REVIEW - Operation: Genocide by Yvonne Walus

REVIEW: Operation: Genocide

Synopsis: (From Goodreads)

An inhuman agenda…

In 1982, Annette Pretorius lives a life of privilege afforded to those of European descent in South Africa, but when her husband is murdered, she discovers a shattering secret: he’d been commissioned by the whites-only South African government to develop a lethal virus aimed at controlling the growth of the black population--already oppressed under the cruel system of apartheid.

A clandestine organization…

The murder came with a warning to Annette from a secretive organization: keep our secrets or you too will die. Captain Trevor Watson, Annette’s former boyfriend, is appointed to lead the investigation. Watson’s loyalty is tested as the evidence stacks against his high school sweetheart.

And the killing isn’t over yet…



When the investigation points in a terrifying direction, Annette and Watson face a wrenching choice: protect those they love or sacrifice all to save innocents from racial extermination.

I was again privileged that the author sent me the book and asked me to do a review for her.

In some of my previous reviews you would notice that I don’t really love reading books about South Africa, especially when they involve serious political contexts. Thus I have to admit that I didn’t really go into this book with a total open mind.

The book is set in 1982 South Africa, which is 3 years before I was even born. I don’t have a lot of knowledge about what the country was like back then, I’m not a fan of apartheid and I don’t care much for that in any way. I know that it is a major part of our history and that the book had to depict it as such, but it’s not one of my favorite subjects to read about.

The story involves a secret society, where men receive a white unicorn to show that they are in the society, a society who wants to make things “better” for the future generations in South Africa, by poisoning the water of the less fortunate (black) people. So here is this rich man, who seems to have the perfect family, he is a renowned scientist and part of this secret society. But then one day he decides that he doesn't want to be a part of it anymore, he wants out, and then a couple of days later he is dead. It looks like suicide, but turns out to be murder.

Then something in the story happens. The detective that is sent to investigate is the ex-lover of the bereaving wife. And it turns out she’s not so bereaving as you would think. Now don’t get me wrong, if you are a fan of the soppy romance dramas then this is right up your ally, but I thought the book was about a murder mystery? So this spoiled it for me a little.

There are also a lot of twists and turns in the story line  and not all good, it does get a bit confusing. And the way the author writes makes me wonder if she really did a lot of research about the South African people, not only the “white folk” in the book but also the “black”. I felt that it was very poorly written.

I did keep on reading and felt that I wanted to finish the book because the story was interesting; I wanted to know who was behind it all. I wanted to know what was going to happen and why some other things had happened. But thinking back to it all now I can’t even remember what really happened.

What really peeved me was the grammar and language use in the book, it didn't feel like the way that South Africans would talk.

Other than that the story was OK  I did finish the book and I’m not sorry that I did. The story line was OK  like said before, it did grab me, but I didn't care for it that much. There were so many different scenarios in the book that it became a bit confusing. There were so many suspects, and in the end I just didn't care about who had done it anymore, which I think is a major fault in this book, as it’s supposed to be a suspense and murder mystery, and that would be the point, to make the reader wonder who had done it.

I did give the book 3 stars.

It was better than a lot of other books I’ve read, so I had to give it that.