Milton C. Toby: August 2010 Archives

Since the days of King Solomon's Mines, Africa has provided the setting for an untold number of thrillers.  Typically, though, the continent has been a backdrop for the exploits of foreigners who have come to the continent from somewhere else. 

Deon Meyer writes from a different perspective.  His novels deal with people who, like the author, call post-apartheid South Africa home.  The locales manage to be simultaneously exotic for the reader and familiar for the author's cast of characters.  Keeping that balance between the new and the familiar has become second nature for Meyer. 

"The problem with the rich and vibrant South African setting is that it insinuates itself into the story without me noticing," Meyer explained.  "It feels like an organic process in which you let your characters loose in this environment.  As they start to interact with it more and more, the setting is created almost by accident."