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Thirteen Hours
Thirteen Hours
Thirteen Hours
Audiobook11 hours

Thirteen Hours

Written by Deon Meyer

Narrated by Simon Vance

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

4/5

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About this audiobook

Some would call Detective Benny Griessel a legend. Others would call him a drunk. Either way, he has trodden on too many toes over the years ever to reach the top of the promotion ladder, and now he concentrates on staying sober and mentoring the new generation of crime fighters: mixed race, Xhosa, and Zulu. But when an American backpacker disappears in Capetown, panicked politicians know who to call: Benny has just thirteen hours to save the girl, save his career-and crack open a conspiracy which threatens the whole country.
LanguageEnglish
Release dateOct 1, 2010
ISBN9781615735433
Author

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.

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Reviews for Thirteen Hours

Rating: 4.122727484090909 out of 5 stars
4/5

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  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Exciting, interesting, informative..this book has it all. Very good read.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This is the first book that I have read by Meyer, and I found it to be a good, exciting read with not one but two mysteries that kept me guessing. I was really surprised at the end to find at least one connection between the two. Meyer does a good job at developing his main character, Benny Griessel. The reader gets to see that Benny does have his demons (a drinking problem that caused his separation from his wife) but also is a good cop who loves his wife and kids. I did enjoy how Meyer showed Benny's thought processes that led to him figuring things out. I do wish however that his wife and kids played a bigger role because it would have developed Benny further. The reader just gets glimpses of the relationships between Benny and his wife and kids. The overall mysteries were well done. There were plenty of twists and turns to keep the reader interested. The only thing that I didn't care for was a graphic scene of violence toward the end but considering the setting of the story it was just an issue for myself. Overall it was a good read if you like mystery and suspense. I would give another book by Meyer a try.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Thirteen Hours was a very intriguing read and forced me to really focus. The characters are well defined, great detail throughout the book, and the overall story was really good. Everything in this book takes place within a thirteen hour period. The book is a long read at 584 pages, and jam-packed. I know literally nothing about South Africa, which is the setting of the story (Capetown), or the language. Although this book was translated from Afrikaans to English, there were still some words that I had no idea what they meant (maybe they couldn't be translated...I don't know). Some of the names were hard to remember (and forget pronouncing them!) for me, so I made up nicknames for some of the characters. Within the chapters, there is a lot of switching back and forth between scenes, but I found that very necessary being that everything takes place within thirteen hours. It sometimes confused me a bit, but I kept moving on.Even with all the above working against me reading this book, the story is just that good that I had to keep reading. Meyer tells a good story, and I think I see another Deon Meyer book in my future.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Jissis, this is a good one. A nail-biter all the way through.I am really impressed by Deon Meyer's writing and story-telling, and I presume that the translation is spot-on.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Digital audiobook performed by Simon VanceFrom the book jacket: Morning dawns in Cape Town, South Africa. A teenage girl’s body has been found on the street, her throat cut. She was an American. Somewhere in Cpae Town her friend, Rachel Anderson is, hopefully, still alive. Rachel is terrified, unsure of where to turn in the unknown city. Who can she trust? How long can she stay ahead of her relentless pursuers? Racing against the clock, Detective Benny Griessel desperately tries to solve the murder and bring Rachel home safe, all in a single day. My reactions:This is a hard-hitting, fast-paced, police procedural with a complicated plot, a second, unrelated (or is it?) killing, and multiple twists: drugs, human trafficking, the music industry, and, of course, Benny’s continuing struggle as a recovering alcoholic. He's also been named as a mentor to a group of younger investigators, and Griessel is having a hard time with his recent assignment: Inspector Mbali Kaleni, a black woman, a Zulu, a feminist. She’s eager and intelligent, but lacks the experience of Griessel and his previous partners. And she has her own agenda: trying to equate the effort expended by the police investigating cases of dead black women with that expended in the cases of missing white women. This is an interesting pairing, and I’d like to see it continue in future books. Simon Vance is marvelous, as usual, performing the audiobook.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Thirteen Hours by Deon Meyer is the second book in the Benny Griessel police series. Set in Cape Town, South Africa this is a taunt thriller that keeps the reader on edge throughout all of the 13 hours he writes about. In one memorable day, Benny and his proteges have to deal with two murder cases, and try to rescue a young American tourist, who is on the run from a group of men who are trying to kill her. The South African setting generates a certain amount of racial issues which the author deftly handles, all the while continuing to build up the excitement. Benny is also dealing with his sobriety and has a meeting with his estranged wife scheduled for the end of the day, is she ready to forgive him and accept him back into her life or does she have other plans.Thirteen Hours is a well written thriller that blends edge-of-your-seat suspense with the daily problems of policing in South Africa. Manpower shortages, a blackout, and the protocols of dealing with other police departments have to be dealt with. The narrative jumps back and forth between the investigations which can be rather irksome at times, also the reader is never informed why the young American is being hunted until the very end. The author does build to a satisfactory conclusion with a desperate last minute rescue attempt, but be warned, there is torture involved which may upset some readers.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Thirteen Hours is a tense, exciting read with interesting characters that you can root for. Even with a subplot that garners too much attention and could have been reduced by half, Thirteen Hours is a phenomenal South African thriller that I'll remember for a long time to come. Meyer does a nice job injecting the racial tensions that exist without ever having it impede his story. Highly recommended.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This would be the first book I've read by a South African author. Well, aside from Bryce Courtenay. And of course Wilbur Smith. Can't forget that Tolkein was born in South Africa. Anyway, aside from those authors Deon Mayer is one of the first South African authors I have read. I did read Rhodes' biography as well...

    Before I become too Monty Python (Ni!) I should say that Deon has served up a particularly good crime thriller. He wastes no time or space in this book, his writing mimics the tension of the characters and the confusion of the investigation running against the clock. But he also digs into the music industry and some political issues whilst setting up some interesting secondary characters, who will no doubt shine in later novels.

    I picked up this novel because it was sitting next to a Matt Hilton Joe Hunter novel. The cover and blurb looked interesting and I took the cover recommendation by Michael Connelly at its word. So it was via random browsing that I came across this fantastic novel. For crime fans, Deon Mayer is definitely worth checking out.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This is a sophisticated, well-written suspense story set in Cape Town, South Africa, though it might have been in any town but for the details. For those who like this genre, the author should be well known and loved. He writes so much better than many in the genre. The story details are well-researched and the plot flows along with natural dialogue, keeping the reader guessing at every turn, and there are many. The characters seem real; I know people who could step right into some of these roles. Not only will the chapters keep you guessing, but readers will find surprises near the end.

    If you haven't read this author and like suspense, crime, thrillers, this book is a good place to begin. Then you'll want to read more of his work, as I do. It's nice to read something in a foreign setting in this genre. The reader can travel a bit as he reads and understand some of the local tensions, issues, and atmosphere. I found the book riveting.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    The story takes place across a single day. In the early Cape Town morning almost simultaneously a young girl's body is found in a churchyard and a record producer is discovered dead in his home with his alcoholic wife sleeping nearby. Both cases are high profile and require urgent action, the first because it soon becomes clear that there is another young girl, an American tourist called Rachel Anderson, on the run from the people responsible for the dead girl and the second because if the man's wife didn't kill him then the most likely suspect is a celebrated gospel singer. Two relatively new detectives, Vusumuzi Ndabeni (Vusi) and Fransman Dekker, are put in charge of one case each. Both are being mentored by Benny Griessel who is something of a dinosaur in 'the new South Africa' but who has lots of knowledge and experience to share if Vusi and Dekker choose to learn from him. Benny is under enormous pressure from himself and everyone around him. Can he still cut it when it matters?

    A few weeks ago I described my perfect thriller. I said

    If a thriller has

    * A twisty, turn-y plot that clips along at a decent pace and offers a pay-off for my investment of time (e.g. family reunited/world saved/justice done)
    * At least a couple of characters who, if not exactly three-dimensional, provide enough humanity that I care whether they live (or die), triumph over adversity (or fail) or right a wrong (or don’t).

    it will probably get a rating of 3 (= decent/solid entertaining read) on my personal scale. There is a chance of extra points for humour, above-average excitement levels, deeper than usual exploration of a theme that interests me, a male character who doesn’t viewevery woman he meets as a potential bed mate or a female character who doesn’t look like a supermodel yet, miraculously, proves to have some value to the world anyway. Keeping the car chases short and detailed descriptions of weaponry to a minimum also scores bonus points.

    Thirteen Hours gets a tick for each and every one of these points and a bonus for something I didn't include above (but should have): an ending that didn't make me roll my eyes and/or wish I'd stopped reading 30 pages beforehand. In essence it's a perfect example of its genre and I absolutely loved it.

    In thrillers plot is king and here the story is fast, unpredictable and has just the right level of complication. We switch back and forth between the two cases with often breathtaking speed and there are no convenient spots at which to pause for respite. This is the kind of book that the 'page-turner' cliché should be reserved for as I literally tore pages in my haste to find out what would happen next.

    What excites me even more than a great story though is characters who involve and engage me and Thirteen Hours has bunches of them. Benny Griessel is intriguing: a recovering alcoholic struggling to re-connect with his family as well as find a place for himself in the newly restructured police force. But far from being dour or melancholic he's funny and philosophical while still driven to do his job well for all the right reasons. His two mentees are equally interesting though vastly different people from Benny. Vusi is a quiet man reflecting on his mother's simple view of the new world while finding his feet in a city new to him and Dekker is angry about prejudices he has been subject to as a coloured man in a black and white South Africa. There are plenty of other deft portrayals too and never knowing who would be a minor character and who would play a larger role made them all the more interesting.

    Perhaps it didn't hurt that the buzzing of the dreaded vuvuzela accompanied my reading of the last few chapters of the book (during the opening moments of the football world cup final) but another of the things that the book does beautifully is create a sense of its location. It is done more subtly than in Meyer's previous books, such as when Rachel's parents learn about South Africa's crime rate from the internet and an when an elderly man who briefly helps Rachel discusses the country's past and future, but it has no less of an impact for that. All the complications of a country in a state of great change where people of all backgrounds are both eager for and fearful of the new ways are played out in a myriad of small but fascinating details.

    It's not often that I feel like describing a book as perfect but I simply cannot think of a single thing I would change about Thirteen Hours. It has everything you'd want in a thriller and loads more besides, and is the hefty object I shall be hurling at the very next person who says in my hearing that crime fiction isn't real literature.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Another good crime thriller from Meyer, this time it's a race against the clock to find the fleeing girl before the bad boys who have killed her friend do. This is slightly different to the norm insofar as the story is set in a 13-hour timeframe, like the title says! So the sense of tension is always building; how long can she evade her pursuers, what is it they are after, are the police to be trusted, can Detective Griessel get to her on time? Another murder investigation on the side lends interest, with the outcome a little surprising, or not! Can't say more! Like others of his books, the workings of the different arms of the South African security forces adds to the interest. The various characters, police and others, are all interesting, particularly I thought the female Inspector. If you were to know Cape Town, you might benefit from the knowledge as you follow the pursuit. A good, pacy, action-packed thriller.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    My dad recommended this to me, though I don't think he realized this was a second book in a series (this is the second time I've read a second book by mistake). Regardless, I didn't realize it until I entered it into LT that it was a second -- which bodes well for the series. The novel, set in South Africa, is about an inspector named Benny Griessel and two different cases that end up being intertwined together. Ignoring everything else, Meyer's two mysteries are fantastic and gripping, but when you add to that all the drama that make up good mysteries (police politics, family life of your detective and so on), plus multiple points of few and all the issues of race that come with a story set in South Africa, you get a truly fantastic mystery. It get brutal toward the end, but I didn't mind because it worked within the story and the world Griessel inhabits. I also like that Meyer gives you clues as to how the stories are connected and who might be involved, but doesn't spell anything out. The moments of brilliance that make up good crime stories are also quite well done. I've gotten a copy of the first book (Devil's Peak) and I can't wait to read it.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Captured by the detective genre for many years now, I truly enjoyed Meyers novel. His pace was fast and steady, weaving the storytelling every few paragraphs in keeping time with the unfolding events while heightening the thrill of the chase and solving of two murders. A very satisfying, unpredictable crime novel. In reading some of the other reviews, I may have read a condensed version as my copy was 408 pages. I must agree with the other reviewers comments about the impenetrable Afrikaans words Meyer used; I only found the glossary at the very rear of the book when I completed the book!
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Thirteen Hours is one of a number of books by South African author Deon Meyer that has been translated from Afrikaans into English. For me, though, there was still a difficulty with the names of the characters and places. The names are difficult to pronounce, and it was hard to remember who was who. There are also many cultural references in this novel that I just didn't get.Those are not criticisms of the book, just a warning to any reader who might be similarly challenged. Thirteen Hours is a crime novel which takes place in the space of, you guessed it, thirteen hours. The first chapter, then, is 05:36-07:00. And so it goes. There are two new murders this morning in Cape Town. Detective Benny Griessel is mentoring the two new detectives who are investigating these crimes.The first murder is that of an American tourist. Soon, Griessel learns that her friend is being hunted by a group of men who, presumably, are responsible for the murder. Find the girl, find the killers. But the girl is afraid of the police, and is hiding from them as well.The second murder reported is that of a music mogul, whose body has been found in his bedroom by his hung-over wife. Signs point to her as the killer, but that is too obvious. There is much more to this than an aggrieved wife.Most importantly, are these two crimes connected? How? Corruption is rampant in the Cape Town Police, and it may prevent Griessel from getting to the bottom of it all.Thirteen Hours is a complex and compelling story. It just took me a while to get into and through it. If you have the time and the inclination, I'd recommend it.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    "Thirteen Hours" is a great book. After reading a number of plot descriptions and favorable comments, I still wasn't excited about getting into this longish book. I had read two others by Meyer, liked Blood Safari very much and thought Devil's Peak was good but not as good as BS. So I was pleasantly surprised at how quickly I got into this story and how the pace never let down. Good storyline, a few feints along the way, tension, great characters, and even after an excellent conclusion I still wanted more. The next book, Trackers, I believe is not a Benny-book, but I am hoping for at least one more. Two American girls on tour throughout Africa are chased through the streets of Capetown by a gang of 5-6 whites and blacks, one is caught and is murdered, the other escapes and is on the run. Meanwhile a recording studio exec is found murdered next to his passed out, drunken wife, and Benny must deal with this 2nd crime concurrently. Benny comes close to rescuing the girl but misses her by minutes. Then the climax in the warehouse - try reading those scenes without clenching your fists. Top notch. Benny has other plates to juggle this day as well - will he get that protoion? (today is decision day), and he has a critical meeting set with his estranged wife. All this in Thirteen Hours.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This is Deon Meyer's best book yet - a real roller-coaster ride through Cape Town as SAPS Captain Benny Griessel goes in search of a young American tourist who is being hunted down by a group of violent blokes who want something she has, and who have already killed her travelling companion. A clever plot which twists and turns and in doing so exposes some of the problems which have come to the fore in post-apartheid SA. Who knew the Afrikaans music industry had so much money swirling around .
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Africa enjoys a number of very fine mystery/police procedural/thriller writers. One of the best is Deon Meyer, writing in Afrikaans, who turns out exciting, fast-paced, well-written thrillers set in today’s South Africa.His latest is 13 Hours, a sequel, in a way, to Devil’s Peak, whose events take place before this book. But it isn’t necessary to read Devil’s Peak before this book, although I recommend it as an outstanding book on its own.Detective Bennie Griessel of the South African Police Services (SAPS) in Cape Town has been nearly 6 months sober and is spending his time on the force mentoring the new detectives that have been hired or promoted through a push to infuse the SAPS with more blacks and colored staff. While mentoring a colored detective on one puzzling murder, Bennie is charged as well with assisting a young Xhosa detective on the brutal murder of a teenage American tourist, Erin Russel, whose friend and companion, Rachel Anderson, is on the run from Erin’s killers.Once into the story, the suspense builds and builds and the pace never lets up. Not only does Meyer write a superb thriller but you also get, free of charge, a penetrating look into the South Africa of today--the racial politics, the discrimination, the tensions, the crime--and, a fascinating tour of the South African Afrikaaner music scene.Meyer is a top-flight writer in this genre. Highly recommended.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    The second in a new police series starring a Cape Town detective dealing with marital problems, alcoholism, and race relations in the new South Africa. A young American hiker is found with her throat slashed, and her traveling companion is seen in the hills above the city running from assailants. Meanwhile, a famous music producer is found murdered in his home, his alcoholic wife lying unconscious near the gun, but it's clear the murder took place elsewhere. Over 13 hours the detectives struggle with both cases, made more complicated by jealousies and racial tensions among their own ranks. This last, the difficulties caused by the end of apartheid, was one of the most interesting and disturbing facets of the book. The mystery is very well-handled, as it proceeds deliberately and steadily to show the police trying to make sense of the puzzle, culminating in a can't-put-it-down final 100 pages.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Sometimes you know when you read the first page of a book that it’s going to be a great read. Thirteen Hours by Deon Meyer is just that—a thrilling police procedural that is difficult to put down. The story opens with Rachel Anderson, an American teenager, running for her life down the streets of Cape Town, South Africa, chased by five men who have just slit the throat of her best friend, Erin Russel. How did their backpacking trip of a lifetime all go so wrong? Detective Inspector Benny Griessel, a recovering alcoholic separated from his wife, has been assigned to oversee the unseasoned detectives investigating Erin’s death and to find and save Rachel from the same fate.At about the same time, in another part of the city, the famous Afrikaans music producer, Adam Barnard, is found dead in his library. Lying nearby, awakened from her drunken sleep by the housekeeper’s screams, is his wife, Alexandra, with a pistol on the floor beside her. Now there are two murders to investigate but no additional detectives. And Rachel’s time is running out; Benny knows she can’t evade her pursuers much longer.Thirteen Hours is a breakaway entry in a field of also-ran read-alike thrillers. In rapid-fire bursts detailing simultaneous actions occurring across the Cape Town landscape, Meyer lets you experience the events as they happen so that even as you are caught up in the questioning of Alexandra you are wondering what is happening to Rachel and whether Benny is making any progress in the race to save her. And all the principal characters are fully drawn--from white Benny with his domestic failures, to the angry black Dekker, to the eager "coloured" Vusi--Meyer paints a very vivid portrait of the cultural and political complexities in post-Apartheid South Africa. This is the most satisfying thriller I can remember reading. I can't wait to read the award-winning Meyer's other novels.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    When the story opens at 5:36 am, the girl has been running for over 3 hours. On Signal Hill Road she meets a woman with a dog, and asks for help. "They're going to kill me.... Call the police", and she runs on.Detective Inspector Bernie Grissel is woken at about the same time. A girl's body has been found in the grounds of the Lutheran Church.South Africa's Serious and Violent Crimes Unit has recently been dissolved, and Benny has a new job in the Provincial Task Force, mentoring six high flyers, trying to make good detectives out of them. He's luckier than his former boss Mat Joubert who seems to have gone into head office limbo. Benny's protege is already at the scene of the crime, and making minor mistakes.By 7 am there's another body - this time the victim is the head of a record company. He has been found lying on his living room floor, shot three times, and his wife, and alcoholic is lying next to his body. Another detective for Benny to mentor.Both cases are headline catchers, particularly when the dead girl is confirmed as an American backpacker, and the girl she is travelling with is found to be missing. These cases will confirm whether Bernie Grissel is any good as a mentor, whether the new scheme will work, and whether 3 of the new detectives have what it takes. There are local and international reputations riding on successful outcomes.The cases are worked at a frenetic pace throughout the day, and the reader is made aware of the passage of time by section headings such as 05:36 - 07:00. The action moves swiftly, and reaches crisis point in both cases by the end of the day.I enjoyed my second outing this year with Bernie Grissel (see my review of DEVIL'S PEAK). He is a likeable and very human character. In THIRTEEN hours he is nearing the end of his 6 months without alcohol, and wondering if his wife Anna will take him back. He realises though that he really has come to enjoy his independence.You are probably wondering if you need to read the preceding title first. While I always recommend reading a series in order, there is no doubt that THIRTEEN HOURS works quite well on its own. It seems to me that Deon Meyer has seen to it that there is sufficient backstory to keep most new readers happy.