Hard Rain by Irma Venter: book review

Hard Rain (2020) is set in Tanzania, in Africa.

The narrator, South African Alex Derksen, is a journalist on assignment in Tanzania. He already has an L-shaped scar under his left eye.

He meets South African photographer Ranna Abramson, who has spent most of her life in America. Alex is immediately in love with her, but he can smell chaos and trouble around her—and the blood on her arm, which she is hiding. And Tom Masterson, a freelance journalist, is also in love with Ranna.

There are a lot of smells in this novel—sweat, perfume, unwashed bodies, rain, wet earth, cigarettes, garbage, coffee, beer, bleach—‘if you lift your nose slightly, like an eager predator, you’ll be able to identify it as the smell of anticipation.’

And then chaos happens. The floods. American tech billionaire William Jones is swept out to sea, and his body is washed up onshore, during the hard rain. It makes worldwide news. Tanzanian Detective Hamisi Bahame suspects foul play—and Ranna.

The dilemma for Alex is to know whether she was or was not involved in murder, and if she was, should he help to hide the evidence or should he return home to South Africa. If she wasn’t, when is he likely to know so that he can tell her that he loves her. Should Alex help the detective or should he do his own investigation?

Before Alex could think too much, Ranna is linked to another murder.

This novel is rather interesting – light to read, easy to follow, and, although it is not sophisticated, it has just enough intrigue to keep readers continuing to the end. There are some trite and annoying bits, but they can be brushed over in a reader’s haste to finish.

MARTINA NICOLLS

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MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author of: The Paris Residences of James Joyce (2020), Similar But Different in the Animal Kingdom (2017), The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).

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