Wake Up Dead

This thriller is one that keeps you up, and reading to the end! Set in South Africa, Roxy, an American model, and Joe, her gunrunner husband, a man with very unsavory friends, are carjacked, leaving Joe dead in a pool of blood. Disco and Godwyn, the carjackers, are meth addicts, who have no idea what they've gotten into. Joe owes money to Billy Afrika, a mercenary, and former policeman, who appoints himself Roxy's protector, hoping to cash in and get his money from her. Also thrown into the powder keg, is Piper, a convict doing several life sentences, who wants nothing more than to be reunited with his prison "wife" Disco.

South Africa is like so many countries, divided into the "haves" and the "have nots". The grinding poverty is shown in great detail, along with the corruption and despair, that seems to hang in the air.

All the ins and outs make for one exciting and unforgettable story that will make you think about what you might do, either the same or differently, in the same circumstances. I look forward to reading Roger Smiths other novel, "Mixed Blood".

I received this book from Library Thing Early Reviewers.