A dark tale of fate, revenge and violence in a country where wrong is the new right. When the president of South Africa murders his wife in a fit of drunken rage he charges his most trusted henchman, the bloodthirsty Steve Bungu, with orchestrating a cover-up that pivots on blackmailing Joe Louw, a retired cop of impeccable ethics, to mount a fake investigation that'll clear the crooked head of state.
In a seemingly unconnected case, Investigator Disaster Zondi (Mixed Blood, Dust Devils) who, because of his criticism of the corrupt post-apartheid regime, has been banished to the fringes of law enforcement, is given the thankless task of traveling to the remote Kalahari Desert to arrest Magnus Kruger, a notorious white supremacist who rules over an Afrikaner-only enclave, for the slaying of a young black man.
As Louw and Zondi peel away layers of lies, hatred and festering secrets they reveal the connections that bind them, connections that reach back deep into the nightmare of South Africa's apartheid past.
Praise for Nowhere
"The truth behind the Rainbow Nation facade: a searing account of crime and corruption in South Africa. Peopled with engaging characters and peppered with both dark humor and hard-hitting observation, Nowhere is another compelling read from Roger Smith. But it's the bittersweet, visceral storytelling that separates this book from the pack." crimefictionlover.com
"Roger Smith's brilliant new novel is written with a narrative propulsion that kept me reading into the night. The plotting is superbly measured and lends an epic feel to the proceedings. The characters are also among the best that Smith has created." Martin Stanley - The Gamblers Blog
"Nowhere is by far Smith's most intricate and byzantine novel yet, and also his most satisfying. Great novel. Great author." Benoît Lelièvre - Dead End Follies
"Like a double shot of espresso; dark, bitter, and leaves a burn. Highly Recommended." Derrick Horodyski - Out of the Gutter
Praise for Roger Smith
"Smith writes with brutal beauty." The Washington Post
"The master of the coolly-described nightmare." Der Spiegel
"Smith's writing is astonishing." The Cleveland Plain Dealer
"A master of suspense." The Sunday Times
"The shooting star of the crime scene." Radio Europe
"Smith has a unique ability to grab readers and plunge them headlong into his nightmare visions." The Times
"The crime genre's greatest tragedian." Spinetingler Magazine
"Smith captures a world where nothing is certain, least of all the rules of coexistence." Arte
"A leader in dark, relentless fiction." Marianne Magazine
"Smith writes coolly and with grace about unspeakable horror." The Argus
"He portrays a world that has lost all hope of redemption." Le Monde
"Nobody can peel back the layers of damaged people and a broken society so poetically." crimefictionlover.com
Roger Smith's novels are published in eight languages and two are in development as feature films. Website: rogersmithbooks.com