Deon Meyer's 'Heart of the Hunter' premieres on Netflix, 24 years after book published

Deon Meyer, a South African thriller novelist published 'Heart of the Hunter' in 2000, and 24 years later, the book is coming to Netflix.

And the author did not see this coming...

'Heart of the Hunter' is a rip-roaring adventure, a portrait of spy-world duplicity and a look at South Africa's post-apartheid politics and has won multiple best-selling awards. 

Meyer has written novels primarily in Afrikaans with some works translated into 28 different languages while screenwriting too but never in a million years did Meyer think he would become an award-winning author and local icon when he started writing at just 14 years old. 

"I can hardly understand why I had this urge to write at a fairly young age. It wasn't the urge to write but the urge to tell stories. My two brothers were the only available audience at the time but never could I have thought that it would become more than that."

Deon Meyer, Author

"I grew up in a blue collar family, in a blue collar neighbourhood so it was just not a frame of reference to think you can become an author one day. It was just never a possibility so I never entertained the possibility... I never dreamt of it. If you told my 14-year old self back then that this would happen, I would've laughed."

Deon Meyer, Author

A book becomes a movie 24 years later...

Meyer mentions that the film was made 24 years after the book was written so adaptations in a contemporary context had to be considered but the film is as close to the original storyline as possible. 

'Heart of the Hunter' is Meyer's fourth novel where a man of colour features as a protagonist for the first time. 

While this was "challenging" to navigate, Meyer says this book was a "personal milestone" to write as it taught him many lessons of growth and learnings as an author. 

"My biggest challenge was writing about a Xhosa man in South Africa as a white man - I feared getting it wrong - and I put it aside for about a week and asked myself why am I struggling so much... until I realised I was focusing on all the differences between me as a white Afrikaner and my protagonist as a black Xhosa guy. I started thinking, what do we have in common? That was a great change for me when I realised that we have so much in common in terms of the love for our country, being family-orientated, the love of our children and wanting a better future for them and after that realisation the book just took off and it became a great pleasure to write." 

Deon Meyer, Author

"The lesson from this book also became my life philosophy. It taught me to seek the things I have in common with people rather than focus on things you don't have in common or don't understand and it has served me well."

Deon Meyer, Author

The movie premieres on Netflix on 29 March and it's shot in different parts of South Africa, the unfinished bridge features as is... unfinished, which is rare in cinematography while a local cast bring the book's characters to life.

"The film only features local talent and boy do we have local talent. I am blown away by the level of talent in this country."

Deon Meyer

If you haven't read the book, you have time now before watching "the absolutely incredible film" (as Tracey puts it).

For now, we'll leave you with the trailer.