The Rabbit Hole by Mike Nicol is the 4th in a series of thrillers featuring Vicki Khan and PI Fish Pescadoe and is set in Cape Town.
Cape-Town based Nicol is a South African author of fiction novels (mainly thrillers and mystery works), non-fiction books (notably Mandela: The Authorised Portrait) and poetry. His books have been translated into Afrikaans, Dutch, French and German. He is also a journalist and teaches online courses on non-fiction narrative and creative writing. He has written 25 books to date.
Nicol writes a thriller that is all about the money, and the corrupt political and crime-ridden excess that besets South Africa as we know it. The family-owned Amalfi Civils is aiming for a highly lucrative government tender, with several parties keen for their slice of the pie. At least one family member has this in his sights, not so his sister the CEO. The two have conflicting styles and ideals, which leads us into a web of intrigue, murder and deceit.
We follow the trail of PI Fish Pescadoe who is investigating one of the key middlemen of the tale, the same middleman that Fish’s lover, lawyer and it turns out spy Vicki Kahn is attempting to set up for her bosses. The CIA are involved, the State Security agency … and with such high stakes, the murder and intrigue can only escalate, to its final devastating climax. And with this, possibly another book in the series?
Reading the book as a South African, I noted and related to the author’s use of local languages and expressions throughout the book. I wondered about readers in other countries, then when I had finished reading the story, I turned the last page and discovered a Glossary of Words and Expressions at the end of the book. Best place for it?
The author came well-recommended, and I can see why this is so. A fast paced read that does not disappoint.
Some of the other books by the same author: The Sleeper, The Revenge Trilogy, Of Cops and Robbers, and Power Play.
The Rabbit Hole is published by Penguin Random House UK – 2021. ISBN 9781497386495. – Christine E Hann
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