An amphetamine-fueled thriller about a bombshell American widow on the run in Cape Town's violent badlands-from a writer being compared to George Pelecanos and Richard Price
A split-second decision with no second chance: get it wrong and you wake up dead.
On a blowtorch-hot night in Cape Town, American ex-model Roxy Palmer and her gunrunner husband, Joe, are carjacked, leaving Joe lying in a pool of blood. As the carjackers make their getaway, Roxy makes a fateful choice that changes her life forever.
Disco and Godwynn, the ghetto gangbangers who sped away in Joe's convertible, will stop at nothing to track her down. Billy Afrika, a mixed-race ex-cop turned mercenary, won't let her out of his sight because Joe owed him a chunk of money. And remorselessly hunting them all is Piper, a love-crazed psychopath determined to renew his vows with his jailhouse "wife," Disco.
As these desperate lives collide and old debts are settled in blood, Roxy is caught in a wave of escalating violence in the beautiful and brutal African seaport. With savage plotting and breakneck suspense that ends in a shattering cataclysm of violence, Wake Up Dead confirms Roger Smith as one of the world's best new thriller writers.
Industry Reviews
"Smith's writing is astonishing. . . . Read this only if you don't flinch." --The Plain Dealer (Cleveland)
"Impossible to put down." --Martha Woodroof, NPR.org
"The Cape Town setting recaptures all the blood and menace that time and nostalgia have effaced from Raymond Chandler's mean streets--and redoubles them. . . . Smith also leavens the book with humor, grim and otherwise." --The Philadelphia Inquirer
"If you are a fan of George Pelecanos or Dennis Lehane, give Roger Smith a close look." --Bookpage
"A stellar thriller from South African author Smith." --Publishers Weekly (Starred Review) Smith's writing is astonishing. . . . Read this only if you don't flinch. "The Plain Dealer (Cleveland)"
Impossible to put down. "Martha Woodroof, NPR.org"
The Cape Town setting recaptures all the blood and menace that time and nostalgia have effaced from Raymond Chandler's mean streets--and redoubles them. . . . Smith also leavens the book with humor, grim and otherwise. "The Philadelphia Inquirer"
If you are a fan of George Pelecanos or Dennis Lehane, give Roger Smith a close look. "Bookpage"
A stellar thriller from South African author Smith. "Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)"" "Smith's writing is astonishing. . . . Read this only if you don't flinch." --"The Plain Dealer" (Cleveland)
"Impossible to put down." --Martha Woodroof, "NPR.org
"
"The Cape Town setting recaptures all the blood and menace that time and nostalgia have effaced from Raymond Chandler's mean streets--and redoubles them. . . . Smith also leavens the book with humor, grim and otherwise."" --The Philadelphia Inquirer"
"If you are a fan of George Pelecanos or Dennis Lehane, give Roger Smith a close look."" --Bookpage
"
"A stellar thriller from South African author Smith." --"Publishers Weekly" (Starred Review) "Smith's writing is astonishing. . . . Read this only if you don't flinch." -"The Plain Dealer" (Cleveland)
"Impossible to put down." -Martha Woodroof, "NPR.org
"
"The Cape Town setting recaptures all the blood and menace that time and nostalgia have effaced from Raymond Chandler's mean streets-and redoubles them. . . . Smith also leavens the book with humor, grim and otherwise."" -The Philadelphia Inquirer"
"If you are a fan of George Pelecanos or Dennis Lehane, give Roger Smith a close look."" -Bookpage
"
"A stellar thriller from South African author Smith." -"Publishers Weekly" (Starred Review)
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