Fever by South African author Deon Meyer is an epic story of survival and betrayal in a post-apocalyptic world. 90% of the population has been wiped out by a virus, and father and son, Willem and Nico Storm are driving a truck through an empty South Africa looking for a place to call their new home. They find a small town that looks promising with plenty of water and farmable land although they had to fight a couple of marauders and free a woman held as their slave. This is when Nico discovers that his father doesn’t have the killer instinct that is needed in this new world and that he at thirteen, does.

They settle in the small town and other people start to join them. They build a successful community, but their very success lures other marauders to attack them and there is a constant battle among the inhabitants for power and control. Comprised of both interviews that tell the story of others’ survival and Nico’s own thoughts interspersed with plenty of action, I found Fever to be an excellent read. Where the book fell short for me was in the ending. First one of the major story lines was left dangling and when the rather odd twist at the end was revealed it seemed not to affect Nico at all which really didn’t make much sense.

Deon Meyer is well known for his thrillers and crime stories so he certainly knows how to deliver the action. The story is set in the near future and I found the survival aspects to feel both authentic and interesting. Unfortunately the ending of what was well on it’s way to being a 5 star read fell short so despite it’s haunting atmosphere and gripping story, the book ended with a whimper rather than a bang. ( )

Post apocalypse South African style. A contagion has wiped out 90% of humanity. Father Willem and son Nico Storm establish a haven community, with trials and tribulations from inside and outside. For Nico, it is a coming of age story, where he sees his peaceful but empathetic father as weak and the mysterious Domingo, who organizes the military forces, as strong. Meyer, whose prior books are detective mysteries, excels in developing complex characters in a more complex South African society. The love lives of the main characters are also complicated: sometimes unrequited. I did not care much for the book's ending: the origins of the contagion and it feels really unfinished. Maybe another book will be written? ( )

Many have read books with a similar basic premise, but of those I've read this story is the more well-rounded, insightful, and informative. The post apocalyptic suspense/thriller/mystery plot-line wasn't what impressed me, especially the ending which I generally foresaw. What impressed me was the realistic human behaviors, and the insightful natural world effects of the catastrophic event.

As but a simple example relative to the few remaining trying to survive:

"Yes, . . . all the drama started by all those companies who genetically engineered seeds. It’s not as if they thought, hang on, what happens in case of a global catastrophe, what happens in a post-apocalyptic world? They modified their seeds so that you could only harvest once. Then you had to eat them, because you couldn’t plant the seed from the first crop, they were programmed to fail. You had to buy new seed. Beautiful business model, but then all those companies were gone with the wind, but the seeds remained."

Reading parts like that I thought of all the blind corporate chicanery where the top executives and investors are so intent on lining their pockets in the short term they couldn't care less about John Q. Public.

And some thoughts about biodiversity and ecology that sustains our environment:

"Then Meklein said he thought the Fever came because people were hurting the earth so badly. He said, with a coughing fit for every sentence, ‘Vytjie, when last did you see a gompou?’ He was talking about the kori bustard, that’s what we called it, a gompou. He said, ‘It’s been years, but we used to see a lot more of those big birds long ago. Remember the black eagles, when we were young? There were so many. Remember the bakoortjies, how often we saw them in the old days? Those little bat-eared foxes are termite eaters, scorpion eaters, but the people thought they caught lambs. They never did. You don’t see them any more. So many things you don’t see any more. The old people hurt the earth, a lot."

Oh, and loads of character types:

"The pastor is an opportunist, like all good politicians and preachers. And this was the perfect opportunity. If we’d been paying attention, we would have seen this coming. . . . ‘Einstein said: “Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I’m not sure about the universe.” Now I understand what he meant."
. . .
"Yeah, of course I hated too. Facebook most of all, if you have to know. Facebook. Hated it. For me that was the epitome of what was wrong with society. ’Cause why, you’ve got all these friends, but they’re not real friends, just people you can post photos for, of your breakfast and your lunch and your cute kitty. I ask you. Like they really cared. They only cared because they needed you as an audience. Facebook friends were an audience, that’s all."

Who knows, maybe something in this book will spark a questioning thought in the heads of those reading the book simply for entertainment and titillation :-) ( )

Dis 'n great storie in enige taal, maar dit is lekker om dit in Afrikaans te lees.... ( )

Deon Meyer is the South African author of a well-regarded crime series I heard about recently here on LT. When I was investigating on Amazon, I came across this stand-alone novel about rebuilding society after a pandemic has decimated much of the world's population. The price was right, so I picked it up, and have now completed it.

It's the story of a young boy Nico coming of age in a vastly changed world, and of the conflicts with his father Wilhelm. Welhelm has a philosophical bent, and has founded a new society, hoping for it to progress along Utopian ideals. Nico, on the other hand, is becoming a man of action, and in the new world, full of danger, and people unfettered from society's strictures, is an expert marksman, able and willing to fight for their new community. Much of the story is about how the new community Amanzi develops, and tries to re-establish a civilization, about the technology, science, medicine, and agriculture that must be redeveloped, but it is also about how the community needs "protectors," an army willing to kill to protect what they've built.

This was an interesting book, and a lot more philosophical than other post-apocalyptic books I've read. It did go on rather long, and there was a plot twist at the end that I think was pretty much unwarranted. Nevertheless, I think that if you're a fan of this genre, you might like this book.

2 1/2 stars ( )