Wake Up Dead

This excellent noir thriller, set in South Africa, is not for the squeamish. When meth addicts Godwyn MacIntosh and Disco De Lilly carjack arms dealer Joe Palmer and his wife, ex-runway model Roxy, they unwittingly set off a series of violent and bloody events that showcase the depravity and lawlessness of Cape Town's most brutal ghettos. Smith weaves his disparate cast of characters into a gritty tale of greed, bloodlust and revenge, and Justine Eyre chooses a cool matter-offact delivery that enhances the horror, and with a subtle shift of inflection she illuminates the softer moments, rare as they may be, to great emotional effect. A Holt hardcover. (Mar.)