South Africa is one helluva tough country in which to be a journalist, always was and still is. Karyn Maughan, who has covered Jacob Zuma’s trials from his 2006 rape case to the present, is still fighting his unjustified prosecution of her and advocate Billy Downer. Maughan suffers from type one diabetes, a life-threatening condition, exacerbated by stress that often results in comas. In ‘ I Will Not be Silenced’(Tafelberg) she writes compellingly of Zuma’s persecution of her and Downer; of how she was threatened with rape and violence on social media and of how she’s survived with the support of her boss, journalist colleagues and friends. Powerfully written. C.J. Tudor’s books ripple with blood and violence and her latest, peopled with vampyrs ‘ The Gathering’ ( Michael Joseph/ Penguin) is no exception. Dark secrets and heavy snow add to the tension. News24 senior journalist and respected author, Pieter du Toit, has laid bare the ANC’s obsession with cadre deployment in his new book, ‘The Super Cadres’ (Jonathan Ball) as he describes the Party’s ‘misrule in the age of deployment.’ Further, he contends (laden with facts) that the ANC has taken SA to the brink of destruction. Never say: ‘we did not know.’ Martina Cole has had 17 number one best sellers since her first novel, ‘Dangerous Lady’ caused a sensation in 1992. Now ‘ Guilty’( Headline/ Jonathan Ball) is sweeping the boards. A single mother runs a shelter for prostitutes who keep ‘disappearing’. Will the killer be outed, and by whom? Riveting.
