Critics' Opinion:
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Published in USA
Apr 2010
336 pages
Genre: Thrillers
Publication Information
In Johannesburg, prosperous whites live behind gates; when they exit their cars to open the gates, car-jackings are common. But seldom is the victim killed, much less shot twice, like Annette Botha. Piet Botha, the husband of the wealthy woman, is the primary suspect in his wife's murder.
PI Jade de Jong fled South Africa ten years ago after her father was killed. Now back in town, she offers to help her father's former assistant, Superintendent David Patel, with his investigation of this case. Under apartheid, Patel, of Indian descent, could never have attained his present position. But he is feeling pressure from his "old line" boss with respect to this investigation and fears lingering prejudice is at work.
As Jade probes into this and other recent car-jacking cases, a pattern begins to emerge, a pattern that goes back to her father's murder and involves a vast and intricate series of crimes for profit.
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"Starred Review. Mackenzie does a superb job of making the reader care for her gutsy lead while offering a glimpse at life in South Africa after apartheid. Readers will wish Jade a long fictional career." - Publishers Weekly
"Mackenzie's debut is a bit overstuffed, but key characters and a gritty style augur well for proposed future installments." - Kirkus Reviews
"Random Violence excels in its ability to translate our propensity for violent crime into a clever plot that could take place only in South Africa."- Gillian Anstey, The Sunday Times (South Africa)
"Mackenzie delivers a thriller that will hopefully be the first of many." - The Star (South Africa)
"Starred Review. This gripping first entry in a new crime series set in postapartheid South Africa should please readers of Zoë Sharp and Suzanne Arruda. Fans of other South African crime fiction by Deon Meyer, Roger Smith, and Malla Nunn will also want to try." - Library Journal
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Jassy Mackenzie, born in Rhodesia, moved to South Africa when she was eight years old. She has actually been car-jacked at gunpoint outside her home in Kyalami, near Johannesburg. She edits and writes for the annual publication Best of South Africa.
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"A powerful, provocative debut ... Intelligent, honest, and unsentimental." - Kirkus, starred review
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