Fever

by Deon Meyer, Will Damron (Narrated by)

Overview

Coming soon...

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781681689661
Publisher:	HighBridge Company
Publication date:	12/14/2017
Edition description:	Unabridged
Product dimensions:	6.40(w) x 5.30(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Deon Meyer is the internationally acclaimed, prizewinning author of eleven thrillers, including Icarus, Cobra, Seven Days, and the Barry Award-winning Thirteen Hours. His books have been published in twenty-seven languages. He lives in Stellenbosch, South Africa.

Will Damron is an Audie Award-nominated narrator who has recorded books in every genre, from science fiction and fantasy to romance, YA, and nonfiction. Raised in rural southern Virginia, he has appeared Off-Broadway and on stage and screen throughout the country. He lives in Los Angeles, California.

Read an Excerpt

Suddenly the hum of insects ceased.

Something drew my attention, behind my father, down the street. I called to him, in surprise at the unexpected sign of life, and a bit frightened by the furtive nature of the movement. My father looked up at me, following the direction of my gaze, and saw the spectres in the deepening dusk.

‘Get inside,’ he shouted. He stood up, holding the heavy wrench, and ran towards the cab.

I was frozen. The shame of it would eat at me for months, that inexplicable stupidity. I stood motionless, my eyes fixed on the shifting shadows as they coalesced into solid shapes.

Dogs. Supple, quick.

‘Nico,’ my father shouted, with a terrible urgency. He stopped in his tracks, to try to fend the determined dogs away from his child.

After that, everything happened so fast, yet it was also as if time stood still. I remember the finest detail. The despair on my father’s face when the dogs cut him off from the truck, just three metres away. The whirring sound as he swung and swung the massive adjustable wrench. The electrically charged air, the smell of ozone, the stink of the dogs. They dodged backwards to evade the momentum of the deadly spanner, always too agile, just out of reach. But they stayed between him and the truck door, snarling, snapping.

‘Get the pistol, Nico. Shoot.’ Not an order. A terrified plea, as if in that moment my father saw his death and its consequences: his son, lone survivor, stranded, doomed.

Editorial Reviews

★ 07/10/2017
Meyer (Trackers) neatly integrates a whodunit into a sophisticated postapocalyptic thriller set in South Africa. In the near future, a new strain of coronavirus that developed from a chance interaction between an HIV-positive man and a sick bat has wiped out 95% of the Earth’s population in just a few months. In a brief, ominous prologue, narrator Nico Storm promises to reveal the truth about the murder of his father, Willem, who’s introduced in a flashback set after the plague struck, when Nico was a teenager. An encounter with some vicious feral dogs almost ends Willem’s life, but he survives, and he and Nico make their way to the town of Vanderkloof, which Willem, who used to be a geographer and a judge, hopes to make the center of a new beginning for humanity. Willem’s tireless efforts are clouded by the reader’s knowledge of how things will end for him, and Meyer effectively teases his ultimate reveal. Thoughtful character development complements the clever storytelling. Agent: Richard Pine, Inkwell Management. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

Praise for Fever :

An Indie Next Selection

An Amazon Best Book of the Month (Science Fiction and Fantasy)

“Meyer neatly integrates a whodunit into a sophisticated postapocalyptic thriller set in South Africa . . . Meyer effectively teases his ultimate reveal. Thoughtful character development complements the clever storytelling.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“A thought-provoking, postapocalyptic examination of the human condition . . . With its stunning final revelation, this is a remarkable literary achievement.” — Booklist

“[A] sweeping epic about a young Afrikaner boy’s survival in a post-apocalyptic South Africa . . . The book is part ecological warning, part thriller . . . part adventure saga . . and part coming-of-age story . . . Gripping moments and a haunting atmosphere.” — Kirkus Reviews

“Tense, intriguing, and surprising, this thriller is a solid choice for readers who enjoy well-researched and detailed survival stories.” —Karin Thogersen, Library Journal

“Reminiscent of The Stand and The Passage. Great stuff.” —Stephen King

“I have been a Deon Meyer fan for some time. Fever is an interesting departure for him . . . and I loved it.” —Thomas Perry

“ Fever is one of the best books of the year. Deon Meyer is a masterful writer and has created a stunning epic that brims with emotion. The mystery, thrills, and action kept me riveted to every page. Highly recommended.” —Adam Hamdy, author of Pendulum

“ Fever bears comparison with landmarks in the genre such as The Stand. . . The novel explores humanity at its best and worst; the crushing loss of civilisation with everything that means for the structure of society . . . This great book asks us to reflect on our own hidden natures—how would we react if the world we knew came to an end tomorrow?” —Vaseem Khan, author of The Unexpected Inheritance of Inspector Chopra

“Emotional and atmospheric . . . There are shades of Cormac McCarthy’s superb The Road , but Fever grips even more.” — Times (UK)

“Compelling, action-packed and fraught with emotion. At its heart it is a powerful exploration of humanity at its best and worst and bears favourable comparison with landmarks of the genre such as Stephen King’s The Stand and Cormac McCarthy’s The Road. Simply stunning.” — Daily Express (UK)

“Deon Meyer should be applauded for this brutal, unflinching tale of the excesses of humanity coiled like a python around a coming-of-age tale; one that makes one think deeply about the human condition as it entertains as well as warns of the dangers ahead . . . Miss this insightful thriller at your peril, because as crime thrillers go, this is the big summer read of 2017.” — Shotsmag (UK)

“Moving and gripping.” — South China Morning Post

From the Publisher

08/01/2017
Meyer, known for his South Africa-set thrillers and detective novels ("Benny Griessel" series), moves into the postapocalyptic genre with his latest murder mystery. Also set in South Africa, this novel takes place in the aftermath of a devastating epidemic. Nico, who was only 14 when a rogue virus ran riot, recalls the circumstances that led to his father's murder years later. Although primarily told from Nico's point of view, the narrative also gathers the stories of various inhabitants of Amanzi, the community founded by his father, offering other perspectives. The Amanzians face many challenges—limited and dwindling resources, wild animals, scavenging motorcycle gangs, as well as discord within the group as it grows and adapts. VERDICT Tense, intriguing, and surprising, this thriller is a solid choice for readers who enjoy well-researched and detailed survival stories.—Karin Thogersen, Huntley Area P.L., IL

Library Journal

2017-06-20
Best known for his detective thrillers, Meyer (Icarus, 2015, etc.) enters darker territory with this sweeping epic about a young Afrikaner boy's survival in a post-apocalyptic South Africa.The story is set in the near future, where narrator Nico Storm and his visionary father, Willem, have "the Fever," an airborne AIDS-related virus that has wiped out much of the world's population. After barely surviving a mauling by wild dogs and the Fever, Willem sets out to build a new, enlightened society. He draws a ragtag support crew that includes Hennie Fly, an eccentric aviator, Domingo, who has a possibly criminal past, and Pastor Nkosi, who spearheads a revolt. The book is part ecological warning, part thriller (it is revealed up front that Willem will be murdered, but the culprit and circumstances aren't clear until much later), part adventure saga (the survivors face repeated battles with a murderous band of looters known as the KTM), and part coming-of-age story, as Nico grows into a warrior and meets the love of his life when a new Fever survivor, Sofia Bergman, arrives at the compound. The narrative shifts, perhaps a bit too often, from Nico's reflections to historical testimony by surviving characters. And neither Nico nor the Christ-like Willem evince the moral complexity of the heroes in Meyer's usual thrillers. Despite some gripping moments and a haunting atmosphere, the book often sinks under its own ambitions, with too many weighty themes and parallel stories going on at once.

Kirkus Reviews