Trade Paperback, 292 pages RRP: R145, ISBN 1-4152-0002-5 Publication date: March 2006, Category: Crime Fiction Description In the dunes a killer buries the bodies of street kids. Along the coast the abalone wars erupt in murder and firefights as gangs and syndicates battle for the Cape aphrodisiac so prized in the East. The profits are huge; the cost is counted in corpses. An action-packed crime novel, a forerunner in an exciting genre in contemporary South African writing, Out to Score is set against the backdrop of the abalone wars along the Cape coast. It is the story of two private investigators from a two-bit agency involved in seemingly different cases. Jeffrey Mendes – nicknamed Mullet after his hairstyle – is hired by the wife of a financial consultant who is allegedly soliciting rent boys. Vincent Saldana is contracted to track down a gang who are stealing from an abalone farm. The two cases converge, the action moves from central Cape Town to the suburbs, from east to west coast, as Mullet and Vincent tighten the net on the mastermind behind the scenes a Triad operator named Jim Woo and his accomplices. Written jointly by Mike Nicol and Joanne Hichens, this fast and gritty thriller brings the world of the hard-boiled PI to Cape Town. From Out to Score, p.5 The first meal Mullet made for the new bird in his life, Rae-Anne, was fried abalone steaks.       Almost didn’t happen. Not a shellfish in the city. The dozen fish and seafood merchants he stopped at, from Island Deli to Patel’s Bait Shop, hadn’t seen stock in a month. Enough to give up and buy in Chinese.       “You read of the tons being smuggled out, you’d think we’d have some,” he complained to old man Patel.       The old man shrugged. “Who can pay at any rate?”       “For a special I’d put down the bucks.”       Patel looked up at him, right in the eyes. “Try your friends why don’t you?”       Mullet snapped his fingers. “There’s an idea.” This Rae-Anne worth a call to his mate Vince at the Anti-Poaching Unit.       “Free from the sea,” said Vincent. “Made a bust this morning. Could swing you half a dozen. Who’s gonna know?”       Within the hour Mullet was staring at a big red cooler box on Vincent’s desk. State’s evidence. Vincent shut his office door, grinned.       “What’s the deal, you aiming to impress someone? Some ladyfriend? Try out the Cape aphrodisiac?”       “Yeah, yeah,” Mullet said.       “Hey, you’re blushing. Guy gets to your age, aphrodisiac is a serious consideration.”       “At forty!”       “Ask around.” Vincent flipped the lid of the cooler box, releasing a smell of salt and seaweed. “Erectile dysfunction. It happens.” He gestured at the contents. “Help yourself.”       Mullet did, digging six large shells out of the ice and slipping them into a plastic bag.       “Nice size.”       “For you, only the best. Street value in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Taipei about twenty US apiece. What you’re looking at here is more’n my annual salary. You wonder guys are killing for the stuff? Never mind. Enjoy.” From the reviews One test of a good thriller is that when you get near the end you find that you have to read it all over again to see how it works – how you have failed to see what has eventually become obvious, how the world is not what it seemed to be. Out to Score passes this test – not once, but several times. – From the reader’s report on Out to Score At last, a hard-boiled detective novel that does for Cape Town what Carl Hiaasen has done for Miami. — Chris Roper, Marie Claire Mendes and Saldana are going places, right to the top of the bestseller lists. And I can’t wait for the next one. — Brian Joss, Plainsman Read Moira Lister's interview with Joanne Hichens. E-mail us a comment on this book. (Comments may be edited and used on this website.) To buy this book www.exclusivebooks.com www.kalahari.net home   writers   books   contact   buy   rights all content © Umuzi, Random House Struik this website designed and maintained by Guanaco.co.za