'Rob Marsh has done his adopted country an enormous favour, not only by exposing certain past crimes, but by presenting us with a new and perplexing antihero in the form of Captain Russell Kemp, a man whose conscience has sabotaged a once-promising career
and his personal life as well. The author's note at the end provides references, facts and figures that make disturbing reading for anyone interested in conservation... This is Rob Marsh's second crime novel and he is working on a third: "eager anticipation" is the cliché that springs to mind...more
To read more about the New books featured below, click on covers...
The Serpent Under: The Citizen Weekend
Written in two parts, The Serpent Under relates the story of Matthew and Brenda as told by them. They work for the same company, pushing pens and being living proof of what the French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre had to say about hell. That it’s not a place, but other people.
This sense of captivity is something they both want to escape, but their motivations are very different.
It’s this kind of psychological subtext, and the narrative skill Marsh brings to his story that makes The Serpent Under such a riveting read. ..more
Beasts of Prey: Sonya Naude, Longevity Magazine
An appalling secret of the apartheid government is about to be revealed and there are those within the military who will stop at nothing to prevent him from completing his investigation. based on the subject of an official Commission of Inquiry this novel is a gripping page-turner, whose uniquely South African characters and setting make for fresh, compelling reading. Its also a brutal reminder of the evil men do, that government organisations that are supposed to
protect us, can sometimes be the worst culprits. I seriously couldn't put this book down and I eagerly await Marsh's next thriller...more
A body is discovered in the Kruger National Park and Russel Kemp, disgraced and drug addicted Special Branch operative, now relegated to the Criminal Investigation Department at Phalaborwa police station, is dispatched to the crime scene.
What at first appears to be a simple case of suicide evolves quickly into something infinitely more sinister.
The Serpent Under is a gripping story of murder, robbery and deceit.
Mathew and Brenda are angry and someone has to pay. Both are perfectionists. He is looking to commit the perfect crime and she is looking for commitment from the perfect man. They are unremarkably apart and explosive together. So when Matthew reveals his plan, Brenda goes along eagerly. After all, it’s such a simple scheme, such easy money. Then they embark on a more ambitious project and things suddenly start to go disastrously wrong…
Africa is the second-largest continent after Asia and covers about one-fifth of the Earth's surface. It has a rich and compelling history filled with impressive civilisations, great leaders and powerful kingdoms. It must be remembered, however, that there is not one 'Africa': North Africa, West Africa, East Africa and sub-Saharan Africa, for example, are quite different, both geographically and culturally. The histories of these diverse regions, though sometimes intertwined, are different too.
Understanding Africa gives a readable account of the events that have shaped the four corners of the continent's destiny from prehistoric to modern times.
South Africa
has had its share
of sensational crimes
Murders, kidnappings and robberies, which have both fascinated and horrified the public.
The exploits of the Stander Gang (1984), for example, have recently been turned into a Hollywood film. But do you know about the theft of the Oppenheimer jewels in 1955, the notorious poisoner Daisy de Melker or Dorothea Kraft, the first woman hanged in the Union of South Africa in 1921? Or what about the murder of Baron von Schauroth (1961), which gave rise to a new class of murder: murder on request. Or Donald Duncan Moodie (1961), the only man in South African
legal history to be tried, convicted and sentenced twice for the same murder?
In Famous South
African Crimes, which covers the period from 1901-1988, Rob Marsh takes a penetrating look behind the scenes and, based on meticulous research, retells the enthralling stories of South Africa’s most infamous criminals.
