Jassy Mackenzie is from a family where books weren't just more important than television, they were so important that television was banned from the house.Jassy was born in Zimbabwe and moved to South Africa when she was eight years old. She is now 40, and lives in the northern suburbs of Johannesburg with her partner Dion, two horses and two cats. She was inspired to write her first novel, Random Violence, after getting hijacked at gunpoint in her own driveway.She has a day job - editing a hair and beauty magazine - but is lucky enough to work from home, so instead of sitting in traffic for hours every day, she stays in bed and writes.Random Violence, which introduced the renegade PI Jade de Jong, was shortlisted for Best First Book in the Commonwealth Writers' Prize, Africa region, and received starred reviews from Publishers Weekly and Library Journal. Her second book, My Brother's Keeper, (not yet available in the USA) was shortlisted for Best First Novel - Paperback Original in the International Thriller Awards. Jassy's third book, Stolen Lives, the second in the Jade de Jong series, will be published in April 2011. She is currently hard at work on book number four, The Fallen.