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by Toni Morrison (Chatto & Windus, R215)

Frank Money is an angry and self-loathing veteran of the Korean war who finds himself back in racist America after enduring physical and psychological trauma on the front lines.

Frank is shocked out of apathy when he is forced to rescue his medically-abused younger sister and take her back to their small Georgia home town – a place he has hated all his life.

As Frank returns and revisits old memories and old haunts, he also rediscovers his own sense of self and courage. This is a story of a man’s search for identity and belonging.

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Every Day, Every Hour

by Natasa Dragnic (Chatto & Windus, R215)

Dora and Luka are inseparable – ever since he fainted at the sight of her walking into the classroom.

She woke him with a chaste kiss and it has been love at first sight.

There’s always something in the air when the two of them are around – something one cannot quite explain. But then Dora’s family leaves Croatia for Paris and the two have to say their farewells.

It is not until years later, when a promising artist faints at the familiar sight of a young actress entering a Parisian gallery, that Dora and Luka are reunited.

But fate still conspires to keep them apart – even after all these years. Will they ever be able to find or forget one another?

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Criminal

by Karin Slaughter (Century, R215)

A woman is found brutally murdered in a sordid Atlanta flat. Her blood-soaked body bears a startling similarity to a woman found dead almost 40 years earlier.

Soon special agent Will Trent finds himself returning to the home that he grew up in… and a past that could hold the clue to the killings.

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The Watch

by Joydeep Roy-Bhattacharya (Hogarth, R215)

After a desperate battle that lasts an entire night, a group of soldiers in an isolated base in Kandahar is faced with a lone woman demanding the return of her brother’s body.

Is she a spy, a black widow, a lunatic or simply a grieving sister intent on burying her brother? As she persists in her mission, the camp’s tense atmosphere comes to a boil as the men argue about what to do next. The Watch is a story told before – the myth of Antigone. This time it is told in present-day Afghanistan.

It is a gripping novel which exposes the futility of this conflict.

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Save Me From The Lion’s Mouth

by James Clarke (Struik Nature, R160)

In many parts of Africa, a “front line” has developed between humans and wild animals.

A startling number of people in Africa are killed by wildlife each year. This reality is rarely conveyed to investors in wildlife conservation or visitors to wildlife sanctuaries.

This book lifts the lid on the battle for turf between humans and wildlife in Africa. The future of conservation will depend on the relationship established between wildlife authorities and those bearing the brunt along the front line.

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A Spook’s Progress

by Maritz Spaarwater (Zebra Press, R220)

Maritz Spaarwater was an intelligence agent for the South African government from the 1960s – first for military intelligence and later for national intelligence.

In the late 1980s, he was among the first to start official discussions overseas with the exiled leadership of the ANC, and he became involved in the negotiations that led to the 1994 election. This is his story.

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Restless Nation

by William Gumede (Tafelberg, R149)

Corruption is almost a way of life in South Africa at the moment. The values that underpinned the ANC’s liberation ideology appear to be crumbling and a new “bling culture” appears to be taking over.

William Gumede tackles these issues head on in his essays in this book. Included are opinion pieces that were written for overseas publications and have never been published in South Africa. - Meneesha Govender