#BAIT - The book
Bait - To catch a killer
By Janine Lazarus
In the early 1990s, a serial killer was on the loose carving a swathe of terror in the northern suburbs of Johannesburg.
In a deadly game of cat and mouse, echoing Clarice Starling and cannibal killer Hannibal Lector in the smash hit movie Silence of The Lambs, Lazarus was used by the police as decoy to hunt the man dubbed The Norwood Serial Killer.
Her story becomes extremely personal – the hunter hunting the hunted. Set in the hot metal newsrooms of the pre-digital era, her investigation competed with some of the biggest headlines that told the story of South Africa’s transition to democracy.
Written as a riveting behind-the-headlines true crime memoir with a most unusual twist, the book explores fascinating newsroom ethics and questionable police procedures while delving into the power relationship between a reporter, an editor and a serial killer.
If we are to believe that journalists should shape the news – not make the news – Lazarus breaks just about every rule in the newsroom guide book as she becomes increasingly obsessed with Kobus Geldenhuys…
Publication Date: 23 August 2021
Price (in store): R280,00
Pages: 224
Format: 234mm x 152mm
Binding: Paperback / softback
Category: Current affairs
Publisher: NB Publishers
Available in-store
What people have to say!
#BookTalk: Calling all true crime fanatics! OFM Nights’ @RenaldoSchwarp is joined by @JanineLazarus to chat about her true crime memoir, ‘Bait’.
Listen to their conversation: bit.ly/3mskljo
O FM
Unputdownable! Utterly riveting! You should be so proud darling Nini.
Lisa Loeb
You are a great influence in my writing. I can never repay you.
Pheonix rising
I finished it in one day because I couldn’t put it down.
Retha Harmse
What a masterpiece.
Only at page 29.
Wow Wow Wow
Corlette Grobler
Sooo..all done. Finished reading. It was brilliant Janine.
I found each chapter better than the next and couldn’t wait till next week to finish it like I was planning.
Well done!! I hope it goes to a movie or series.”
Daniel Bernstein
BAIT tethers me to my bed far longer than I should for a weekend ‘lie in’. The dogs think it’s wonderful…
Gaynor Kast
Your book is seriously incredible!
Half way through
Very heavy reading!
Danielle Revive
I buy a rail ticket and wait for a train. It arrives. I board. The train hits top speed in five seconds. Through the window images flash past. Some blurred, some sharp, many disturbing. The scenes flash past. I thought I had boarded a slow train. Wrong. This one is express, there is no stopping. I am carried along in an atmosphere of speed and excitement to the terminal. That to me your book. It deserves to sell like hot cakes.
Professor Norman Lazarus
Gripping! I read a lot, but not this type of book. I finished it in one day as could not put it down! It also gives great insights into South Africa in the apartheid transition years. This is a must read!
Suzanne
Janine, I received your book today and I read it one go. Wow. I am in awe of your bravery and courage xx
Janine Nel
Hi Janine, just wanted to say that I finally got around to reading your book – I just couldn’t put it down. Thank you so much for sharing your story, I was completely riveted by it. You really put me through a rollercoaster of emotions! Another very big congratulations to you!