Little Ice Cream Boy

by Jacques Pauw

From the photograph she keeps beside her bed, Maria Goosen will always remember her son as her 'little ice cream boy', smiling from the frame on a beach in Margate with a cone in his hand. Everyone else know Gideon Goosen as a a gangster, assassin and murderer, who made a pact with the devil and deserves to live out his days in a solitary cell in Pretoria Central. How is it possible that the son of a decorated, God-fearing security policeman could fall so low? His mother blames it on his friends from the other side of the railway line in Randfontein, others on a leggy prostitute from Nigel who became his obsession. Gideon himself believes everything changed on an autumn morning when the fatal pellets from a pump-action shotgun cut short the life of an anti-apartheid activist in the driveway of his home. Set against the backdrop of the dying days of apartheid, and inspired by a true story and events that really happened, Jacques Pauw's explosive debut novel exposes the raw, seamy underworld of gangsterism and brutality when life was cheap and fear was everywhere.

Genres: Fiction, Crime, South Africa, Historical Fiction

441 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 1, 2009

About the author

South African journalist and author Jacques Pauw was a founder member of the anti-apartheid Afrikaans newspaper Vrye Weekblad in the late 1980s, where he exposed the Vlakplaas police death squads.

He worked for some of the country’s most esteemed publications before becoming a documentary filmmaker, producing documentaries on wars and conflicts in Rwanda, Burundi, Algeria, Liberia, Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Sierra Leone, among other countries.

When he left journalism in 2014, he was the head of investigations at Media24 newspapers. He has won the CNN African Journalist of the Year Award twice, the Daniel Pearl Award for Outstanding International Investigative Reporting in the US, Italy’s Ilaria Alpi and the Nat Nakasa award for bravery and integrity in journalism.

He is the author of five books: four nonfiction and one fiction. They are In the Heart of the Whore, Into the Heart of Darkness, Dances with Devils, Rat Roads and Little Ice Cream Boy. Three of his books have been shortlisted for major literary awards.

Reviews

[Julia · Rating 4 out of 5]

it was very hard to put this book down. at one stage i wanted to leave this book to only read during the day, and start another book to read before i go to sleep, but i simply couldn't put it down.

it was extremely violent and graphic for me, as i'm a very visual reader and have an active imagination. the era in which this story is set, is also a topic that is close to my heart. how could these things have happened? it's a part of south africa's history i wish i could erase.

obviously this story rattled me more, as it is based on true events. it is very well written - hats off to the author. the people he came in contact with and his investigative journalism - the only thing i can say is wow.

[Richard Mulholland · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't just recommend this book, I insist that you read it - especially if you're South African.

I don't say this just because of it's historical relevance, but because it is a brilliant read.

[Anne-Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A shocking and disturbing book. One that will linger in my mind for a long time. It chilled me to the bone. It tells about a part of South Africa's history that I wish never happened. The names are fictitious, but the characters are so very real. The good cops/men that are heroes in the eyes of their fellowmen and bastards at home, taking their rage out on their wives and children. And they are still here, among us. No matter who is the government of the day.

As the story plays out, I had mixed feelings for Gideon Goosen. He could have been so much more, if not for... Yes, if not for his father's abuse, if not for his bad choice of friends, if not for his circumstances, if not for where he grew up. And then I remember that there are thousands of children that experienced the exact same and chose another path and made a success.

Life is all about choices and Gideon chose the wrong turn time and time again. But his choices were also exploited by authority figures that identified the rage in Gideon, the wanting to belong somewhere. And that is the story of our South African history. During apartheid. The police and army top brass had the uncanny knack to identify the likes of Gideon and to pull them into the web, where they were used to unleash their rage on prisoners and detainees in every cruel way possible.

The Gideons are used all over the world to do the dirty work of government. And eventually, when all comes crashing down, they are thrown to the dogs. And yes, of course, they have a choice. But Gideon should not have been the only one sent to prison for a few lifetimes.

It will take me a long time to process this book.

[Sandy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gives an amazing look into the mind of someone who tortured and damaged on the part of apartheid. Definitely worth a read.

[Charmaine Lloyd · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although it is well written, it is not a masterpiece. It is vulgar and the language made me feel like taking a bath, but that is "showing, not telling", I guess (the in-your-face-hard-hitting journalistic honesty one would expect from Jacques Pauw).

It is not a feel good book - it is quite shocking and disturbing. It made me feel horrible... and sad. But 5 stars because it opened my eyes to a world I didn't want to acknowledge existed.

This book will haunt me for a long time.

[Trisa Hugo · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a terrible story. I wish it was only fiction, but unfortunately it is based on the truth, a truth that we knew nothing about in the days when we thought that we had a good, solid government and all policemen were good guys.

Read it, to get perspective on our history. A very disturbing perspective. As the story progressed, it was difficult to distinguish between good and bad. Good guys and baddies were mixed up in so many permutations. Details of a nauseating truth to be confronted with.

"I don’t remember everything that was happening around me at the time, but gangster life was intoxicating and irresistible. It’s difficult to describe the feeling. It’s that jungle culture, the lion syndrome, the Tarzan tag; the invincibility, the lure of living on the edge; having not just one woman but a whole brothel on your tail; the shooting irons, the fast cars and the endless supply of cocaine."

[Barry Fowler · Rating 4 out of 5]

I came across references to this book, a novel by established journalist and investigator into the Apartheid era security police, the Civil Cooperation Bureau etc, a topic I find interesting. I would have preferred it if it had been a direct biography of the actual person I believe it to be based on, but I understand that would have placed accuracy limitations on the novelisation – and the book was a very interesting read. Other reviewers have mentioned much savage violence – okay, there was violence, but no worse than much I have read – and the imagery was reminiscent of the film of `Scarface’ I thought. Very much the same territory as `The Tall Assassin’ and `Into the Heart of Darkness’.

[Colin Neil Wright · Rating 2 out of 5]

A discredit to Jaques Puuw.
Both excessively violent and "in your face" language.
At times elevating the central character to heroic levels.. Openly exposing the underbelly of South African society at it's most base ,with little reference to the many moral upstanding people, of all creeds, races and sexual preferences.

[Rudi Ferreira · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gripping Read

From the very first page i enjoyed this book, i would recommend this book over and over and over. Such an insight into one mans journey in the apartheid South Africa, fighting his own daemons and those bestowed upon him by others.

[Ruth Rehbock · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book blew me away. Pauw's writing drags you in, chews you up, and spits you out.

[Al · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first novel written by Jacques Pauw the journalist.

Thoroughly enjoyed this book if enjoyed is the correct word.
Brutal and vulgar this book depicts South Africa in the pre-ANC ruled days.
Based on fact but with changed names it was interesting and informative and definitely worth reading.

[Ipeleng Chauke · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had read Jacques two books - Into the heart of darkness and In the heart of the whore. Jacquez used some stories and characters in his non-fiction books to create Little Ice Cream Boy - there's so much of Ferdi Barnand... Beautifully written still.

[Digby Beckley · Rating 5 out of 5]

We lived amongst it.....

[Slurry222 · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting but overly long glimpse into white criminal culture in Apartheid-era South Africa

[Kristi Hansen · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you like a dark and gruesome novel, this is the one.