- Hardcover: 304 pages
- Publisher: Soho Crime (April 1 2010)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1569476292
- ISBN-13: 978-1569476291
- Product Dimensions: 13.5 x 2.9 x 19.8 cm
- Shipping Weight: 399 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #456,257 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
Review
“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 characters—Jade is particularly memorable—and 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, you’ll be guessing right up until the very end.”—Tulsa Examiner
Starred Review: "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
"Mackenzie, who has lived in South Africa from an early age, plays her hand deftly, with a page turner of a story, intriguing characters—Jade is particularly memorable—and 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, you’ll be guessing right up until the very end.”—Tulsa Examiner
Starred Review: "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
Product Description
In Johannesburg prosperous whites live in gated communities; 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.
P.I. 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 that involves a vast and intricate series of crimes for profit.
P.I. 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 that involves a vast and intricate series of crimes for profit.
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Customer Reviews
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Most helpful customer reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Couldn't stop listening,
By
This review is from: Random Violence: Introducing the Jade de Jong Series Set in South Africa (Paperback)
Home comings are often portrayed as bittersweet, and Jade De Jong's return to Johannesburg, South Africa, after an absence of ten or so years, is no different. Shortly after her father, a police superintendent, was murdered, she fled the country, eventually working an assortment of private security and investigative jobs. Now she has returned and is looking for revenge.It didn't take long for complications to arise. When her friend, the new Police Superintendent David Patel, picks her up at the airport, he asks if she'll help investigate a recent murder. While the police think that Annette Botha's murder is either a botched carjacking or a robbery, Jade has to be sure. This investigation leads her into some very dangerous situations. I liked the character of Jade De Jong. She presents as a respectable woman, successful and capable. Then I met the other side, the loyal side. She knows her father's death was wrong, and she is willing to do what it takes to get justice/revenge, though she also knows when to pull back and let things work themselves out. This contrasts with Whiteboy, who can barely restrain himself. He is a ticking time bomb that has gone off at least several times already. His actions are brutal and are described with all the gruesome details. Not to be read by the faint of heart. At the same time, I don't think this story would read as well if the violence were toned down, it wouldn't seem real (not that we want this kind of violence to be real). I was fascinated by Ms. Mackenzie's descriptions of the levels of security that South African's use in their daily life. Security fencing with automatic gates, armed guards at the entrances to gated communities and hired, private guards to roam neighbourhoods and answer calls for assistance. This is in stark contrast to the safety I feel here in Ontario, Canada. I listened to the audio book version which was produced by Blackstone Audio. 8 hours 57 minutes, unabridged. It was read by Justine Eyre, who had me totally convinced that I was in Jo'burg, as Jassy calls Johannesburg. At first I had trouble differentiating between the male and female characters, but one I stopped trying to figure that out and wait for the story to guide me, I was fine. Jassy Mackenzie has added two further books to the Jade De Jong series. The second book, Stolen Lives is on shelves now, and the third, Worst Case was out in South Africa in August 2011, and will be released internationally under the title of The Fallen in April 2012.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Raw,
By
This review is from: Random Violence: Introducing the Jade de Jong Series Set in South Africa (Paperback)
Raw is the only way I can describe Random Violence. From the characters to the motives to the action, everthing is rough and ragged. The story evolves seamlessly until all of a sudden you are at the end and wonder where time went. Loved it.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
4.1 out of 5 stars (15 customer reviews) 9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great new detective story from South Africa,
By Mack Lundy - Published on Amazon.com
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
Jade de Jong is a welcome addition to the P.I. genre. She's hard-boiled, exercising a moral flexibility when the situation demands it but not so hard-boiled that she is without human feelings. Readers who like a strong sense of location in their crime fiction (and I'm one) won't be disappointed with the setting or the way Mackenzie weaves in post-apartheid social and cultural adjustments as well as South Africa's extraordinarily violent crime problem. Random Violence has an excellent plot with two story lines that are both compelling and a pacing that made me keep reading. My only disappointment is that the next book in the series isn't immediately available.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
Random Violence,
By Gloria Feit - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Random Violence: A Jade De Jong Investigation (Hardcover)
Jade deJong , the headstrong protagonist of this terrific new novel, is a p.i. who has left her native South Africa, but after a ten-year absence has returned after, most recently, doing surveillance work in England. Her father, before his death, had been police commissioner in Johannesburg, described as a city filled with crime and brutality. The tale opens with the brutal murder of a young woman in what initially appears to have been an attempted carjacking, the first but hardly the last violent act in this novel.Jade, thirty-four years old, has long-standing relationships with two men, who couldn't be less alike: David, a cop who trained under her father's mentorship and is now a Superintendent in the Johannesburg Central police headquarters, with whom she has a chaste friendship which she would like to see evolve into something more intimate; and Robbie, a small-time gangster whose own attempts at intimacy she rejects, but who serves a purpose. She has timed her return home with the expected release from prison of a convicted murderer who she blames for her father's death. Ultimately, her sense of justice, and her determination to see it done, provides her motivation despite some narrow escapes and the continuing jeopardy in which she finds herself. The author, who was raised in South Africa, has written a debut novel which brings the country to gritty life, a fast-paced and gripping tale with memorable characters. Readers, including this one, can look forward to her follow-up entry in the series, due out in 2011. Recommended. 1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
Couldn't stop Listening.,
By Heather Pearson "Heather" - Published on Amazon.com
Home comings are often portrayed as bittersweet, and Jade De Jong's return to Johannesburg, South Africa, after an absence of ten or so years, is no different. Shortly after her father, a police superintendent, was murdered, she fled the country, eventually working an assortment of private security and investigative jobs. Now she has returned and is looking for revenge.It didn't take long for complications to arise. When her friend, the new Police Superintendent David Patel, picks her up at the airport, he asks if she'll help investigate a recent murder. While the police think that Annette Botha's murder is either a botched carjacking or a robbery, Jade has to be sure. This investigation leads her into some very dangerous situations. I liked the character of Jade De Jong. She presents as a respectable woman, successful and capable. Then I met the other side, the loyal side. She knows her father's death was wrong, and she is willing to do what it takes to get justice/revenge, though she also knows when to pull back and let things work themselves out. This contrasts with Whiteboy, who can barely restrain himself. He is a ticking time bomb that has gone off at least several times already. His actions are brutal and are described with all the gruesome details. Not to be read by the faint of heart. At the same time, I don't think this story would read as well if the violence were toned down, it wouldn't seem real (not that we want this kind of violence to be real). I was fascinated by Ms. Mackenzie's descriptions of the levels of security that South African's use in their daily life. Security fencing with automatic gates, armed guards at the entrances to gated communities and hired, private guards to roam neighborhoods and answer calls for assistance. This is in stark contrast to the safety I feel here in Ontario, Canada. I listened to the audio book version which was produced by Blackstone Audio. 8 hours 57 minutes, unabridged. It was read by Justine Eyre, who had me totally convinced that I was in Jo'burg, as Jassy calls Johannesburg. At first I had trouble differentiating between the male and female characters, but one I stopped trying to figure that out and wait for the story to guide me, I was fine. Jassy Mackenzie has added two further books to the Jade De Jong series. The second book, Stolen Lives is on shelves now, and the third, Worst Case was out in South Africa in August 2011, and will be released internationally under the title of The Fallen in April 2012. |
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