This book was excellent throughout. The characters were 3 dimensional and the story hooked me from the start. I look forward to reading more from Roger Smith. ( )

To save his family and repay a $100,000 gambling debt, Jack Burn is compelled to rob a bank, killing a cop in the getaway. Burn, his pregnant wife and young son move to Cape Town, South Africa with much of the money. A home invasion in his upscale neighborhood by two drug gang members forces Jack to take decisive action. Next door, a night watchman, ex-convict Benny Mongrel is surprised to see the family survive. Meanwhile, a super dirty cop (Rudi Barnard, a/k/a Gatsby) is looking for the two disappeared guys, and latches onto Jack for a pay day. When Gatsby kills Benny's canine companion, wounding Benny, he creates another vengeful enemy in addition to a government-sanctioned, anti-corruption crusader. Very violent. Families torn asunder. 3.5 stars, rounded up. ( )

Si vous aimez le noir c'est pour vous. Mais aussi un très intéressant (et très lisible) travail sur la psychologie des personnages. ( )

In Mixed Blood Smith has a way of taking the most obnoxious, despicable character and painting them in such a fashion that you find yourself rooting for them, all of them. As each main character is introduced, each one worse than the previous one, you are able to find some unbidden trait that makes you want to see them succeed. From Jack Burn, the American bank robber, hiding out in Cape Town under an assumed name, to Benny Mongrel the ex-jail-bird and long time gang-banger to the slime-ball, power hungry Boer cop Rudi Barnard, each one reels you in.
Jack's pregnant wife, coerced into his drama after the botched robbery, is wanting a divorce to move home and turn herself in. Benny has taken a real job and found a dog, the first thing he ever loved and is trying to stay on the straight and narrow. Rudi, for all the hard-nosed tactics he takes is just another Bible-thumping fat slob whose hemorrhoids ache and who never gets laid since his wife moved out. Something to feel for with each character, which makes the end result for each of them even more memorable.
This in-you-face gritty crime drama will keep you turning pages until the book is done and well worth the time. ( )

In Mixed Blood Smith has a way of taking the most obnoxious, despicable character and painting them in such a fashion that you find yourself rooting for them, all of them. As each main character is introduced, each one worse than the previous one, you are able to find some unbidden trait that makes you want to see them succeed. From Jack Burn, the American bank robber, hiding out in Cape Town under an assumed name, to Benny Mongrel the ex-jail-bird and long time gang-banger to the slime-ball, power hungry Boer cop Rudi Barnard, each one reels you in.
Jack's pregnant wife, coerced into his drama after the botched robbery, is wanting a divorce to move home and turn herself in. Benny has taken a real job and found a dog, the first thing he ever loved and is trying to stay on the straight and narrow. Rudi, for all the hard-nosed tactics he takes is just another Bible-thumping fat slob whose hemorrhoids ache and who never gets laid since his wife moved out. Something to feel for with each character, which makes the end result for each of them even more memorable.
This in-you-face gritty crime drama will keep you turning pages until the book is done and well worth the time. ( )