"In all the modern crime fiction I've read," Mackenzie says, "I've never met a heroine who is a true renegade. None of the female lead characters break the rules in the way that Jack Reacher or Joe Pike do. So I decided to create a maverick heroine to operate in this dangerous and lawless country."

Her inspiration for the novel came largely from her surroundings and the "dreadful stories" she read about on a daily basis. One in particular, the brutal hijacking and murder of man who was then burned almost beyond recognition in the trunk of his own car, left her feeling anxious and troubled, wondering if she herself would ever be a victim of such violence. When it was discovered that the dead man was the target of a murder for hire -- financed by his wife -- Mackenzie felt her creative gears begin to turn.

"I started to realize," she says, "how very easy it would be in a country with a crime rate as high as ours -- like hiding a tree in the forest -- to make a targeted crime appear random."

Mackenzie couldn't have chosen a better subject to write about. Crime thrillers are the hottest new genre in the South African market, which boasts several well established authors as well as a wealth of emerging talent.

Like Jassy Mackenzie.

"Johannesburg is a great place for a crime writer to live," she says. "There's really no excuse for writer's block. Just turn on the radio and listen to the daily news and you'll have enough ideas for ten books."

Despite this, Mackenzie says she's proud to live in South Africa, which she calls "a wonderful country full of promise and opportunity."

"Don't be scared!" she continues. "The people are incredibly friendly, the climate is awesome, it's a great holiday destination, and I'd like to encourage everyone to include South Africa in their travel plans."

And if you aren't rushing out to make that reservation just yet, why not pick up a copy of Random Violence and read about the darker side of a country Jassy Mackenzie knows quite well. You can find an excerpt on her website at www.jassymackenzie.com.

Random Violence is published by Umuzi, an imprint of Random House.

Winner of the AMPAS Nicholl Award for screenwriting, ITW contributing editor Robert Gregory Browne spent over a decade riding the Hollywood roller coaster before severe motion sickness forced him to jump the track and finally write the novel he'd always been threatening to write.  That novel, a thriller called KISS HER GOODBYE, was bought by St. Martin's Press and is the first of four books he's writing for St. Martin's, Pan Macmillan and Droemer Knaur.  His second thriller, WHISPER IN THE DARK, was released in May in the UK and is due for release in the US in February of 2009.