Random Violence

(Paperback)

Publishing Details

Classifications

Physical Properties

Description

In Johannesburg, prosperous white people live in gated communities - and when they exit their cars to open the gates, carjackings are common. But seldom is the victim killed, much less shot twice, like Annette Botha. Piet Botha, her husband, is the primary suspect in his wife's murder. As Jade probes into the Botha case and other recent carjackings, 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.

Reviews

Praise for Random Violence

"Jade de Jong kicks ass."
NPR

A new generation of crime writers is trying to put apartheid and modern South Africa in focus . . . [Random Violence is] a thought-provoking book.
Portland Oregonian

"Mackenzie, who has lived in South Africa from an early age, plays her hand deftly, with a page turner of a story, intriguing charactersJade is particularly memorableand a wealth of South African color, including its appalling racial history. At once brutal and beautiful, Random Violence leaves nothing to chance in hooking the reader."
Richmond Times-Dispatch

With surprising characters and an intriguing plot, youll be guessing right up until the very end.
Tulsa Examiner

"South African writer Mackenzie has created a strong female character with amazing resilience, unusual friends, and incredible luck . . . Gripping."
Library Journal, Starred Review

"Set in contemporary South Africa, Mackenzie's triumphant debut introduces PI Jade de Jong . . . The plot has more than its fair share of nice twists, and 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, Starred Review

"Beautiful and haunting . . . Each chapter is filled with wonders and horrors masterfully told in darkly poetic prose, with absolutely no wastage of space permitted. She has created a terrific and believable P.I. in the headstrong and somewhat intimidating Jade de Jong; a P.I. we will no doubt be seeing plenty of in the future. A host of colorful and memorable characters fill the pages, alongside Jade, making this a gripping and page-turning read, despite the bleakness of place and events via post-apartheid South Africa."
New York Journal of Books

"Complicated and tough and real."
Boston Bibliophile

Author Bio

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.