Critics' Opinion:
Readers' rating:
Published Apr 2011
288 pages
Genre: Mysteries
Publication Information
When wealthy Pamela Jordaan hires PI Jade de Jong as a bodyguard after her husband Terrance disappears, Jade thinks keeping an eye on this anxious wife will be an easy way to earn some cash. But when a determined shooter nearly kills them both and Jade finds Terrance horrifically tortured and barely alive, she realizes that she has been drawn into a wicked game.
At the same time, her relationship with police superintendent David Patel is on the rocks, and things only get more complicated when his son is kidnapped and his wife is blackmailed. It soon becomes clear that the kidnapping and the attempted killings of Pamela and her husband are tied to a human trafficking ring that stretches from Johannesburg to London.
"Under Mackenzie's deft hand, Jo'berg and Jade crackle with frenetic energy." - Publishers Weekly
"Jade's sophomore adventure provides a crackling pace and nonstop action, though little narrative finesse. Mackenzie's Johannesburg is as gritty and dangerous as noir L.A. or the drug meccas of South America." - Kirkus Reviews
"Starred Review. This second Jade de Jong book is just as violent as the author’s acclaimed debut. However, Mackenzie offers insight into post apartheid South Africa, an area of the world unfamiliar to most U.S. mystery buffs." - Library Journal
"Gripping… Stolen Lives is as thought-provoking and socially conscious as it is suspenseful..." - ForeWord Reviews
"Jassy Mackenzie's followup to Random Violence delivers on all fronts that matter: dexterous pacing, unflinching action, and stark, brave compassion in the clutch." - Sophie Littlefield, Anthony Award-winning author of A Bad Day for Sorry
This information about Stolen Lives was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Jassy Mackenzie was born in Rhodesia and moved to South Africa when she was eight years old. She lives in Kyalami near Johannesburg and edits and writes for the annual publication Best of South Africa. This is the second in her Jade de Jong series after Random Violence, 2010.
The Flower Sisters
by Michelle Collins Anderson
From the new Fannie Flagg of the Ozarks, a richly-woven story of family, forgiveness, and reinvention.
The House on Biscayne Bay
by Chanel Cleeton
As death stalks a gothic mansion in Miami, the lives of two women intertwine as the past and present collide.
The Funeral Cryer by Wenyan Lu
Debut novelist Wenyan Lu brings us this witty yet profound story about one woman's midlife reawakening in contemporary rural China.
Your guide toexceptional books
BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.
