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Roger Smith has worked in film and TV as a writer, director and producer. His credits as a screenwriter are numerous and his work is seen regularly on African television. He now lives in Cape Town, a city as violent as it is beautiful.
His first novel, Mixed Blood, was published in hardcover by Henry Holt and Company on March 03 2009. Published simultaneously in trade paperback in the UK, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. The German translation published by Tropen/ Klett-Cotta, also in hardcover.
His next book, WAKE UP DEAD, another stand-alone thriller, will be published in 2010.
MIXED BLOOD: An American, hiding out in Cape Town after being blackmailed into a bank heist back home, is building a new life for his pregnant wife and young son, when an incident of random violence sets him on a collision course with street gangs and a rogue cop who loves killing almost as much as he loves Jesus Christ.
PRAISE FOR MIXED BLOOD
"A lean, bloodthirsty, yet meditative story that is almost impossible to put down, offering the rewards of a literary thriller combined with the zip of a powerful movie (it seems a natural for the big screen). MATT SOERGEL - FLORIDA TIMES-UNION
"A frenetic roller-coaster of noirish desperation. Fast and furious, full of blood and vengeance." ANDREW DONALDSON -SUNDAY TIMES
"A gripping thriller that follows believable (if sometimes grotesque) characters along a desperate rush to ruin. Highly recommended." RON TERPENING - LIBRARY JOURNAL
"Mixed Blood is excellent. Picture Richard Stark's Parker as a family man having to flee to Cape Town, South Africa. Very,very violent, very dark. This is about as good a first crime novel as I have read." DAVE ZELTSERMAN / Small Crimes
"Smith plays out . . . that chilling sense of inevitability that is at the heart of the best noir. Like George Pelecanos, <he> captures lives trapped by poverty and prejudice without sentimentalizing those lives or downplaying the havoc they can produce. A fine debut." BILL OTT - BOOKLIST
"An unnerving thrill ride that kept me on edge from beginning to end. Mixed Blood is a top-notch debut thriller and I'm looking forward to Roger Smith's next book." PHILLIP MARGOLIN/ Executive Privilege
"Smith offers a gritty tale of corruption and vengeance set in South Africa in his absorbing debut. His taut prose bodes well for future thrillers from his pen." PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
"Startling, vivid, frightening. A first-rate debut by an up-and-coming talent." ERIC VAN LUSTBADER/ First Daughter & The Bourne Sanction
"A very brutal, absolutely gripping walk on the wild side.All ends in a devastating climax making Mixed Blood a shattering page-turner." STEVE WHITTON - THE ANNISTON STAR
"Smith does an outstanding job of bringing Cape Town to life,taking us through the twists and turns of the local criminal world and the confusing labyrinth of racial identity in post-apartheid South Africa." KIRKUS REVIEWS
"A cinematic Cape Town thriller." BRUCE TIERNEY - BOOKPAGE
"Smith's characters fight for their lives against a Cape Town heavy with heat, grime, corruption,and gang violence. With its shattering sense of place, and satisfying plot twists, this book will grip you from page one." CHELSEA CAIN/ Heartsick & Sweetheart
"Mixed Blood deals with characters spiralling out from a break in on the high-rent slopes of Cape Town's spectacular mountains . . . all drawn vividly in the complexity and beauty of the city itself. Smith's tale has a drive and an inevitability that makes it a compelling read." GLENN HARPER - INTERNATIONAL NOIR FICTION
"Mixed Blood is right up the mean streets of those who like fast, tough, gritty crime fiction." MIKE NICOL - CRIMEBEAT
"I couldn't put this book down. A great comparison is Pelecanos' hard look at Washington DC, or an earlier Richard Price. Mixed Blood is great genre writing ." THREE GUYS ONE BOOK
"The poverty, hopelessness and turmoil of Cape Town is portrayed frankly and unapologetically, and also with sympathy, but in this brutal noir world, almost no characters can escape. Highly recommended for those who can stomach the violence." STOP YOU'RE KILLING ME
"A scorched earth, no prisoners, no quarter, no good guys,just degrees of badness thriller." MACK CAPTURES CRIME
"An adventure into another part of the world you won't soon forget." NEW MYSTERY READER MAGAZINE
"A graphic look at Cape Town. Entertaining and suspenseful." MLB NEWS
"<A rel="nofollow"> tense thriller. This exciting South African crime caper will grip the audience." GENRE GO ROUND REVIEWS
"Full of enjoyably scuzzy characters. Mark your Amazon Wish List." ALL THE PAGE TODAY
Overview edit
Bibliography
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(2009)
Mixed blood : a novel
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Wake Up Dead: A Thriller
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Kap Der Finsternis
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Blutiges Erwachen (ger)
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Dust Devils
Unbound edit
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Roger Smith has worked in film and TV as a writer, director and producer. His credits as a screenwriter are numerous and his work is seen regularly on African television. He now lives in Cape Town, a city as violent as it is beautiful.
His first novel, Mixed Blood, was published in hardcover by Henry Holt and Company on March 03 2009. Published simultaneously in trade paperback in the UK, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. The German translation published by Tropen/ Klett-Cotta, also in hardcover.
His next book, WAKE UP DEAD, another stand-alone thriller, will be published in 2010.
MIXED BLOOD: An American, hiding out in Cape Town after being blackmailed into a bank heist back home, is building a new life for his pregnant wife and young son, when an incident of random violence sets him on a collision course with street gangs and a rogue cop who loves killing almost as much as he loves Jesus Christ.
PRAISE FOR MIXED BLOOD
"A lean, bloodthirsty, yet meditative story that is almost impossible to put down, offering the rewards of a literary thriller combined with the zip of a powerful movie (it seems a natural for the big screen). MATT SOERGEL - FLORIDA TIMES-UNION
"A frenetic roller-coaster of noirish desperation. Fast and furious, full of blood and vengeance." ANDREW DONALDSON -SUNDAY TIMES
"A gripping thriller that follows believable (if sometimes grotesque) characters along a desperate rush to ruin. Highly recommended." RON TERPENING - LIBRARY JOURNAL
"Mixed Blood is excellent. Picture Richard Stark's Parker as a family man having to flee to Cape Town, South Africa. Very,very violent, very dark. This is about as good a first crime novel as I have read." DAVE ZELTSERMAN / Small Crimes
"Smith plays out . . . that chilling sense of inevitability that is at the heart of the best noir. Like George Pelecanos, <he> captures lives trapped by poverty and prejudice without sentimentalizing those lives or downplaying the havoc they can produce. A fine debut." BILL OTT - BOOKLIST
"An unnerving thrill ride that kept me on edge from beginning to end. Mixed Blood is a top-notch debut thriller and I'm looking forward to Roger Smith's next book." PHILLIP MARGOLIN/ Executive Privilege
"Smith offers a gritty tale of corruption and vengeance set in South Africa in his absorbing debut. His taut prose bodes well for future thrillers from his pen." PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
"Startling, vivid, frightening. A first-rate debut by an up-and-coming talent." ERIC VAN LUSTBADER/ First Daughter & The Bourne Sanction
"A very brutal, absolutely gripping walk on the wild side.All ends in a devastating climax making Mixed Blood a shattering page-turner." STEVE WHITTON - THE ANNISTON STAR
"Smith does an outstanding job of bringing Cape Town to life,taking us through the twists and turns of the local criminal world and the confusing labyrinth of racial identity in post-apartheid South Africa." KIRKUS REVIEWS
"A cinematic Cape Town thriller." BRUCE TIERNEY - BOOKPAGE
"Smith's characters fight for their lives against a Cape Town heavy with heat, grime, corruption,and gang violence. With its shattering sense of place, and satisfying plot twists, this book will grip you from page one." CHELSEA CAIN/ Heartsick & Sweetheart
"Mixed Blood deals with characters spiralling out from a break in on the high-rent slopes of Cape Town's spectacular mountains . . . all drawn vividly in the complexity and beauty of the city itself. Smith's tale has a drive and an inevitability that makes it a compelling read." GLENN HARPER - INTERNATIONAL NOIR FICTION
"Mixed Blood is right up the mean streets of those who like fast, tough, gritty crime fiction." MIKE NICOL - CRIMEBEAT
"I couldn't put this book down. A great comparison is Pelecanos' hard look at Washington DC, or an earlier Richard Price. Mixed Blood is great genre writing ." THREE GUYS ONE BOOK
"The poverty, hopelessness and turmoil of Cape Town is portrayed frankly and unapologetically, and also with sympathy, but in this brutal noir world, almost no characters can escape. Highly recommended for those who can stomach the violence." STOP YOU'RE KILLING ME
"A scorched earth, no prisoners, no quarter, no good guys,just degrees of badness thriller." MACK CAPTURES CRIME
"An adventure into another part of the world you won't soon forget." NEW MYSTERY READER MAGAZINE
"A graphic look at Cape Town. Entertaining and suspenseful." MLB NEWS
"<A rel="nofollow"> tense thriller. This exciting South African crime caper will grip the audience." GENRE GO ROUND REVIEWS
"Full of enjoyably scuzzy characters. Mark your Amazon Wish List." ALL THE PAGE TODAY
