Cracker of a novel will catch you in its web
SOUTH African novelist Peter Church uses his home city of Cape Town as the setting for this new novel. And it is a delight to recognise places (and maybe some people) within this boundary.
With cyber crime a constant threat in this technology-driven world, Church uses this as the pivot of this page turning thriller.
As a technophobe with little knowledge of the deep dark underbelly of the web I was a little sceptical about whether I would see this through.
But Church’s engaging writing, fast pace and clever characters had me enthralled and I came away from the book gasping a little with the breadth and strength of how very vulnerable we all are to hacking.
The web is truly well named, as the threads of the story are bound together like a massive spider’s web to produce a cracker of a novel that engulfs you with its twists, turns and weaves.
It’s a deep dark world in the heart of the web and hackers play an intricate game to get to their victims.
Add to that the very real criminal element and Crackerjack brings together the virtual and the real world in a hugely believable and sometimes frightening way.
Worlds collide and merge as the good and the bad vie for supremacy and Church uses his IT experience to create a plot that is exacting and revealing.
Meet the bright and sexy Carla Vitale, an engineer hand-picked to run Supertech, Africa’s leading independent engineering firm.
Her dream is shattered when her boss and mentor Nial Townley disappears and his luxury vehicle is found in a crevice at the bottom of Chapman’s Peak.
With $20 million (R288m) missing from the Supertech overseas accounts the knives are out to discover who, where, what and when.
After three months with no body recovered, the police investigation has hit a wall and a desperate Carla seeks the help of software hacker-turned-day trader Daniel Le Fleur.
Now living a below-the-radar life in Bantry Bay, his solitary life revolves around his trading and painting. With a particular bent towards Van Gogh, readers will enjoy these references and inferences.
It is a story of the hunters and the hunted and Le Fleur is also a target. Add to this a friendship with a homeless man who looks out for him, an ex-criminal with a surprising persona and already the characters are intriguing.
From the charmed world of Bantry Bay, soothing views of the sea and the elegance of painting to the hot seedy belly of strip clubs, ex-criminals, revenge and sex the dark bottomless world of the web is cleverly exposed.
Throughout the novel we guess whether this character is to be trusted, to what could possibly happen next to a fairly satisfying conclusion.
I say fairly as there are still some loose ends (not so loose that they detract) which no doubt Church will use in a subsequent thriller. I liked the characters of Le Fleur and Vitale and hope they have a life beyond this novel.
Church’s use of technology makes this a very 21st century tale, recommended for book club reads or simply a weekend where you just want to chill. Gripping, never boring, Crackerjack is exactly that.