Gun Dealing

The Ryder Quartet, Book 2

By: Ian Patrick

Narrated by: Ian Patrick

This sequel to the action-packed Devil Dealing depicts the ongoing search by detectives Jeremy Ryder and Navi Pillay for the evil gangster Skhura Thabethe, dealer in stolen weapons, drugs and murder. The secondary plot shows the detectives uncovering a link between stolen weapons and the local trade in drugs. The two main plots unfold in strictly organized chronological sequence over 10 days, until a climactic ending when the two plot-lines coalesce in a spectacular confrontation between the detectives and the two main villains. Against a background of delicate emotional exchanges between victims of crime and the police, Gun Dealing, like its predecessor, explores the moral and ethical choices made by the detectives in their day-to-day confrontation with rampant and brutal crime in contemporary South Africa.

©2015 Ian Patrick (P)2015 Ian Patrick

Intelligent crime thriller

A brutal opening chapter sets the scene: this is about out-of-control criminals and the cops who have to deal with them. The extreme barbarism of the criminals means that the reader is prepared to accept equally powerful actions from the police. Thus moral justice outweighs legal justice. I found it very persuasive. Yet the author also lightens the scene with wit and endearing characters, making it a good reading experience. The audiobook is professionally handled (with a couple of accents veering slightly off-course).

Starts with a lyrical echo from a famous book

Would you listen to Gun Dealing again? Why?

Very apt and very relevant to the situation today, and very well written

What did you like best about this story?

I liked the way it starts with an echo of Paton's "Cry the Beloved Country". It starts off lyrically and tranquil and then it explodes into the most extraordinary action. Then it doesn't let up till the end. A well-wrought thriller. Very entertaining.

Which character – as performed by Ian Patrick – was your favorite?

Mkhize was very funny. But I like the two Afrikaner detectives Kooks and Dips.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Trace the weapons

Any additional comments?

Very good accents and very accurate about the country and its people.

Audio was very good

Would you consider the audio edition of Gun Dealing to be better than the print version?

Yes. Really nice voice and accents made it even more enjoyable.

Would you be willing to try another book from Ian Patrick? Why or why not?

Sure. The action is very fast and exciting and the characters well drawn. Nice thrilling reading and listening.

Which character – as performed by Ian Patrick – was your favorite?

The villain was great. The dinner party was superb.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The visit of the parents of the deceased woman constable.

Any additional comments?

I read the book back a few months and only listened to this recently. It's really very good. Maybe I was harsh in giving only three stars to the book. It deserves more. It came alive in the reading.

Brilliant thriller

This was really good. The story was great, and the characters interacting with one another was very often in dialogue, which made it like watching a play unfold in the theatre.

The audio version was very good, except I thought the narrator rushed it a bit and there was not enough distinction between men and women voices. But the three bad guys were well done. These guys, when they're drunk - as these characters were in the first scene when we see them talking to each other in the bush - they are all over the place and the dialogue in those scenes was fantastic. I know these accents and this slang quite well. And I can speak a few of the languages. It was very convincing on the audio.

The two detectives - Kooks and Dips - were also very funny and believable. They have hearts of gold but the women run rings around them with their superior intellect.

Another good police thriller

I've had this on my shelves for years but dusted it off and read it. Wonderful. A really violent thriller. Years back I read - and listened to - Death Dealer, another in the series. It was also wonderful. This one, perhaps, is less good than the other audio version because the accents are slightly off. But there's no doubting the dramatic effect of the action and the characters and the dialogue. It's a very good novel about crime and policing in South Africa.