The Farm
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- $9.99
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
Eight Hours. Minute by Minute.
Somewhere in South Africa, a farm comes under heavy attack. No shooters in sight. Only one thing is certain: The attackers are savagely resolute. A diverse group of people barricade themselves inside the farmhouse: black and white; women, men, and children; bosses and workers; a police officer; random visitors. Who is the target of the attack? What has motivated it? Politics? Revenge? Greed? Drugs? Weapons? But do the people outside know more than those indoors? The snipers who are trying to operate in the dark of night? Who will die, who will survive? Who is pulling the strings? Who will be the winners, who will be the losers? And how long can eight hours actually be?
Eight hours, minute by minute. Constant changes in perspective, piercing precision. An explosive mixture of psychological thriller and Neo-western with a political subtext.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Long on violence and short on character development, this brutal, cinematic novel from Annas (The Wall) opens with white South African farmer Franz Muller examining a hole in his fence with seed sales rep Kobus Prins and declaring, "I'm not racist." A moment later, unknown gunmen open up, nicking Franz's ear and killing Kobus. For the next eight hours, Franz; his family members; several Black farmhands; a corrupt Black cop from the nearby municipal station; and Jayne McKenzie, Franz's wife's pious white friend, shelter inside the farmhouse, from which they return fire. The whites remain distrustful of the Black workers, refusing to give them guns from the farm's arsenal even as the bullets shatter the farmhouse windows. As bodies pile up, there's little insight into the reason for the assault, and the muddle of names and the almost complete absence of backstories leave the reader confused. The only real evolution happens with Jayne, whose courage and discipline give the besieged group their best chance at survival. The brief reveal at the end of the carnage is neither surprising nor illuminating. This would make a fine action film, but it's a mess as a novel.
