Mike Nicol

Suspense fiction. More than a decade after the end of Apartheid, ex-gun-runners Mace Bishop and Pylon Buso are trying to settle down to a comfortable Cape existence. But when an old contact calls in a favour, they become embroiled once again in the country's violent underworld of crime and corruption - and with the lethal Islamist organisation PAGAD. A gripping tale of narcotics, arms-dealing and international intrigue, PAYBACK heralds the arrival of a major new crime-writing talent.

Payback

Mac Maharaj

Ahmad M. Kathrada

Tim Couzens

"On 11 February 1990, a dignified elderly man walked hand in hand with the wife from whom he had been forced to live apart for twenty-seven years out of prison and into history. It is a date and an image the world will never forget: the day Nelson Mandela was freed." "From that day on, Nelson Mandela's immense courage and personal moral authority moved out of the shadows of his prison cell to stand as a beacon of hope first to a bitterly divided nation and then to the whole world. Other images have followed; a smiling Mandela casting his vote in his country's first general election, a solemn Mandela at his inauguration as the first president of a democratic South Africa, Mandela with world leaders, with celebrities, with his wife Graca Machel and his family, in the midst of the crowds of children who are drawn to him wherever he goes." "Nelson Mandela occupies a unique place in our world and in Mandela - The Authorised Portrait the narrative of his epic journey to freedom is accompanied by the most complete collection of images ever assembled and by more than sixty specially commissioned interviews. World leaders, friends and associates ranging from President Bill Clinton to Tony Blair, from Bono to President Thabo Mbeki, from his comrades in the South African struggle against apartheid to Muhammad Ali have all contributed their individual stories to build a compelling picture of this inspirational man through the eyes of those closest to him."--BOOK JACKET.

The Authorised Portrait

Mandela

As ’n reël sien Krista Bishop se sekuriteitsagentskap net na vroue om. Behalwe toe regering­sluipers haar ’n aanbod maak wat sy nie van die hand kan wys nie: verseker die veiligheid van twee besoekende Chinese grootkoppe. Wat hulle haar nie sê nie is dat die Chinese agter die onwettige perlemoenbesighede in die Kaap aan is. En hulle soek alles: van wat uit die see geoes word, tot wat op etenstafels verskyn. Hulle beplan ’n oorname wat drie bendeleiers van Kaapstad – die Untouchables – se bedrywighede en blink leefstyl sal verbrysel. Saam met perlemoen kom spierkrag, tjieng, snuifgoed en skietgoed. Wanneer die eens onaantasbare bendebaas Titus Anders die strop nouer voel trek, kry hy vir Krista Bishop om sy dogter te beveilig en haar te beskerm teen die waansin van die bendeoorlog wat om hom uitbreek. Krista is ’n yster. Sy is jonk, taai, en ver weg van die geweld op straat. Of dalk nie. Dié oorlog slaan orals uit – tot in haar agterplaas. Dan wag ’n geheime agent haar in, skietding in die hand.

Woes

The concluding Mace Bishop/Pylon Buso novel in Nicol's powerful Revenge Trilogy.

Black Heart

Cool, böse, abgebrüht - Die Rache-Trilogie geht weiter ... Die Reichen und Schönen auf Südafrikas gefährlichen Strassen zu schützen - das ist der Job von Mace Bishop und Pylon Buso. Zwei frühere Waffenschmuggler, die aus der Angst anderer Profit schlagen. Und die vor allem hoffen, dass ihre düstere Vergangenheit sie nicht einholt. Doch dann steigen sie in einen dubiosen Grundstückshandel ein, um Geld zu waschen. Und plötzlich sind ihnen zwei Männer auf den Fersen: ein korrupter Politiker und ein Auftragskiller. Und Mace muss einen zwielichtigen Geschäftsmann in Berlin treffen. Ihr Leben und das ihrer Familien gerät aus den Fugen. Und hinter allem scheint eine alte Bekannte zu stecken: Die Anwältin Sheemina February hat eine Rechnung mit den beiden offen ... Mike Nicol lebt als Autor, Journalist und Herausgeber in Kapstadt, wo er geboren wurde, und unterrichtet an der dortigen Universität. Er ist der preisgekrönte Autor international gefeierter Romane, Gedichtbände und Sachbücher, zuletzt einer autorisierten Biografie über Nelson Mandela, mit einem Vorwort von Kofi Annan. Vor einigen Jahren begann er sich intensiv für die südafrikanische Kriminalliteratur einzusetzen und beschloss, selbst Thriller zu schreiben: Seine Rache-Trilogie wird parallel in Südafrika und England veröffentlicht. 1997 verbrachte er ein Jahr als Stipendiat des renommierten Berliner Künstlerprogramms in Deutschland, 2002 hatte er eine Gastprofessur als poet in residence an der Universität Essen inne.

Thriller

Killer country

A youth bides his time in the deep reaches of a European forest. His name means death and it is foretold that he will ride the pale horse mentioned in Revelation on the veld of Southern Africa, where his apocalyptic destiny will unfold.

Horseman

It’s the end of a toxic summer in Cape Town. Obed Chocho, businessman, property developer, arrivista, is about to get out of prison on parole. The man who put him away is Judge Telman Visser. The judge thinks he needs the security services of Mace Bishop and Pylon Buso but he’s playing a dangerous double bluff and they’re his marks. Enter Sheemina February with an agenda all her own. Top of her tick-list is Mace Bishop. The second part of Mike Nicol’s Revenge Trilogy cracks open a world of conspiracies and paranoia, corruption and greed as the new elites get their hands on the spoils.

Killer Country

An acclaimed author reconsiders Cape Town, past and present, as he resettles in a changed environment after a year-long sojourn in Berlin.

Living in Cape Town

Sea-mountain, Fire City

Bring in the child tracker. That’s Agent Vicki Kahn’s assignment, her first foreign mission for the State Security Agency. That the child tracker is a top fashion model with connections to the president’s son is an added complication. Especially when Vicki watches as the model’s limp body is wheeled away at Schiphol airport. Then, in Berlin, she finds her contact dead on the kitchen floor, shot in the head. Get out, Vicki’s instincts tell her. Get out now. Vicki’s lover, PI Fish Pescado, is working another case. Find out who shot my husband, is his brief. The husband: a rebel colonel from the Central African Republic taken down in a spray of bullets on the steps of St George’s Cathedral. As Fish digs he comes up against a local connection: none other than the South African president. Drop the case, he’s warned. Go surfing. And take your girlfriend Vicki Kahn with you before it’s too late. Secrets, conspiracies, vested interests, commie plots. Vicki and Fish are caught in the mix, with only one way out.

Agents of the State

A stylish narrative that weaves together politics and crime in Cape Town

Ein Kapstadt-Thriller

Bad Cop

The third instalment in Nicol's Revenge Trilogy. Mace Bishop has become obsessed with tracking down Sheemina February who he believes contracted his wife’s murder when his and his business partner Pylon’s security company is contracted to provide security to a local arms systems designer – Magnus Oosthuizen – who has created weapons for South African navy frigates. Oosthuizen is tendering against alternative First World-designed weapons systems. But Oosthuizen’s life is threatened and Mace learns that the government’s arms buyers want to acquire the First World weapons system for the frigates to benefit from financial kickbacks. Enter the National Intelligence Agency that puts pressure on Mace and Pylon to steal the Oosthuizen weapons system. Gradually, Mace recognises the hidden hand of Sheemina February and realises that he is being manipulated.

"The 1950s in South Africa was a time of optimism and hope that ended tragically with the massacre at Sharpeville. This book is about those years as seen through the microcosm of Drum, an illustrated magazine produced in Johannesburg for black readers".--BOOKJACKET.

A Good-looking Corpse

FISH PESCADO is op sy branderplank. Hy’s lenig en blond – nie jou gewone privaatspeurder nie. Muizenberg se golwe is sy paradys, maar hy sit sonder werk en sy bankbalans sak. ‘Hei, Fish! ’n Oulike chickie soek na jou,’ beduie ’n mede-surfer. Die oulike chickie is Vicki Kahn – snags speel sy poker, bedags is sy prokureur. Sy’s slim, skerp, liefl ik. Die beste ding wat al ooit met hom gebeur het. En sy’t ’n joppie vir hom: vind die moorddadige bliksem wat ’n toeskouer uitgehaal het tydens ’n onwettige motorwedren. As dit maar net so maklik was. Ding is, dié moorddadige bliksem het vriende in hoë plekke. Hoog op, selfs tot by die polisiekommissaris, ’n man met ’n smerige verlede. ’n Verlede wat strek tot by die moordbendes en sluipmoorde van die sewentigerjare, die slegte ou dae – ou koeie wat eerder begrawe moet bly. ’n Geskiedenis met fluisteringe van korrupsie en baie geld – staatsgoud. Die kommissaris is ook lief vir lekker lewe. En hy het sy oog op Vicki Kahn. Voordat Fish en Vicki hul oë kan knip, moet hulle hul koes ken in ’n wêreld waarin dieners en donners haas ononderskeibaar van mekaar is.

Dieners en donners

A compilation of the voices that told us about the murder of Anni Dewani, a Swedish national married to a British national, and who was murdered in South Africa in November 2010. It was a story that ran (and continues to run) at length in both the South African and British media, and was reported elsewhere too, Sweden and India featuring heavily in this regard given the Dewanis links to those countries. The narrative is made up of the voices of the husband, the police, politicians, reporters, family, lawyers, spin doctors, court records, and descriptions of CCTV footage, and runs up to the decision of a British Court on the extradition of Diwani to stand trial in South Africa. It paints a fascinating picture, or indeed a kaleidoscope of differing perspectives, of the events that have lead up to this hearing. It is a story of media, of social comment, and of a love story gone tragically wrong.

Monkey Business

"A dark and terrifying novel presenting a mythical account of the development of evil through the history of Southern Africa."--Seattle Times. This ferocious new novel by one of South Africa's visionary writers is a post-colonial reimagining of the Book of Revelation--an unholy epic that reenvisions the catastrophic violence of European "civilization" as a hooded rider who spreads slaughter across the African continent--a work that is as unnerving as it is intellectually provocative. From the Trade Paperback edition.

Across the city bombs are blowing out nightclubs where drugs go down faster than drinks. Working the scene are slick American dealers trading crack for arms. And arms for blood diamonds. The thin shield between Cape Town’s streets and the easy luxury of the famous and the rich is a pro tection company called Complete Security. But Mace and his partner Pylon Buso are taking strain. For the one-time gunrunners, now in the muscle business keeping the beautiful people safe, the past has a long and dangerous reach. So does the present. It’s payback time.

Cool, böse, abgebrüht Postkartenidylle am Kap der guten Hoffnung? Das Ende der Apartheid ist besiegelt. Seit über einem Jahrzehnt. Die früheren Waffenschmuggler Mace Bishop und Pylon Buso wollen ihr Leben ruhig angehen. Ein entspanntes Kapstadt-Dasein, danach sehen sie sich. Ihr Sicherheitsservice für wohlhabende Touristen, die Schönheits-OPs mit anschliessender Safari buchen, floriert. Denn wer nach Südafrika kommt, der hat Angst. Doch Mace schuldet einem alten Bekannten noch einen Gefallen. Und plötzlich ist ihm Sheemina February auf den Fersen, Anwältin einer islamistischen Antidrogen-Gruppe. Sie beobachtet Mace. Schickt seiner Frau Oumou Blumen. Stiehlt den heissgeliebten Teddy seiner Tochter. Kennen sie sich von früher? Maces Vergangenheit ist düster, bewegt, zwielichtig. Und Rache ist süss. Mike Nicol lebt als Autor, Journalist und Herausgeber in Kapstadt, wo er geboren wurde, und unterrichtet an der dortigen Universität. Er ist der preisgekrönte Autor international gefeierter Romane, Gedichtbände und Sachbücher, zuletzt einer autorisierten Biografie über Nelson Mandela, mit einem Vorwort von Kofi Annan. Vor einigen Jahren begann er sich intensiv für die südafrikanische Kriminalliteratur einzusetzen und beschloss, selbst Thriller zu schreiben: Seine Rache-Trilogie wird parallel in Südafrika und England veröffentlicht. 1997 verbrachte er ein Jahr als Stipendiat des renommierten Berliner Künstlerprogramms in Deutschland, 2002 hatte er eine Gastprofessur als poet in residence an der Universität Essen inne.

Krista Bishop runs a security agency, for women only. Until she gets a call she can’t refuse from the government spooks: guard two high-profile Chinese businessmen. What Krista isn’t told is that the Chinese are mopping up the richly rewarding abalone poaching business. They want it all, from shore to plate. A takeover that will kick three Cape Town ganglords – known as the Untouchables – out of business and destroy their luxury lifestyles. Abalone means power, money, drugs, guns. No longer untouchable, gang boss Titus Anders fears for the life of his daughter and calls in Krista Bishop to protect her from the madness as a gang war ignites. Krista is the best. She’s young, tough and a long way from the violence of the streets. Or is she? The war is everywhere. Right in her own backyard. And there is a secret agent waiting for her, with a gun in his hand ...

Power Play

In the dunes a killer buries the bodies of street kids. Along the coast the abalone wars erupt in murder and firefights as gangs and syndicates battle for the Cape aphrodisiac so prized in the East. The profits are huge, the cost is counted in corpses. Mullet Mendes, ex-cop turned private investigator, and his partner Vincent Saldana are sweating: Mullet's tailing a financial whiz soliciting rent boys, Vincent's after a gang heisting cultivated abalone. Soon they're embroiled in violence and duplicity as their cases unravel. Their lives are at stake. But who is pulling the strings? With this fast and gritty crime thriller Mike Nicol and Joanne Hichens bring the hard-boiled PI to Cape Town.

Mike Nicol

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