Jassy MackenzieReseñas

Not sure how this got into my stack from the library. I was drawn to the setting (Jo'berg) where I visited in 2016 and a feisty female protagonist. But it was too grisly, and the over-the-top violence toward most everyone in the tale of human trafficking kept me awake. Worse yet, I finished it, heart pounding.

So happy to read another of Jassy's Jade de Jong series. The security director for a South African nuclear power plant hires Jade to investigate an employee, following an attempted break-in possibly arranged by his predecessor, now a member of an environmental group. Jade ends up tracing him to a seedy motel where one of the company directors is murdered. Jade and the employee go on the run while a local constable Mweli and Jade's former lover, David, investigate. Jassy does a nice job of keeping the reader guessing who are the good guys and bad guys, including an appearance of Jade's mercenary friend, Robbie. Suspenseful, recommended. 4.5 stars.

I think this series gets better with every book, and would give this a 4.5 stars, if possible. Jade de Jong is hired by a futures trader to investigate the death of a base jumper, whose parachute fails during a jump of the tallest building in Sandton, Johannesburg. Jade finds that she worked for a not-for-profit enterprise, helping indigent natives reclaim lands taken away from them. One of those projects has completely disappeared, piquing Jade's interest. When the jumper's family starts dying or disappearing, Jade finds help from her ex-lover, Superintendent David Patel. Taut writing, good political commentary, and Jade is a strong and brave female protagonist, who delivers justice in her own unequivocal fashion.

PI Jade de Jong goes off on holiday with her beau, David Patel, only to be told David's estranged wife is carrying his child from a single relapse. Then, her quiet scuba instructor Amanda is murdered, who had been an air traffic controller previously. David is asked to help the local police investigate and he and Jade get in deep trouble when they uncover a nefarious plot by a businessman to ruin the coastline. Slow beginning, but tense moments as the plot thickens.

P.I. Jade de Jong is hired as a bodyguard by a woman, whose husband disappears from their home. As it turns out, he is the owner of strip clubs, who has been involved in human trafficking. Jade and is found tortured almost to death. The human smugglers are trapped in South Africa and trying to arrange passports to escape, resulting in the kidnapping of David Patel's (Jade's ex-lover) young son. Good taut plot about vengeance. Looking forward to reading book #3.

Jade de Jong, a private investigator and daughter of a police inspector, returns to Johannesburg to help a friend and protege of her father track down the killer of a seemingly senseless murder of a woman. Doggedly following leads, Jade discovers a pattern of killings and helps bring the perpetrators to justice. Compelling novel, read about in NY Times Book Review.

Exceptional, as always; thank you, Jassy Mackenzie. The Jade de Jong series (of which this is the fifth) has edged out the Scandinavians to become my favourite Crime writing. The stories are compelling and the South African settings beautifully depicted. Jade de Jong will have broad appeal to anyone interested in the crime writing genre. I can imagine these stories being the gateway to the genre for an entirely new generation of readers.

So, five stars: earned for the rich character portraits, the complexity of the plot, the unusual setting and the relentlessness pace of the action. An outstanding achievement.

This book is also notable to me because its the 100th Soho Crime thriller I've read. This is a terrific imprint...thank you, Soho Press.

While investigating a suspicious base-jumping death, PI Jade de Jong unravels the cover-up of an entire farming community's disappearance. Jade is all split-second, adrenaline fueled action; but the quietly determined survivor of the vanished community is the strong female character in this book. Her vulnerability as she struggles to keep herself and her son safe creates a tension that Jade's risky exploits can scarcely match. Author Jassy Mackenzie keeps the suspense building right up until the end and presents a scenario of world-wide sabotage that I hope remains purely fictional.

I received this book for free through the Goodreads First Reads program.

After ten years away, PI Jade de Jong returns to Johannesburg to take care of unfinished business and signs on to help the police solve an apparent hi-jacking/murder case. Being home gives her the chance to renew a special friendship but also brings back memories of her police commissioner father and his suspicious death. As the multiple cases converge tables turn, good guys do bad, bad guys do good, and a lead suspect's involvement is questionable right up until the very end. In Random Violence Jassy Mackenzie keeps all these elements in the air while she fills us in on Jade's back-story. I feel I got a full introduction to spunky Jade de Jong in this first book of the series.

Pure pleasure to read. Jassy Mackenzie delivers an intelligent, fast paced and utterly intriguing mystery set in Johannesburg, South Africa. There are twists and turns that make for a wild ride. I thoroughly enjoyed it and will be on the lookout for more of Mackenzie's work. Definitely recommended.½

This thriller provides excellent suspense, character development, clues, plot and South African setting.

Mackenzie thrills again with the next in the Jade De Jong series. Jade, a private detective has recently returned from self-exile in England after needing time to get her head together following her last caper.
She immediately falls back in not only with the criminal underworld informants she had cultivated, but also into a semi-partnership with police detective David Patel. Hoping to stay close to Patel in order to foster a romantic relationship, they find themselves at loggerheads, especially when he admits that he has married and had a child since her absence. The fact that his wife and he are separated only seems to open more wounds for the couple.
Her arrival back in Johannesburg is also timed for the release of a hardened criminal that Jade believes was involved in the death of her father—a police commander whose death was set up to look like a simple auto accident—a decade previously. Along with helping Patel solve a possible home invasion style murder that leads to a much more complicated case with multiple victims and a vicious gang of murderers, Jade has her hands full keeping Patel’s new commander off his back as well as keeping from him the knowledge that she has already shot and killed a notorious thug with a gun she was not supposed to have been carrying.
All of this mayhem helps complicate a simple plot. One that is a simple P.I. out does the police at their own game, figures out the bad guy first, girl gets guy in a happy ending. At least the murders and car chases keep us entertained enough to stay interested.
Not quite a page turner, but remarkable nevertheless as the reader is held spell bound by the author’s interpretation of South Africa, the rhythms of her cities, and their cry for help.

Mackenzie thrills again with the next in the Jade De Jong series. Jade, a private detective has recently returned from self-exile in England after needing time to get her head together following her last caper.
She immediately falls back in not only with the criminal underworld informants she had cultivated, but also into a semi-partnership with police detective David Patel. Hoping to stay close to Patel in order to foster a romantic relationship, they find themselves at loggerheads, especially when he admits that he has married and had a child since her absence. The fact that his wife and he are separated only seems to open more wounds for the couple.
Her arrival back in Johannesburg is also timed for the release of a hardened criminal that Jade believes was involved in the death of her father—a police commander whose death was set up to look like a simple auto accident—a decade previously. Along with helping Patel solve a possible home invasion style murder that leads to a much more complicated case with multiple victims and a vicious gang of murderers, Jade has her hands full keeping Patel’s new commander off his back as well as keeping from him the knowledge that she has already shot and killed a notorious thug with a gun she was not supposed to have been carrying.
All of this mayhem helps complicate a simple plot. One that is a simple P.I. out does the police at their own game, figures out the bad guy first, girl gets guy in a happy ending. At least the murders and car chases keep us entertained enough to stay interested.
Not quite a page turner, but remarkable nevertheless as the reader is held spell bound by the author’s interpretation of South Africa, the rhythms of her cities, and their cry for help.

Mackenzie thrills again with the next in the Jade De Jong series. Jade, a private detective has recently returned from self-exile in England after needing time to get her head together following her last caper.
She immediately falls back in not only with the criminal underworld informants she had cultivated, but also into a semi-partnership with police detective David Patel. Hoping to stay close to Patel in order to foster a romantic relationship, they find themselves at loggerheads, especially when he admits that he has married and had a child since her absence. The fact that his wife and he are separated only seems to open more wounds for the couple.
Her arrival back in Johannesburg is also timed for the release of a hardened criminal that Jade believes was involved in the death of her father—a police commander whose death was set up to look like a simple auto accident—a decade previously. Along with helping Patel solve a possible home invasion style murder that leads to a much more complicated case with multiple victims and a vicious gang of murderers, Jade has her hands full keeping Patel’s new commander off his back as well as keeping from him the knowledge that she has already shot and killed a notorious thug with a gun she was not supposed to have been carrying.
All of this mayhem helps complicate a simple plot. One that is a simple P.I. out does the police at their own game, figures out the bad guy first, girl gets guy in a happy ending. At least the murders and car chases keep us entertained enough to stay interested.
Not quite a page turner, but remarkable nevertheless as the reader is held spell bound by the author’s interpretation of South Africa, the rhythms of her cities, and their cry for help.

During a raid on a brothel in the London suburbs, the Human Trafficking team of Scotland Yard, unearth a nest of young teenage girls from South Africa. By following a lead from a seriously beaten young girl as to a friend that was abducted and sold into private slavery the British police engage in a joint operation with their counter-parts in Johannesburg.
Mackenzie, a journalist living is South Africa, has concocted a fine thriller featuring private investigator/bodyguard Jade De Jong. Recently out of her on again off again relationship with police detective, David Patel, Jade takes what looks to be a cushy assignment watching over Pamela Jordaan, whose husband has disappeared. However when within the first hour of driving he charge an attempt is made on Pamela’s life Jade discovers that she is in for long hard haul. Pamela’s husband, a brothel owner and trafficker in people, “the third most lucrative criminal activity in the world” has many enemies. When they discover his maimed and tortured body and his daughter, who was also involved in the ‘family business’, is discovered missing Jade teams back up, in and out of bed, with Patel to discover who was responsible for shipping these young girls out to parts unknown.
Other mysterious forces are at work as the back story builds solidly to catch up with the flow of the human traffic and Mackenzie does a grand job of guiding us expertly through this dangerous world and then dropping us in the middle of mix in an effort to gather clues, along with the police investigators, to find the missing heiress of the Jo’burg porn world and discover which of the players are lying as we are left twisting and grasping at straws as the novel explodes in the final few pages.
This, not to be missed debut novel, will entertain, enthrall and enlighten and all at lightning speed.

Received this from Goodreads. I was not familiar with this author before, but after reading this book, I'll definitely read the first 3 books of the series. Great, fast-moving mystery. Fun main character. Interesting to read about a place as different as South Africa.

As usual, I received this book via a GoodReads giveaway and therefore paid nothing for it. Despite that very kind consideration by the publisher, I give my candid opinions below.

Placing this book in a tidy nutshell, this is a classic 'who-dun-it' set in South Africa. A woman is dead, ostensibly killed in a base jumping accident. The worried boyfriend has engaged the services of the esteemed Jade to find the real killer before the cops come along and pin it on him.

The setting adds somewhat to the novel as we get a small smattering of local color and culture one wouldn't expect in a more western-focused novel. Our author does a great job of misdirection and the ending is anything but the typical. I'm not a particularly regular reader of this genre but this veered off in a direction I didn't really expect at the outset. Mackenzie's rendering of character is vivid and her descriptions of violence or wonderfully graphic, though tasteful and used only when necessary.

The downside here is that at times her novel seems a bit preachy and struggles to make a political point. While I agree at least in part with her assertions, the tactic she uses is at times overly blunt-force.

On the whole, for fans of the suspense genre, this is a reasonably amusing series. The unique geography sets the book apart from most and the storyline doesn't fall into the usual predictable track. This is no Agatha Christie, but it's a fair start towards that standard.

I like this series by Jassy Mackenzie and recommend that the books be read in order to give a better understanding of the protaganist. I also enjoy reading and learning about present day South Africa. Looking forward the 4th book.

Jade de Jong is a heroine to cherish: tough, passionate, and packed with enough flaws to keep her interesting.

This is a book that other books before it, but I had n problem reading it as a stand alone and was able to jump right in and understand what was going go. It is simply a race of time to find out what was going on. A thriller, mystery that had me turning pages to find out the cause of all the happening s and why.... I enjoyed this read very much and might even look for the other books to go with it.
I received this book via good reads as a first time reader and certainly am glad of the opportunity.

Got a pre-release ARC (Advance Uncopyedited Edition) of Pale Horses by Jassy Mackenzie...
Great mystery premise, devious, twisty, thought it should have been a 'great read'...had expected to like the book. The first several chapters seemed to be going along pretty good, but, then the writing became overly wordy, too adjecitive'y and stilted--got barely a 100 pages into the book and just couldn't 'take it' any more, couldn't stand the writing style, ugh...skipped to last few pages to see what the ending might possibly be... Surprised--the ending was strong, good. No, I wouldn't recommend this book.

Pale Horses... 5 stars

What can I say about my love for this series?
I love the feisty, pigheaded, smart, sassy & extreme hot sauce lovin Jade De Jong.
This is book 4 in a series that just keeps getting better and better.
Each book is a wealth of information on something I found that I knew nothing About, South Africa!
I enjoy the language which trips around your mouth tying your tongue in knots and the names of some of the weird and wonderful foods like Boerewors, which is a sausage & Biltong, a type of cured meat.

My heart broke for Jade in the 3d book “The Fallen” after she had booked a scuba diving Holiday In Saint Lucia with her on again, off again married but separated boyfriend Chief Superintendent David Patel, hoping to rekindle some of the romance, when he drops the bomb of his "estranged" wife's pregnancy! Then along comes smart, cute Environmentalist Craig Niewoudt, who I thought for sure would catch Jade’s heart, that is until a brutally murdered dive instructors body is found and then with a cliffhanger ending that nearly gave me a heart attack when… oops! You’ll just have to read that book to find out what happened!

Alrighty then! “Pale Horses” the title of which took until p.212 to finally learn the meaning of. And it most definitely does fit the subject matter…
Jade is nursing her bruised heart when she gets what she thinks is a simple case about base jumper Sonet Meintjies, who’s chute didn't open in a jump, leaving her to die and the friend who jumped with her hires P.I. Jade to find answers as to exactly what happened.
What she discovers is a very large, wealthy & nasty company, who under
the guise of a charity that Sonet worked for is pretending to help a small community farm in Limpopo with disease resistant seeds. But when people on this farm start to die horribly and disappear along with their livestock, Jade goes after the bad guys with gun in hand.
What she finds out is that Sonet and her siblings had found damaging information against this company and then they too, start to die horribly and disappear...
Jade soon realizes she has stepped off into a huge and very ugly conspiracy of a potentially global crime.
This is another chilling, thrilling and all to real page turner that could be ripped straight from the headlines of any paper in any country in the world.
Jassy Mackenzie has done it once again, this book will keep you up into the wee hours turning pages & biting your nails!
I loved the Magdalena Eckhardt “bits” at the beginning and the end, they were wonderful!

Good African private eye

Mackenzie seems to have achieved some sort of balance between law-upholding and vigilantism with Jade. Much better in that regard that than the first two. Unlike previous books in the series, it had an entirely unnecessary and completely stupid cliff-hanger ending. Seriously, whether a minor character lives or dies needs to be left in doubt? That alone diminishes its rating for me.

Mystery/thriller readers should enjoy this but I'm a mite irritated. Still, I'll read #4.

A thrilling crime thriller set in South Africa, which is depicted as a lawless place. Once the situation is set up (a couple chapters), things just keep on happening.

The protagonist Jade is likable, intelligent, and brave. The villains are all sorts of bad, and there are plenty of them. The plot is full of complications. I'm not going to say more about that so I won't give anything away.

There are no boring parts, and no extra parts. Backstory and Jade's life story are integrated in the narrative; so is information about South Africa.

I found Jade's relationship with the authorities a little implausible.

If you want a rainy day's entertainment, you really couldn't do better than this book.½