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Nemesis
Ben Hugo van die Suid-Afrikaanse Polisie weet hy het met ’n reeksmoordenaar te doen. Of is dit ’n vigilante groep wat pedofiele straf? Onverwags kom pedofilie te na aan Hugo se private lewe.
302 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2012
1 person is currently reading
18 people want to read
About the author
Riana Mouton
4 books10 followersRiana Mouton woon tans saam met haar gesin in Whangaparaoa, Nieu-Seeland, waar sy navorsing doen vir haar volgende roman. In 2008 was sy op die kortlys vir die ATKV-prys vir spanningsfiksie met Reuk van die dood.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
April 12, 2020
Trigger warning: Riana Mouton's Nemesis is a crime novel that deals with pedophilia, and the psychological, physical and emotional abuse of children.
Summary:
Mouton's novel follows a detective, Ben Hugo, as he does his utmost to track down a vigilante serial killer (or killers) who is hellbent on castrating and erasing those guilty of one of the most repugnant crimes in our human history: pedophilia. He is joined by a young cop, Muller and another seasoned colleague, Brink in the search. Recently promoted to captain and still recovering from being shot in the head during his last investigation, Hugo finds he has a lot to prove. Add to that, he has a 14-year-old daughter, Amelie, that he has to attend to, in the wake of her mother's engagement to her new boyfriend, Steven von Wielligh. Luckily, he has adoptive sister, Claudie and neighbour, Rosetta to help him out. As the body count increases, Hugo finds himself becoming more desperate to find the killer, mainly because he feels his health deteriorating. His dependency on pain pills soon catches up to him, but not before he makes some startling discoveries about the pedophiles, discoveries that have him losing all perspective on the difference between justice and revenge. His sympathy with the victims, who are now suspects in the case, becomes overwhelming, and when his daughter's life also becomes entangled in their conspiracy, he is hard pressed to remain on the straight and narrow path of the law. This novel is an action-packed and evocative crime mystery that tears at your heart strings while giving you a glimpse of the horror human beings are capable of committing to fulfil their most inhumane desires.
My thoughts on the characters:
The characters were believable. Each main and secondary character was as fleshed out as he or she needed to be.
The main character, Ben Hugo was intriguing and reading from his POV most of the time was not a bad experience. Witnessing Ben grapple with his pain killer addiction was fascinating, and part of what made him a thought-provoking study of toxic and healthy masculinities. His refusal to seek help from a psychologist for his anxiety and to feel or talk about his emotions, as well as his reluctance to be seen with people who do not identify as cisgender show that he's been raised to interpret emotional repression as strength and people who are not heterosexual as abnormal. Later on, his repressed emotions are released in the most violent way. He throttles a colleague and beats up a pedophile. We're expected to praise him for this, but it's not that simple. Choosing violence to solve a problem is a mark of emotional immaturity rather than a true demonstration of masculine strength.
He also mourns over his inability to connect with his daughter, and blames this on the fact that he's a man and she's a girl. At first I thought this was the most dumbest excuse for not being an involved father. All he has to do is treat her with kindness and offer her his attention. It's not rocket science. But then I realised that Ben is a victim of a certain white male Afrikaaner middle class upbringing, the kind that portrays the difference between men and women as vast, incomprehensible, and unchangeable.
Fortunately, Ben realises that he can reach across the imagined divide between them and actually offer her some comforting words. Being a good parent has nothing to do with sharing the same sex organs, it's about being kind and attentive. Period.
At times, Ben's behaviour is rather biased against women who do not agree with him or voice their opinions confidently. He is a flawed character and the author wants this to be acknowledged by the reader, but there are problematic flaws that ought to have been acknowledged as bad but which were passed over and which remained unquestioned.
I also found the way police officers and their interactions were portrayed by the author remarkable, and not always in a good way. All the females in Ben's police station are secretaries (for some odd reason that is never explained), while the male police officers range from friendly and competent (Brink and Muller) to reckless and unhealthily stoic (Ben) to adulterous (Ben and Kolonel Moodley) to greedy and aggressive (McBride). What is interesting is that while McBride's behaviour is vilified, Ben and Moodley's is glossed over. For men, to have an extramarital affair is justifiable as a means of relieving stress, not as an example of unfaithfulness or something morally wrong. However, the way Moodley advises Ben to seek help, and how Muller and Brink support Ben during his low hero moments show that healthy male relationships can and do exist.
My thoughts on the novel as a whole:
The first third of the novel is weighted down by too much exposition and info dumping. A lot of things that are obvious, or could be made obvious with more showing, not telling, are shoved in the reader's face, sometimes repeatedly.
The second third of the novel is when the story picks up and Mouton really starts to get into her stride. Ben's familial and work relationships get developed, and the investigation becomes more complicated, and therefore, more interesting. This part of the novel builds a lot of anticipation for the third and final part of the novel. I was excited to see how the climax would unfold and how Mouton would tie up loose ends.
I am sad to say that it was the most disappointing part of the book. When I found out who the guilty parties were, I felt duped and like my intelligence was being insulted. All those implicated in the crime have either met Ben Hugo, worked with him, or are personally connected with him in some way. The crime that Ben is investigating just happens to involve everybody he knows or has a passing acquaintance with? No. Just no. It just came off as a quick way to tie up loose ends, sacrificing plot development for the sake of a quick resolution. Last time I checked, Joburg was not that small.
It is also eyebrow-raising how Ben's stupid and reckless behaviour is rewarded with results. In real life, it would've gotten him killed.
Of course, these are all my personal thoughts and shouldn't discourage you from picking it up. It was an entertaining and quick read that may appeal to adults who want to dip their toes into the crime genre.
Summary:
Mouton's novel follows a detective, Ben Hugo, as he does his utmost to track down a vigilante serial killer (or killers) who is hellbent on castrating and erasing those guilty of one of the most repugnant crimes in our human history: pedophilia. He is joined by a young cop, Muller and another seasoned colleague, Brink in the search. Recently promoted to captain and still recovering from being shot in the head during his last investigation, Hugo finds he has a lot to prove. Add to that, he has a 14-year-old daughter, Amelie, that he has to attend to, in the wake of her mother's engagement to her new boyfriend, Steven von Wielligh. Luckily, he has adoptive sister, Claudie and neighbour, Rosetta to help him out. As the body count increases, Hugo finds himself becoming more desperate to find the killer, mainly because he feels his health deteriorating. His dependency on pain pills soon catches up to him, but not before he makes some startling discoveries about the pedophiles, discoveries that have him losing all perspective on the difference between justice and revenge. His sympathy with the victims, who are now suspects in the case, becomes overwhelming, and when his daughter's life also becomes entangled in their conspiracy, he is hard pressed to remain on the straight and narrow path of the law. This novel is an action-packed and evocative crime mystery that tears at your heart strings while giving you a glimpse of the horror human beings are capable of committing to fulfil their most inhumane desires.
My thoughts on the characters:
The characters were believable. Each main and secondary character was as fleshed out as he or she needed to be.
The main character, Ben Hugo was intriguing and reading from his POV most of the time was not a bad experience. Witnessing Ben grapple with his pain killer addiction was fascinating, and part of what made him a thought-provoking study of toxic and healthy masculinities. His refusal to seek help from a psychologist for his anxiety and to feel or talk about his emotions, as well as his reluctance to be seen with people who do not identify as cisgender show that he's been raised to interpret emotional repression as strength and people who are not heterosexual as abnormal. Later on, his repressed emotions are released in the most violent way. He throttles a colleague and beats up a pedophile. We're expected to praise him for this, but it's not that simple. Choosing violence to solve a problem is a mark of emotional immaturity rather than a true demonstration of masculine strength.
He also mourns over his inability to connect with his daughter, and blames this on the fact that he's a man and she's a girl. At first I thought this was the most dumbest excuse for not being an involved father. All he has to do is treat her with kindness and offer her his attention. It's not rocket science. But then I realised that Ben is a victim of a certain white male Afrikaaner middle class upbringing, the kind that portrays the difference between men and women as vast, incomprehensible, and unchangeable.
Fortunately, Ben realises that he can reach across the imagined divide between them and actually offer her some comforting words. Being a good parent has nothing to do with sharing the same sex organs, it's about being kind and attentive. Period.
At times, Ben's behaviour is rather biased against women who do not agree with him or voice their opinions confidently. He is a flawed character and the author wants this to be acknowledged by the reader, but there are problematic flaws that ought to have been acknowledged as bad but which were passed over and which remained unquestioned.
I also found the way police officers and their interactions were portrayed by the author remarkable, and not always in a good way. All the females in Ben's police station are secretaries (for some odd reason that is never explained), while the male police officers range from friendly and competent (Brink and Muller) to reckless and unhealthily stoic (Ben) to adulterous (Ben and Kolonel Moodley) to greedy and aggressive (McBride). What is interesting is that while McBride's behaviour is vilified, Ben and Moodley's is glossed over. For men, to have an extramarital affair is justifiable as a means of relieving stress, not as an example of unfaithfulness or something morally wrong. However, the way Moodley advises Ben to seek help, and how Muller and Brink support Ben during his low hero moments show that healthy male relationships can and do exist.
My thoughts on the novel as a whole:
The first third of the novel is weighted down by too much exposition and info dumping. A lot of things that are obvious, or could be made obvious with more showing, not telling, are shoved in the reader's face, sometimes repeatedly.
The second third of the novel is when the story picks up and Mouton really starts to get into her stride. Ben's familial and work relationships get developed, and the investigation becomes more complicated, and therefore, more interesting. This part of the novel builds a lot of anticipation for the third and final part of the novel. I was excited to see how the climax would unfold and how Mouton would tie up loose ends.
I am sad to say that it was the most disappointing part of the book. When I found out who the guilty parties were, I felt duped and like my intelligence was being insulted. All those implicated in the crime have either met Ben Hugo, worked with him, or are personally connected with him in some way. The crime that Ben is investigating just happens to involve everybody he knows or has a passing acquaintance with? No. Just no. It just came off as a quick way to tie up loose ends, sacrificing plot development for the sake of a quick resolution. Last time I checked, Joburg was not that small.
It is also eyebrow-raising how Ben's stupid and reckless behaviour is rewarded with results. In real life, it would've gotten him killed.
Of course, these are all my personal thoughts and shouldn't discourage you from picking it up. It was an entertaining and quick read that may appeal to adults who want to dip their toes into the crime genre.
November 13, 2017
Interessante boek!
December 9, 2017
Riana Mouton se boek Nemesis laat ’n mens baie dink oor wat is reg en verkeerd. Dit is ’n baie dun lyn maar hopelik seefier die goeie altyd op die einde. ’n Moet lees boek van Riana Mouton.
June 27, 2015
Te midde van sy persoonlike worsteling met die na-effekte van ‘n skietvoorval waarin hy ernstig gewond was, keer Ben Hugo terug na die Polisiemag. Hy word vanaf die Skeerpoort Stasie na Hoofkantoor in Pretoria oorgeplaas en word bevorder na die rang van Kaptein. Terselfder tyd word hy aangewys om ‘n reeks verdagte selfmoorde te ondersoek. Om dinge nog verder te kompliseer dring sy tienerdogter Amelie, met wie hy ‘n afstandverhouding het, daarop aan om permanent by hom te kom woon.
Ben het reeds jare gelede homself voorgeneem om nooit weer emosioneel betrokke te raak by iemand of iets nie. Hierdie voorneme kan hy egter nie gestand hou wanneer hy deur die ontwikkelende ondersoek en sy nuwe verhouding met sy dogter meegesleur word nie. Sy hart vermurwe selfs voor die weggooihond wat hulle lewens binnekom.
Saam met die ontplooiing van die ondersoek en sy interaksie met Amelie, word Ben se siening van die lewe, homself en sy waardes, gekonfronteer.
Nemesis is ‘n spanningsverhaal wat sy naam gestand doen. In ‘n lekker leesstyl hou hierdie deeglik nagevorsde verhaal die aandag van die leser vanaf die eerste bladsy. Die goed ontwikkelde karakters harmoniseer om die verhaal met ‘n kontroversiële onderwerp, objektief maar tog ook sensitief, oor te dra. Die spanning in die verhaal word verder verhoog deur die karakter, Jenny Swanepoel wat byna soos ‘n kantnota die storielyn binnekom om uiteindelik ‘n belangrike rol in die ontrafeling van die raaisel te vorm.
Ek het aanklank gevind met Ben Hugo en sy persoonlike omstandighede en kon empatie voel vir sy gespanne verhouding met Amelie. Aangesien ek bekend is met die geografiese sowel as psigologiese agtergrond waarteen die verhaal afspeel, kon ek myself heerlik in die verhaal inleef.
Die verhaal vloei teen ‘n gemalike pas en die leser word nie belas met tegniese terme of verduidelikinge van die forensiese of ander aspekte van die ondersoekproses nie. Dit is ‘n menslike verhaal oor menslike emosies, gevoelens en reaksies in die aangesig van trauma.
Ben het reeds jare gelede homself voorgeneem om nooit weer emosioneel betrokke te raak by iemand of iets nie. Hierdie voorneme kan hy egter nie gestand hou wanneer hy deur die ontwikkelende ondersoek en sy nuwe verhouding met sy dogter meegesleur word nie. Sy hart vermurwe selfs voor die weggooihond wat hulle lewens binnekom.
Saam met die ontplooiing van die ondersoek en sy interaksie met Amelie, word Ben se siening van die lewe, homself en sy waardes, gekonfronteer.
Nemesis is ‘n spanningsverhaal wat sy naam gestand doen. In ‘n lekker leesstyl hou hierdie deeglik nagevorsde verhaal die aandag van die leser vanaf die eerste bladsy. Die goed ontwikkelde karakters harmoniseer om die verhaal met ‘n kontroversiële onderwerp, objektief maar tog ook sensitief, oor te dra. Die spanning in die verhaal word verder verhoog deur die karakter, Jenny Swanepoel wat byna soos ‘n kantnota die storielyn binnekom om uiteindelik ‘n belangrike rol in die ontrafeling van die raaisel te vorm.
Ek het aanklank gevind met Ben Hugo en sy persoonlike omstandighede en kon empatie voel vir sy gespanne verhouding met Amelie. Aangesien ek bekend is met die geografiese sowel as psigologiese agtergrond waarteen die verhaal afspeel, kon ek myself heerlik in die verhaal inleef.
Die verhaal vloei teen ‘n gemalike pas en die leser word nie belas met tegniese terme of verduidelikinge van die forensiese of ander aspekte van die ondersoekproses nie. Dit is ‘n menslike verhaal oor menslike emosies, gevoelens en reaksies in die aangesig van trauma.
February 27, 2013
Riana Mouton het 'n gemaklike skryfstyl en skep geloofwaardige karakters. Sy neem 'n moeilike tema en hanteer dit met deernis en grasie. Sy het duidelik baie goeie navorsing gedoen, oor haar tema, sowel as oor prosedure in die SA Polisiediens. Ek kon dit nie neersit nie.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews