van de mensheid, hun verlangens, verantwoordelijkheden en inspirerende oplossingen, geschreven in een erudiete en toegankelijke stijl.
Lena Adams has spent her life struggling to escape her past. She has only unhappy memories of Reece, the small town which nearly destroyed her. She's made a new life for herself as a police detective in Heartsdale, a hundred miles away - but nothing could prepare her for the violence which explodes when she is forced to return. A vicious murder leaves a young woman incinerated beyond recognition. And Lena is the only suspect. When Heartsdale police chief Jeffrey Tolliver, Lena's boss, receives word that his detective has been arrested, he has no choice but to go to Lena's aid - taking with him his wife, medical examiner Sara Linton. But soon after their arrival, a second victim is found. The town closes ranks. And both Jeffrey and Sara find themselves entangled in a horrifying underground world of bigotry and rage - a violent world which shocks even them. A world which puts their own lives in jeopardy. Only Jeffrey and Sara can free Lena from the web of lies, betrayal and brutality that has trapped her. But can they discover the truth before the killer strikes again?
Qual è il misterioso fascino della grande arte sull'essere umano, indipendentemente dalla sua estrazione sociale e culturale? Perché un capolavoro riesce a turbare la nostra tranquillità e visione del mondo? Simon Schama, storico e critico d'arte, esplora l'atto della creazione artistica attraverso i ritratti di otto maestri della pittura e della scultura. Ogni artista selezionato rappresenta un momento cruciale nella sua produzione, caratterizzato da una "spasimo acuto" e da una tensione creativa. Caravaggio, ad esempio, esprime il suo senso di colpa nell'opera "Decollazione del Battista", mentre Bernini afferma il suo ruolo con "L'estasi di Santa Teresa". Rembrandt affronta la committenza nel "Giuramento dei Batavi", e artisti come David, Turner e Picasso utilizzano la pittura come strumento di impegno civile. Van Gogh e Rothko, infine, incarnano una creatività come missione suprema. Questi "drammi della creazione" coincidono con momenti di evoluzione personale, in cui l'artista si confronta con progetti di grande portata, i cui risultati espressivi muteranno per sempre la storia dell'arte. L'artista emerge come un creatore posseduto dalla scintilla divina, spesso osteggiato, ma trionfante grazie al suo genio. L'arte non solo racconta le storie di otto capolavori e personalità straordinarie, ma risponde anche all'interrogativo sul suo valore nella nostra vita.
After 602 days dry, Captain Benny Griessel of the South African police services can't take any more tragedy. So when Benny is called in to investigate a multiple homicide, it pushes him close to breaking point - a former friend and detective colleague has shot his wife and two daughters, then killed himself. Benny wants out - out of his job, his home and his relationship with his singer girlfriend, Alexa. He moves into a hotel and starts drinking. Again. But Benny's unique talent is urgently required to help investigate another crime - the high profile murder of Ernst Richter, MD of a new tech startup, Alibi, whose body is discovered buried in the sand dunes north of Cape Town. Alibi is a service that creates false appointments, documents and phone calls to enable people to cheat on their partners. It has made Richter one of the most notorious people in South Africa. Can Benny pull together the strands of his life in time to catch the killer?
A pulse-pounding thriller which also gives the reader 'total immersion' in a foreign culture - just as the Scandinavians do.
Los Angeles, 1991. Maximilian Ophuls, one of the makers of the modern world, is knifed to death in broad daylight on the doorstep of his illegitimate daughter India, slaughtered by his Kashmiri driver, a mysterious figure who calls himself Shalimar the Cl
'I'll shoot a policeman every day until you arrest the murderer of Hanneke Sloet'. Shortly after the South African Police Services receive this threatening email, a policeman is shot by a sniper and recovering alcoholic Benny Griessel is ordered to reopen the Sloet case.
Hoe veranderde Steve Jobs de wereld en wat maakte hem zo bijzonder? Graphic novel over het leven van de oprichter van Apple.
Eléazard von Wogau, héros inquiet de cette incroyable forêt d’histoires, est correspondant de presse au fin fond du Nordeste brésilien. On lui laisse un jour un manuscrit, biographie inédite d’un célèbre jésuite de l’époque baroque. Commence alors une enquête à travers les savoirs et les fables qui n’est pas sans incidences sur sa vie privée. Comme si l’extraordinaire plongée dans l’univers d’Athanase Kircher se répercutait à travers les aventures croisées d’autres personnages, tels Elaine, archéologue en mission improbable dans la jungle du Mato Grosso, Moéma, étudiante à la dérive, ou bien Nelson, jeune gamin infirme des favelas de Pirambú qui hume le plomb fondu de la vengeance. Nous sommes au Brésil. Nous sommes aussi dans la terra incognita d’un roman monstre. On songe à Borges et Cortázar, à Italo Calvino ou Umberto Eco, ou encore Potocki et son Manuscrit trouvé à Saragosse, sans jamais épuiser la réjouissante singularité de ce roman palimpseste qui joue à merveille des mises en abyme et des vertiges spéculaires. « Umberto Eco revu par Indiana Jones chez Malcolm Lowry, avec un zest d’African Queen et de Lévi-Strauss chez les Nambikwara. » Patrick Grainville, Le Figaro littéraire.
Lemmer is a professional bodyguard. Silent, invisible, he never gets involved. Emma le Roux is convinced she's seen her brother on the news as a suspect in the recent killing of four poachers. But her brother is supposed to have died twenty years ago. When le Roux hires Lemmer to watch her back while she goes looking for answers, it becomes clear someone wants to keep them in the dark. And when that someone tries to murder them both, for once in his life Lemmer steps out of the shadows.
From the Orange Prize-winning author of We Need to Talk About Kevin 'Enjoyably abrasive... a compelling read... sardonic and elegant' Evening Standard 'Scabrously funny... few authors can be as entertainingly problematic as Shriver' Guardian
Un misterioso viaggiatore dai capelli biondi arriva a Sikri, sede della corte Mogol, e chiede udienza al sovrano Jalalluddin Muhammed Akbar, detto Akbar il Grande. Lo straniero afferma di venire da una sconosciuta, remotissima città di nome Firenze e di avere una storia tanto meravigliosa quanto veritiera da raccontare: una storia che lega i destini della misteriosa capitale d'Occidente da cui proviene a quelli della discendenza del monarca indiano. Inizia così un racconto che, unendo una pirotecnica inventiva a una minuziosissima documentazione, si snoda tra figure storiche gigantesche, una fra tutte Machiavelli, e vede tra i protagonisti l'enigmatica Qara Köz, Madama Occhi Neri, principessa destinata a sconvolgere con la sua esotica e rara bellezza la raffinata corte medicea. Quanto c'è di vero nel racconto del viaggiatore, il quale afferma di non essere altri che il figlio di Qara Köz? E se ciò che racconta è vero, che ne è stato della principessa? Non si tratterà invece di un bugiardo che, in quanto tale, merita solo la morte? Dopo il successo di Shalimar il clown, torna uno dei massimi autori angloindiani viventi con un romanzo che indaga con magistrale sapienza i mille, inesplorati legami che uniscono una delle massime stagioni storiche europee, il Rinascimento florentino, a una delle corti più splendide d'Asia, immortalata all'apice della sua fioritura.
"Oddio, ce la farò?" Quante volte una domanda come questa si ripete nella giornata di una donna, evidenziando ciò che è diventato un problema cronico: la mancanza di tempo. Come si fa a conciliare il lavoro in una società finanziaria, un marito talvolta noioso, due bambini piccoli e bisognosi di cure, senza dimenticare un amante on-line? Sono questi i crucci in cui si dibatte quotidianamente Kate Reddy, una trentacinquenne in carriera che conta i minuti come altre donne contano le calorie, costretta a destreggiarsi tra appuntamenti di lavoro, impegni familiari, massaggi, sedute dal dentista e mille altre faccende. È una donna di oggi, combattuta tra il desiderio di realizzarsi e la frustrazione degli inevitabili sensi di colpa. E tutto lascia presagire che prima o poi la situazione non potrà che precipitare. Ma Kate non si abbatte facilmente e ha dalla sua un'arma assolutamente invidiabile: l'ironia.
Too young to get whisked away by a Stannah Stairlift, or to enjoy the luxury of a walk-in bath, Marie is all the same getting on in years - and she's thrilled about it. She's a bit preoccupied about whether to give up sex, but there are compensations, like falling in love with her baby grandson, and maybe falling in love with someone else too.
The Woman in the Blue Cloak is a brilliant investigation which will thrill and entertain fans of Deon Meyer's much-loved detective Benny Griessel.
In de periode van de negende eeuw tot ongeveer de tweede eeuw voor Christus ontwikkelden vier afzonderlijke regio's religieuze en filosofische tradities die de mensheid tot op heden beïnvloeden: confucianisme en daoïsme in China, hindoeïsme en boeddhisme in India, monotheïsme in Israël, en filosofisch rationalisme in Griekenland. Historici verwijzen naar deze tijd als de 'axiale eeuw' vanwege de cruciale rol in de spirituele ontwikkeling van de mens. In haar nieuwe boek onderzoekt Karen Armstrong de bijdragen van belangrijke figuren zoals Boeddha, Socrates, Confucius en Ezekiel. Ze benadrukt de opmerkelijke overeenkomsten binnen deze tradities, waarbij de nadruk ligt op compassie boven haat en geweld. De wijzen uit deze periode streefden niet naar dogma's, maar naar een leven in harmonie met anderen. Religie was voor hen synoniem met compassie. Armstrong verkent wat deze overeenkomsten zeggen over de menselijke zoektocht naar spiritualiteit en gaat verder dan alleen historische analyse. Ze onderzoekt hoe deze oude overtuigingen ons kunnen uitdagen in onze huidige benadering van religie. Dit boek is een ontdekkingsreis naar de vroegste ervaringen, verlangens en oplossingen van de mensheid, geschreven in Armstrongs kenmerkende, toegankelijke stijl.
