The Significant Impact of Crime Fiction

(TCU) - What do you think about when you hear the term “crime fiction”? Crime fiction is the most interesting topic of choice because it can be used to portray so many kinds of scenarios. Crime is already embedded in our brains at a young age, allowed to watch and hear what is going on in the latest news as your parents follow every word the reporter says. The fiction aspect is the more creative aspect, allowing writers to express their inner genius, bringing about some of the most mind-boggling story plots. The term “crime fiction” is any fictional novel in which crime is central theme to the plot. Crime fiction is a world phenomenon, with books written, published, sold, and read on all continents. Crime fiction is the most popular form of literature in many countries and may be the most global of literary genres. Over the past 20 years as crime fiction has been on the rise, the genre has merely influenced more people to pick up their books primarily due to the translations of many books to other parts of the world. This translation of these popular books on a local level has allowed people from other parts of the world to get a global understanding of life in other parts of the world as we become a more diversified society. It brings fun and excitement to readers, allowing readers to digest, cope with, and empathize with many situations that belong to someone who has a different historical background. These people have a different culture that breeds their style of writing. These people address specific political issues that may only pertain to their country differently than we may. Crime fiction brings those perspectives right into your home, into your hands, allowing you to feel everything the novelist is depicting in their books. Crime fiction has and will always be making contributions to the community. “Poets are the unacknowledged legislators of the world”, stated by Dr. Oliver Tearle.  The genre is used on many occasions to persuade society to act on certain political issues. These books are being written with enough emotion behind them that they can cause a community of people to act in a certain way such as through social reform. Novelists can get readers to make distinctions between what is real and what is fake. An American filmmaker by the name of Michael Mann says "Without a great story, I mean a really great story structure, there's nothing for me. It starts with the genome. And the genomes is the story". When people can make logical sense of a solution found in a crime fiction novel for a problem people are facing in current reality, it forces society to evaluate what they are doing as a whole and make the proper changes necessary. When a writer can become that compelling is when they can change the world for the better. There are many sub genres of crime fiction that give readers a wide variation of the kinds of novels they can choose to enjoy. These sub genres include classic crime fiction, noir fiction, historical crime fiction, psychological thrillers, and horror. The classic crime fiction is based on the common detective trying to solve a crime case. The books are valued based on the difficulty of the case, the skills of the detective, and the resolution that is reached at the end of the novel. Noir fiction refers to the psychology of the protagonist and antagonist. We want to take a close look at what is driving the characters in the novel to act the way they do. We also want to pay close attention to our settings as they can provide clues to reach the resolution. Historical crime fiction seeks to tell a story illustrating an imitation of a specific period. These novelists want the reader to take in the customs, manners, traditions, and social norms. The use of real historical events and historical figures tied into the story plot gives readers a distorted sense of reality. This is what makes crime fiction so popular because you can have these events and figures happening in the back story of the novel while we are delivering a mind-boggling plot that makes the reader want to believe it is real as it is linked to real historical people and historical places. Psychological thrillers want to turn the attention to the motives of the characters. What type of personality does this person in the book have? What happened to this person in their life that makes them want to act with criminal intent? We must dissect the killer’s thought process to solve the unsolved mystery. Horror crime fiction brings in the aspect of the supernatural. Imagine a crime fiction novel with ghosts and aliens involved with the story plot. I am starting to get goosebumps now. Originally, I wanted to research the most dangerous countries in the world (Venezuela, Papua New Guinea, Afghanistan, Haiti, and South Africa) and find a database which told me how many crime fiction novels are being produced from those countries or about those countries to determine if they influenced the crime rates within those countries. That sounds like a lifelong research study which I don’t mind continuing, but I don’t have the time or resources to do so now. I narrowed my research instead to find one of the most popular crime fiction novels based on the top 5 most dangerous countries in the world, one book for each country. I chose these novelists because they represent a part of the world that is currently going through the most crime. Even though their countries are going through hard times, they can still muster the courage to write novels that portray the good and bad that comes with living in that territory. The 5 novelists that I am so eager to present to you are  Moisés Naím , Marlene S. Lewis, Khaled Hosseini, Edwidge Danticat, and Deon Meyer. Each writer is equipped with their own style of writing, historical background, awards, and contributions to the crime fiction community which we will delve into during later discussion. We want to get to know these writers on a personal level so when we discuss their works of art, we can pull the more important ideas and concepts from the books and find out how those resonates with our own lives from a local and global perspective.

 Now introducing some of the international best-selling authors with books that have influenced the world. We will start with  Moisés Naím  and his book “Two Spies in Caracas”. Naim was born July 5, 1952, in Tripoli, Libya but his nationality is Venezuela. He has dedicated his entire life to journalism and prides himself on being a member of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace which is an organization with the mission to bring cooperation between countries, eliminating any global conflicts by promoting engagement from the United States to many other countries around the world.  Moisés Naím  studied at Universidad Metropolitana in Caracas, Venezuela for is undergrad studies and attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for his master and doctorate degrees.  Naím  is a big-time public figure in the global politics and economics department. He has heavy influenced the crime fiction community through his writing with a comprehensive understanding of business, politics, and economics which gives his readers a clear sense of the realities of life while having the leisure of knowing what he has published is fictional. He authored a book in 2013 called “The End of Power” in which President Bill Clinton stated, “will change the way you read the news, the way you think about politics, and the way you look at the world.”  Naím,  believes in democracy, in a more liberal free state. His style of writing depicted the government and how the government abuses their power to the point where they start to resemble criminal organizations. All his works are delivered from a democratic perspective. He was forced to turn to crime fiction after he left Venezuela under the indictment of Hugo Chavez’s authoritarian dictatorship. In his book “Two Spies in Caracas,” two spies are in a deadly opposition of one another. The story of the two spies runs in parallel to Hugo Chavez coming to power. Ivan Rincon, Cuban intelligence director and Cristina Garza a CIA operative are deployed to Caracas to intervene in the outcomes of events during a time of crime, corruption, and collusion to benefit their respective nations. While all these classified operations take place, they are also given the objective to kill each other. Rincon’s approach to swaying the favor in benefit of Cuba is disguising himself as Maurico Bosco and supporting the corrupt Hugo Chavez in rigging voting machines in their favor. Garza’s approach to persuading the situation in favor of the US is to become a spa owner going by the name of Eva Lopez in which she is gathering intel through her clients against Hugo Chavez. All this take place in the beautiful setting of Venezuela. The book portrays Hugo Chavez as having love for the people of the country while imposing laws and policies that are harmful to the economy and allow for the increase in crime. He uses his own television and radio cast to impose his authority over the people in a commandeering way.  Here, Naím  is trying to tie in a back story between opposing intelligence agents into a distorted reality of actual historical events.

We as Americans can relate to this novel in comparison to Donald Trump being re-elected. The riots, using militants in the streets, deportation of immigrants, and chauvinistic ways of replenishing his bank accounts leads the country feeling sadden and empty. We are seeking refuge as a country from a man who only cares about his image and reputation through years of corruption, crime, sex, and money. We are being naïve to the big picture, of breaking down gender barriers and creating uniformity in the hope of gaining security under a billionaire who cannot even file his taxes but can manage to talk to world leaders about war in other countries. People’s confidence in Kamala Harris’ ability to manage those issues because she is a woman is what is holding us back from being a better country and giving hope to the women of this generation who get the right to vote and have access to contraception. You see similarities between Hugo Chavez and Donald Trump in a sense that they are always showing love for the American people but then imposing these harsh policies and changes that we as Americans did not have a chance to even vote for. This is exactly what Donald Trump is doing with his “Project 2025”. He thinks because he is billionaire, he automatically knows what is best for the American people. How can someone tell the majority what is best for them when they do not come from the majority themselves? We do not want America to be in the hands of another Hugo Chavez, with the citizens willing to every word of Donald Trump because they feel like they don’t have a choice. “Two Spies in Caracas” by  Moisés Naím  shows the reality of the pretentious work that spies must resume on the daily. It shows that even in some of the worst economic times, there is hope for a better tomorrow in the form of agents like Ivan Rincon and Cristina Garza. One would presume that America is in a time no different than Venezuela under Hugo Chavez. Donald Trump was adamant about being re-elected, even though all his assassination attempts. He has little room for error as many Americans already resent him, similar to Hugo Chavez in "Two Spies in Caracas". The author,  Moisés Naím , is a member of Adriene Arsht Latin America Advisory Council. As we mentioned earlier, he is a member of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He is a best-selling author with scholarly articles and over fifteen books. He has his own television show called “Efecto Naim” which airs weekly. In 2018, his television show won an Emmy award. He was a minister of development in Venezuela also having been the director of their central bank. He excelled at the bank to the point where he became an executive director at the World Bank. He led Foreign Policy magazine as editor-in-chief for 14 years. Venezuela is number one for the highest crime rates in the world currently. This book by Naim may very well be a clear depiction of the era after the corrupt policies and laws driven by Hugo Chavez.

"The biggest crime story ever is the Bible. It has fratricidal, parricide, betrayal, vengeance, adultery, tyranny, barbarism, all the best and worst man is capable of." - Olivier Marchal (French filmmaker)

The second dangerous country I want to talk about is Papua New Guinea. Marlene S. Lewis’ “Ruth” takes place in this setting. Marlene was born in Canterbury, United Kingdom in 1955. She moved to Australia soon after. Lewis is a gracious writer with a focus not primarily on crime but the actual story line of the characters. This book is a pleasant read with hints of crime in the back story that only allows you to reason with the circumstances for Ruth Madison, the main character, to do the things she is prepared to do to survive. Marlene also comes with a democratic perspective as she is driving for woman’s rights and portraying women overcoming adversity. This novel shows how women can be strong even through hopelessness. Ruth was the daughter of her parents. Her father seems to be a promiscuous, sleezy man sleeping around with several native women. Her mother had mental illness and commits suicide when Ruth was not old enough to understand how to be a woman. Her brothers Jake and Matt helped their parents all day on the coffee plantation in Papua which is still under colonial rule of Australia. Ruth grew up with her mixed raced native boy who she is not allowed to be see with because natives were seen as inferior. Her childhood friend, Tommy, and she end up falling in love and she becomes pregnant. Her Dad has decided to send her away to a camp in which girls in similar situations can deal with that type of situation. She finds out the camp wants to put her baby up for adoption. She runs away with one of her friends from the camp to their aunt’s residence. The aunt was a bartender and allowed Ruth and her baby to stay but when the landlord sees Ruth’s baby. She refuses to rent to her and calls her baby a “half-caste.” Ruth is almost forced into the streets to become a prostitute to provide for her and her baby but gets a job as a bartender and later as a factory worker to make her way. She moves in with a widowed man by the name of Lachlan McGrath who owns a ranch. A turn of events would make sure that that relationship was over before it started. Tommy is now living elsewhere caught up with some sort of insurgency trying to gain independence of Papua from Australia. She returns home to find Jake panicking over how he is going to maintain the family coffee farm. She is informed she has a half-native niece, nephew, and brother due to their scandalous father sleeping around in the village. Her brother Matt does not care too much about the family business and has moved out to work on his own. Ruth Madison, now faced with the challenge of taking over the family business, must clean up all the mess their parents have left behind.

When you mention a colonial rule over another country, it always opens the topic of discussion for independence. When and how can this country begin to have their independence? A moment such as this, can be the make-or-break moment that determines peaceful cooperation, or disdained war crimes. We see this story repeated over and over whether it was here in American celebrated on 4th of July, in the Middle Eastern countries, or in the Russian-Ukraine conflicts. Governments are set on having the resources that they need and when they cannot have them, they feel as if they are not living in the free world thus wanting to make it a fight about independence. In most cases the independence of Papua was risen over not having enough food and materials flowing through the country. One does not relate to this problem if one has not been through such challenging times. I do relate in a sense of coming from civil rights background like Ruth in which fighting for women’s rights is important. My mother and her siblings were not allowed access to school because of their race. "In the nineteen-seventies, following the awakening brought about by the Women's Movement, the Civil Rights Movement and the Gay Rights Movement, especially in the Unites States, crime fiction was forced to re-examine itself (Bill Phillips, Crime Fiction: A Global Phenomenon, 2016)". In a sense Ruth is seen as a hero for overcoming these challenges during this time. Ruth is like my mom because my mother had to take care of me and my sister as a single parent. The story shows what mothers must do when they need to take care of their families. Me and her son have similarities, growing up under a woman who must look after us all the time. My mother also grew up on farmland, moving to the city in hope of finding a good job. She supported me and my sister with 32 years of expertise at the Department of Motor Vehicles. Everyone comes from a country in which at some point wanted liberation, wanted freedom, wanted independence. Although yours may have come at a different time, it does not mean you have to endure more or less trauma behind obtaining our basic civil rights.  Although, there is little on her historical background, Marlene S. Lewis has a profound passion for Australia, having made contributions in her managerial role in the community sector. She is a qualified psychotherapist with qualifications in liberal arts. She is also a psychology counsellor.

Does anyone remember September 11, 2001? Was anyone affected by that day personally? Well, I remember that day like no other. I was in my 3rd grade class at Winding Creek elementary school in Stafford, VA. My teacher went by the name of Mr. Maa-trix-ics. We were all informed that the school is on lockdown and parents have the right to retrieve their children if they feel necessary. As we all sat around wondering what the hell was going on that day, the news was on the television. We all stared at what was seen in babble confusion, two twin towers in flames. My mother would get me early that day as my Aunt Sandra, her sister, was in the Pentagon during the time of the attack. Anyone who understands the meaning of that day understands why Afghanistan would fall on the list of the most dangerous countries in the world. Khaled Hosseini is an Afghan- American man writing a crime fiction book based in Afghanistan. He was born on March 4th, 1965, in Kabul, Afghanistan. He had four siblings. His father work as a foreign affairs minister and his mother was a Farsi language teacher at a girl’s high school which is ironic on account women are being held back from their education over there currently. Hosseini was born into a wealthier family, never having to struggle as many other Afghans did. When he was young, they had the luxury of flying kites with their cousins. Khaled never had to face adversity due to his father’s high status in the community. With grace, his father was able to land a job in Paris, France securely moving his family out of a war-stricken zone as people were engaged in the Saur Revolution. Hosseini graduated from the prestigious Independence High School in 1984 in which he then enrolled in Santa Clara University with a bachelor’s in biology. He finally enrolled at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine. There after studied medicine for more than ten years but manage to get away from the profession after his book “The Kite Runner” was published. What makes Hosseini’s work so popular is his uncanny way of using his real-life predicament of actually being from the wealthier Afghanistan to create comparison to the reality depicted in his book that would appeal to people who want to know more about their culture, what’s going on in their country currently, and possibly drawing some attention from the Afghanistan community readers. His stories are in first person, allowing reader to fully immerse themselves into the story plot to get a sense of Afghan culture. He uses symbolism of freedom, innocence, and justice. He chose to add historical events such as the invasion of the Soviet Union to make the events in the book seem more real. Hosseini has drawn on people’s emotion by having us inspect the main characters past choices in search of happiness during a time of war, crime, and betrayal. In “The Kite Runner,” a boy named Amir has settle down with his family in Kabul, Afghanistan. He lives with his father and two servants. The two boys are playing one day when they run into three troublemakers by the name of Assef, Kamal, and Wali. They try to beat Amir up but he can protect himself with the use of a slingshot. In the wintertime, all the boys participate in a kite fighting competition in which they tie sharp objects to their kites in hope of cutting the opposing kite’s string. When their kite loses, the boys go on a search called “kite running” to retrieve the battle kite. Hassan went on a kite run one day and ended up missing. Amir goes to look for him in which the three hoodlums Assef, Wali, and Kamal have gotten a hold of Hassan. Wali and Kamal hold Hassan up while Assef rapes him. Amir sees what has happened but soon vanishes after witnessing the scene. Amir acts as if nothing has happened but is too embarrassed now that he decides he does not want to be around Hassan anymore. He frames Hassan for stealing a watch and other things to get his father and him kick off the premises. This later turns into tremendous guilt for Amir his entire life as he returns to Afghanistan with the absence of redemption as he knows he did not do all he could do that day to help his friend. He gets a call from an old friend, Rahim Khan, urging him to retrieve Hassan’s son and bring him back to Pakistan after Hassan and his wife were murdered by Taliban. Supposedly Sohrab, Hassan’s son, is living in an orphanage. Amir gets a warm welcome when the official he was looking for was Assef, now a Taliban official. Amir is beaten badly to broken ribs and a swollen lip. They were only able to get away because Sohrab used his slingshot to hit Assef in the eye. Sohrab moves back to America with Amir where he teaches him the same kite-flying he used to participate in with Hassan. Amir can never really get over the trauma set in after he let Hassan get raped. He feels bad lying to him in favor of his father, keeping Hassan as a gullible, side stooge. He feels like he is doing Hassan a favor by taking care of his son, Sohrab. Amir feels redeemed knowing that he is doing all he can do now to heal from those past traumas. The more he flies those kites, the more he realizes that Hassan’s mishap was out of his hands.

Having taken a part on September 11th, 2001, from a distant standpoint, I can talk about a traumatic time in American history with an understanding and grace like no other. Afghanistan was the first threat I had witnessed in my lifetime from a foreign country. I had never seen so much panic stricken in my mom and aunt’s eyes when I saw them that afternoon. My aunt vividly describes the scene at the Pentagon as a significant amount of smoke clouds with people running to evacuate the building to the big, rear parking lot. With the reality of Khaled Hosseini coming to American from Kabul, Afghanistan to live the American Dream, I can believe that there is good residing within their country walls. I appreciate Hosseini giving a heart chilling reality check of the harsh realities happening in Afghanistan currently. The Taliban ruthlessly kill, torture, and rape people with no remorse. It is only coincidental that the little boy, Assef, looking to start trouble is the one that became a Taliban captain. As a family, we got the lesser of the two evils that day in which the Twin Towers were more detrimental to the health of our country. Having witnessed that day makes us very fond of Afghanistan. If you are an American when you hear Afghanistan, the first thing that pops to mind is 9/11 and the Taliban. That day humbled me and made me grateful for everything I hold dear. I had the luxury of learning that at an early age. You hear the stories from other victim’s families who were not so lucky in conjoint with my aunt’s story and get sense of nostalgia, humbled that you got to keep your family member and flashbacks of all the great times you have together. Every year on 9/11, I think of my aunt Sandra’s nice house and countless family gatherings that held our family together for decades. September 11 is not only the history we teach about the Taliban organization and what they do, but also a reminiscent moments of family values, morals, and ethics that remind me of where we come from. Khaled Hosseini is a Goodwill Ambassador for the UN Refugee Agency. He is the founder of the Hosseini Foundation, a nonprofit and currently lives with his wife and two children in Northern California. Thank you, Khaled Hosseini, for a sign of hope for the healing that may come between the Middle East and other countries in war.

Coming in number four is a book based in the country of Haiti. “The Dew Breaker” written by Edwidge Danticat is a novel that shows the living conditions of Haitians under the totalitarian regime of Francois Duvalier and his son, Jean-Claude Duvalier. Danticat was born January 19, 1969, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Her works focused on women empowerment and their relations with one another. She always addressed the themes power, poverty, and injustice. Her parents moved away to the U.S. when she was 4 years old, leaving her and her brother behind with her aunt and uncle. She would later move to America to reunite with her parents. She received her bachelor’s in French literature when she went to Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. She spoke two languages: French and Creole. She was a child brought up in the church and believed in storytelling as a form of entertainment, studying hard in the evenings to help her understand her course material better. There seems to be an underlying theme to all the books we are discussing. Every story has a corrupt world leader who doesn't know what is best for the people living in their country. Here, Danticat has intertwined nine different stories that all come back to a group of people called ‘The Dew Breakers.’ This was the nickname for the group of people that went around torturing and killing innocent people. The nickname referred to the time of day in which this group would attack, at dawn when the dew had just formed on the leaves. These foot soldiers of the Duvalier's would arrive at your house at the break of dawn either taking you off to prison or shooting in your home. If you were lucky enough to keep your life a few more seconds, they would drag you out into the street before killing you. Part 1 embodies the story of a dew breaker that has moved to the U.S. in hopes of escaping his past. His daughter has created a sculpture that continually reminds him of his past criminal acts. He throws the stature in the sea and explain to his naïve daughter that he was a man that did terrible things in his past. The mother sided with the father, admitting to the daughter that he had wanted to tell her sooner but could not. Part 2 gives way to a couple who gets separated for 7 years before being reunited. The husband made a vow to work day and night to get his wife to America with him. Part 3 deals with her emotionally suppressed character. She feels like she has no one and cannot even speak to her family and coworkers about what she is going through. Part 4 allows us to delve deeper into Anne’s life. She is the wife of the dew breaker, and we hear from her perspective of the whole situation and take detail to how they are living their day-to-day lives as a family. Part 5 is about the character Dany who comes back to Haiti to visit his Aunt Estina. Part 6 is about a journalist named Aline who is interviewing a seamstress named Beatrice. Beatrice mentions that she is traumatized from the dew breakers and what they have done to her back in Haiti. She feels they are constantly watching her every move, ready to haul her off to a prison camp or kill her. Part 7 introduces a memoir by a guy named Michel who was following Jean-Claude Duvalier on a flight from Haiti to see his unborn son. Part 8 is about women coming together to embrace the conditions they are facing under the totalitarian ruled government. They bond, socialize, and find ways to improve their English. Part 9 is shown through three perspectives: the dew breaker, the dew breaker’s wife, and the wife’s stepbrother. The chapter allows readers to advance into the future to see what had happened after the Duvalier era. This story better exemplifies the traumatic regime history of Haiti, telling stories of violence, crime, grief, and death. These people are all sharing their cries for their country in a system that is corrupt and broken under Duvalier. The theme of the book is “learning how to grieve” in the process of ridding themselves of horrible memories. Papa is a main character, the dew breaker. He lives a life of covering up his past, lying about his past dealings, and running back in forth from Haiti to America concealing is identity. They could not even decorate for the holidays in fear of having their identities revealed. This story proves that the truth is always revealed and hiding your past will only come to light eventually. Living a life of resentment resorts to feeling lonely and unfulfilled life. We all must know how to grieve. It is a part of the human process that without, would not really understand the meaning of life. You would have lived a life numb to the reality that dreadful things can happen. Trying to erase your past is not the answer. At some point you must speak with that younger version of yourself and tell yourself that everything will be okay. Therapy may even be the best option for people suffering traumatic events, learning to grieve in the present and cope with the past.

We all have things that we keep to ourselves because either we just are not confident enough to share those past events or the trauma from those events keeps us suppressed. People can relate to these issues all over the world. During the BLM movement, I was studying for my bachelor’s in business administration at South University – Savannah. The protesting would start between 6pm and 7pm. I remember very vividly heading to the top floor of my apartment building to look down at the people chanting “Black Lives Matter” while throwing items at police station and flipping police cars. BLM was sprayed painted on every historical figure in the city. Stonewall Jackson would not have appreciated this. It made it hard for me to study and brings back the reality of how not long ago, African Americans were not allowed to have an education so all I could do is humble myself. I had my past childhood traumas with my parents that I kept to myself a long time until I could finally see it was holding me back. You must bring those pains to the forefront and address them aside from what you would usually do to suppress them. That is the only way one can even begin to erase the past. I have images in my mind from my younger age that I can only understand and with knowledge and wisdom, can only find the meaning. The only thing I regret is not being able to address those issues with someone who could understand because they would think my family was unfit or I was just being a sissy. It was seen as weak in my family for a man to show his tears. I now know that is false as I have grown older. I remember the look my mother would give me whenever I started crying as a child. Let us just say she wanted me to be emotionally tougher. The Duvalier regime is the cause of the social economic issues faced in Haiti which is why you have a border crisis to this day between Haiti and the Dominican Republic. We are subject to immigration policies one way or the other. Just because you are facing the issue personally right now does not mean your ancestors have not been facing those same issues in previous history. I reflect on this book because I understood how to grieve at a youthful age. My grandparents had twenty children, so I have been going to funerals all my life. I have understood grieve from a bad standpoint and heavenly standpoint and I am telling you that they both bring forth joy and happiness if you know how to cope with them the right way, it can be a process of healing and leave you hopeful for an optimistic future.

Does anyone love great detective novels? Detective novels fall under your classical crime fiction novel based on how well the detective solves the case. “The Dark Flood” was written by Deon Meyer. He will come in at number 5 primarily because at the time I did my research, South Africa was on the list as the 5th most dangerous country in the world. Deon Meyer was born in Paarl, Western Cape, South Africa. He is a novelist and screenwriter that has his writings translated into over 28 languages. He received his bachelor’s degree in English and history from Potchefstroom University for Christian Higher Education and obtained an honorary degree from the University of the Free State. His early career represents a journalist at the University of the Free State, an advertising copy writer at Sanlam, and later a manager at BMW motorcycles. After his BMW era, he went back to writing, writing full time now. He lives on a beach out in South Africa called Melkbosstrand in which he enjoys exploring the beach on his BMW motorcycle. His writing style consists of a fast-paced storyline written in a South African setting. He likes to address the social differences within his country that make up the many relatable characters he creates in his books. He will often rely on his authentic South African portrayal to reveal the gritty realism that unravels his crime fiction plot. His stories are often considered political commentary as he explores the socio-economic issues his country is facing. He knows how to keep his readers engaged by using compelling characters that bring the story alive. “The Dark Flood” is Deon Meyer’s 14th crime fiction novel, having been translated and published in the U.S. and UK in 2022. The main characters include two detectives by the name of Benny Griessel and Vaughn Cupido. They have been relieved from their duties at the elite Hawks unit at their police academy. These two had been demoted from their duties for an unauthorized investigation that would expose the government of its corruption. The book also follows a real estate agent by the name of Sandra Steenberg. The novel opens with a robbery in which the two police officers are sent to prevent. Guns are drawn and a shootout occurs. They get the situation under control and save Phila Zamisa from being killed. A gun was taken into custody. After being demoted, they are made to transfer from Cape Town to the smaller town of Stellenbosch. Their first assignment was the investigation of a college kid by the name of Callie de Braun. The guy was a brilliant computer programmer, and he chose to hack data in his leisure which is the cause of his gone missing. Callie recruited a man by the name if Roland Parker to be his accomplice in exchange for hacking the police system and clearing his criminal record. Callie was a college student but after his death was found with considerable hidden assets in two bank accounts. They are striking out on leads and even lost a fellow officer. These two officers are caught up in a gun war between high-end gun smugglers and the so-called people trying to keep them off the streets. The loss of the fellow police officer has triggered an occurrence of events involving gun heists and guns going missing at the police academy. We later find out that their fellow officer was killed because they found out that a few corrupt officers were selling illegal guns to gang members. On the contrary, the real estate agent, Sandra Steenberg, is dealing with her own crisis. Government corruption has led to an economic depression. She is looking for ways to make money during troubling times. Steenburg is working to sell one of Boonstra’s realty properties. She must deal with sexual harassment from Boonstra and her boss the entire transaction. She has luck as her lawyer has found a high-status client to be a potential buyer of the property. Steenburg, done having to deal with the sexual harassment, pushed Boonstra down a flight of stairs, killing him when she felt as if her rear end was groped. Boonstra’s wife saw the whole incident with Steenburg but chose to keep her mouth shut. All Sandra had to do was tip off the police and rejoin the two detectives by solving the case of the missing college student. Cupido is shot in the operation, Callie is rescued, and they learn that the police chief was selling illegal weapons to gangs and upper scale clients residing in America. Fick was almost killed by Griessel and the murder of Boonstra will go unsolved.

This is a likeable plot. It is like the “The Ice Princess” by Camila Läckberg. The only difference is the police department is an added addition of corruption and crime going on within the city. It is easy for one to resonate with this story by having a black belt in Tae Kwon Do. Allowing yourself to get a black belt allows you to collaborate with police officers every other day. They tell you about previous altercations they have had with criminals on the street and this book, “The Dark Flood” is a prime example of what detectives have to go through on a daily basis. To see such an unlawful action as police officers doing business with criminals is unforgivable. We call these people to help and reassure us that we will be safe when they arrive. This is an example of when hiring corrupt police officers fails. There was a story about this on the news a few weeks back of a police officer called to a man’s house who ends up killing the victim and allowing the criminal to live his life out after his jail sentence. I also get an understanding of corrupt police officers as one of my high school friends that I used to play basketball with, was declared mentally ill. Ivor to us, Irvo to the public. The police officers proceeded to put their knee on his neck until my friend, Ivor Otieno was pronounced dead due to asphyxiation. I cried for months behind the loss of the man, feeling helpless not being able to help him in his time of need. I remember they didn’t release the full video until authorities said it was okay to do so. Watching the full video only infuriated me on top of already being dispirited by the whole situation. It is these detectives and police officers that ruin the reputation of the people that we call our protectors. This situation made me feel like Amir who could do nothing to save his friend Hassan as we noticed in the previous book we discussed. It leaves me with a certain guilt as if not doing enough in the community where we cannot prevent something as senseless as this from occurring.

Crime fiction in itself is all around us every day. It has always been there in our books, TV shows, radio stations, movies, and video games. It is a way for humans to entertain themselves with the endless possibilities that can be delivered by a crime fiction novelist. Crime fiction can influence people’s decisions politically. As discussed previously in the five novels from some of the most dangerous countries in the world, we can get a sense that crime fiction can depict the reality of what it is like during a certain time, adding fictional character to a not so fictional storyline or vice versa to make an interesting turn of events that leaves the readers wanting more. I like the genre, especially if it is fast paced, to the point, and doesn’t give the missing pieces away too soon. I have my own nonprofit organization in which I take political and social reform to make changes within our communities for the better. Reading crime fiction novels have already made me look at some of these issues we are dealing with such as the border crises through a new lens. Dictators like trump are seeking to deport all undocumented immigrants. Instead of creating more problems, we need to be solution driven as far as finding out how we can legalize these immigrants so that they can stay. At the end of the day that undocumented immigrant is just as human as you. You cannot punish a person for wanting to make a better life for themselves here in America. I will continue to read crime fiction novels, allowing myself to play with the reality of current events such as the Gaza war and Ukraine war. If you may not get all the factual information on a current event, crime fiction will definitely teach you how these people may be dealing with traumatic events emotionally, portraying fictional scenes from the actual wars that may resemble scenes that actually did occur that may not have been recorded otherwise. Crime fiction is fun because we can create this scene with top-secret intel that we are allowed to share with the readers. Real detectives or CIA agents may not be able to share with us, making reading crime fiction the winner in that category. A German filmmaker by the name of Christian Petzold says "Basically, I think all movies are crime fiction. Even in a movie that tells the story of adultery or lies, there's always a point where a line is crossed. A minor crime, a white lie, every plot has a touch of crime story in it".

 Now, to talk about crime on the real side of the spectrum. Whether we live in Venezuela or Switzerland, we are all affected by crime. According to Oxford English Dictionary, Crime is “an act or omission constituting an offence (usually a grave one) against an individual or the state and punishable by law.” It is almost impossible to get around the subject of crime considering it is part of being a human being in modern society. As children, we play around the house and outside, but we are still affected by crime subconsciously in the background. There is no escape from this topic at any point in life.  It is important to understand crime and how it affects human psychology, and our biological make up. Starting at a young age and throughout our adulthood, we are pre-exposed to crime which causes trauma and may even change our cognitive behaviors. I’m here to discuss these changes to our cognitive functions which in turn increase crime where it is not regulated as frequently as the States. Is there a link between the crime rate of a country and the percentage of crime fiction novels written about the crimes committed in that country? This is where my research leaves off on a continues journey as I get older and gain the resources to complete my studies.

As we have already discussed the current 5 most dangerous countries in the world through the crime fiction lens, we want to find the most common types of crimes committed in those countries. Everything is constantly changing as we speak, so the top 5 most dangerous countries may be different by the time I gain the knowledge and resources to go study the statistics. We will track the numbers of crimes committed over a course of ten years and see where they have increased and how they have increased. We will then compare these countries to see where each country may lead, and which country may fall behind according to type of crime and crime rate. We will then research how many crime fiction novels have been published from those countries over the course of those ten years to see if there is a correlation. We will also study to see if there is a link between the actual crimes committed within a country and the type of crime fiction novels being published in that country. We also want to look at how many books are being written and published from other parts of the world about these countries that are struggling with their crime rates. Many changes can occur in the course of ten years.

There are numerous reasons crime rates may increase. A few factors may include political, economic, and socio-economic issues. Other issues include war, strict law enforcement, climate, and cultural factors.   The countries around the world suffering from the highest crime rates are Venezuela, Papua New Guinea, Afghanistan, Haiti, and South Africa. What are the most prominent crimes being committed in these countries? What are the leading causes to these crimes being committed? What are the lasting aftereffects of these crimes? What are we going to do to stop and prevent these crimes? When we are looking at the level of crime a country incurs, we are looking at it from a perspective of crime fiction. Is the level of crime the determining factor for people’s fascination for crime fiction around the world? Will people read more crime fiction from or about a country when they are informed that there is more crime being produced there? We want to take a closer look at crime and how it affects our children and how those children grow up to take part in crime, and how there is a never-ending loop of crime inflicted children that turn into crime committing adults. A crime-infused society can lead to a crime-obsessed society in which crime is the topic of interest. For example, the Sean “Diddy” Combs case in which he and a bunch of other celebrities took part in illegal sex acts, the distribution of drugs and alcohol, and racketeering. Although, this is an American example, these acts are happening all around the world. It is guaranteed that there will be numerous books written about Mr. Combs and all his victims. Before this incident, there were many crime fiction novels written almost in comparison to the acts Mr. Combs has committed and there will only be more inspired by his acts. I’m here to see how we can determine if these acts of crime influence the number of crime fiction novels written in the following years.

Crime fiction is becoming more popular around the world. As sad as it is, one would presume because it is so familiarized locally that everyone can relate globally. The crime going on in the Middle East is not felt solely in the Middle East but around the world. With members of the United Nations addressing the issue from their own standpoint all agreeing to peace being brought to the Middle East conflicts. It is only fair to say that with these increasing number of stories being published by the new sources, there is a long line of crime fiction novelists behind them willing to squeeze every dollar they can out of the situation by writing stories that mirror what is going on in the Middle East such as Khaled Hosseini and "The Kite Runner". To make crime fiction more interesting and realistic, you must mirror scenes of everyday crimes committed in your local community. You cannot overly exaggerate the stories written because people will feel your stories are not genuine. A writer from Russia named Andrei Rubanov states " I'm a megalomaniac. I want everything. I want everything in my books. And crime fiction is merely a structure which allows you to insert whatever you want." We must also look at which countries in which crime fiction is most popular. Is the popularization of crime fiction a factor in why we see more crimes taking place? Can we say that cutting back on the number of crime fiction novels will decrease the number of crimes acted upon? From a standpoint of world peace, it would seem like the world would want to disassociate itself with crime and move more towards love and peace. To obtain peace, we must let go of crime. The publication of crime fiction novels can be a contributing factor to the crime rates as these stories and images are imprinted in people’s minds, often young people who choose to indulge in them. Crime fiction does not only come in the form of novels, but they come in the form of movies, TV series, and video games all written with a plot to keep the buyers coming back for more. Video games are becoming more popular now that they have introduced virtual reality video games that literally put you inside these video games that promote violence. Often these video game storylines are written from a crime fiction perspective. Young children and adults are gaining access to these horrifying games, allowing them to live in them, first-hand experience. These games alter these little children’s minds, creating neurological pathways that make some of them believe they can go out in the real world and reenact these scenes they are witnessing in virtual reality video games. This could very well be the cause of an increase in school shootings. Living in a world where we are struggling to create world peace and there are innocent people dying and being trafficked globally; we need to have limitations on the kinds of violence we allow our society to conceive. More violence only breeds more violence. If we are to move towards a more peaceful world, we are going to have to accept the pain from the past, find ways to prevent it from happening again, and then eventually turn our attention towards a more peaceful way of life. I have played my fair share of Grand Theft Auto my whole life but maybe there will be a day when the world will no longer obsess over the crime fiction genre, leaving us in a more peaceful state of mind in which we don’t resort to war and destruction as a resolution.

After we find out how crime rates correlate to the number of crime fiction novels published, we must find a way to tie all this information together to create a better future for everyone. Every piece of research must be done with greater good in mind. There are organizations that will help us lower crime rates around the world. There are people in power who have an influence over the masses to change people’s perspective on crime to create a more peaceful world. There are tools we can use and resources available to prevent certain crimes from happening. There must be changes made within the government of the country to start the shift towards lowering the crime rates. Some of the time, the president of the country or the type of government established is the reason for the high crime rates. Social injustice could be the cause of the problem. We as a worldwide community must do our part to ensure the endless killing in the Middle East cease to exist. The United Nations and other affiliates around the world expect crime rates to fall. We expect the world to be in one peaceful state in which everyone can understand the human experience and that we are all the same no matter gender, race, or religion.

I now see how we can use crime fiction to reflect on reality. I have always been a student more intrigued with the actualities of life itself. Anything that is currently going on in the world as far as current events are concerned, is interesting to me. I do believe what is real has more value to human experience than what is not because when you are learning from a fictional standpoint, you must imagine that events are real before you can learn from them. There is an article from CNN about how actual events weighs more heavily on the reader’s spirit than the emotional arousal you get from crime fiction. I would have to see a day where novelists have stopped writing crime fiction for the sake of maintaining a focus of peace. Crime fiction allows people to play with reality and imagine a world where everything is not so perfect. It’s interesting being that it always sells the ‘what if’ things are not a particular way in society. How would people act if a norm was not so normal?

Despite the infatuation that comes along with reading a crime fiction novel. There is a way that we can tie the reading of these types of books into our understanding of crime to find a deeper meaning of world peace. There must be a common denominator in which all humans can relate and manage conflicts without resorting to crime. Although watching these crime fiction TV series like “Criminal Minds” is fun and interesting, we can not lose our grasp on reality and that somewhere in the world, someone just went through what that person just went through in that episode, movie, video game, or novel. A world in which people cannot distinguish reality from fake is a very dangerous world which lacks empathy and emotion. We need to develop a more emotionally intelligent world so that these developing countries can solve their racial, religious, military, and governmental differences with grace. Our history has already written these crime stories and war stories many times before. After a while, there are but so many reasons to commit a crime or to go to war. It is in those moments; we must stop and catch ourselves reminding ourselves that it is not worth it and there is another way of handling these problems we are facing in the world.