Starred Review A corona virus mutates into a pandemic called the Fever that kills 95 percent of the earth's population within six months; still others die in the chaotic aftermath of the contagion. South African Willem Storm, who survives along with his 13-year-old son, Nico, is a man of peace who believes the best of humanity and is determined to rebuild a community, while regretting the progress that has been lost. So Amanzi is formed, with Storm hat damn polymath," as he's described its leader and first president. Nico is a typical rebellious teen who resents what he sees as his father's weakness, particularly compared to Domingo, the warrior who becomes the boy's idol. This is Nico's memoir, told decades later to record the aftermath of the Fever, with other Amanzi residents recounting their personal stories for an oral history started by Willem. While countless murders occur, only that of Willem spurs a concerted investigation. But this is less a mystery in any sense than a thought-provoking, postapocalyptic examination of the human condition, with two diverse views of our species: Willem's core empathy versus Domingo's assertion that men are animals. With its stunning final revelation, this is a remarkable literary achievement.

Best known for his detective thrillers, Meyer (Icarus, 2015, etc.) enters darker territory with this sweeping epic about a young Afrikaner boy's survival in a post-apocalyptic South Africa.The story is set in the near future, where narrator Nico Storm and his visionary father, Willem, have "the Fever," an airborne AIDS-related virus that has wiped out much of the world's population. After barely surviving a mauling by wild dogs and the Fever, Willem sets out to build a new, enlightened society. He draws a ragtag support crew that includes Hennie Fly, an eccentric aviator, Domingo, who has a possibly criminal past, and Pastor Nkosi, who spearheads a revolt. The book is part ecological warning, part thriller (it is revealed up front that Willem will be murdered, but the culprit and circumstances aren't clear until much later), part adventure saga (the survivors face repeated battles with a murderous band of looters known as the KTM), and part coming-of-age story, as Nico grows into a warrior and meets the love of his life when a new Fever survivor, Sofia Bergman, arrives at the compound. The narrative shifts, perhaps a bit too often, from Nico's reflections to historical testimony by surviving characters. And neither Nico nor the Christ-like Willem evince the moral complexity of the heroes in Meyer's usual thrillers. Despite some gripping moments and a haunting atmosphere, the book often sinks under its own ambitions, with too many weighty themes and parallel stories going on at once.

Meyer (Trackers) neatly integrates a whodunit into a sophisticated postapocalyptic thriller set in South Africa. In the near future, a new strain of coronavirus that developed from a chance interaction between an HIV-positive man and a sick bat has wiped out 95% of the Earth-s population in just a few months. In a brief, ominous prologue, narrator Nico Storm promises to reveal the truth about the murder of his father, Willem, who-s introduced in a flashback set after the plague struck, when Nico was a teenager. An encounter with some vicious feral dogs almost ends Willem-s life, but he survives, and he and Nico make their way to the town of Vanderkloof, which Willem, who used to be a geographer and a judge, hopes to make the center of a new beginning for humanity. Willem-s tireless efforts are clouded by the reader-s knowledge of how things will end for him, and Meyer effectively teases his ultimate reveal. Thoughtful character development complements the clever storytelling. Agent: Richard Pine, Inkwell Management. (Sept.)