Pale Horses, the fourth book in Jassy Mackenzie's Jade de Jong series, starts with a simple request. Victor Theron asks Jade, a South African private investigator, to look into the death of his fellow base jumper, Sonet Meintjies, after Sonet's parachute fails to open during a jump from a skyscraper. Because Victor had packed the parachute, he fears he'll be accused of killing Sonet.
When Jade investigates, she learns about a farm community that Sonet had helped to flourish--but which has since mysteriously disappeared. There's no trace of the people nor the animals; the buildings have been torn down. The story unfolds slowly at first, but once Jade discovers the farm's desolate remains and red streaks that look suspiciously like blood baked dry on the rocks, Pale Horses gains a sense of dread.
A subplot involving a woman named Ntombi, forced by an unknown employer to aid a killer, is also effective. Her desperation and terror are palpable, and a scene in which she risks her life to get a message to Jade is heart-pounding. The romantic triangle involving Jade, police superintendent David Patel and his wife, Naisha, is less absorbing. Jade's reactions make her seem petty at times, while Naisha's cold, calculating behavior is too easy a justification for Patel's adulterous affair. Thankfully, this storyline takes a backseat to the main plot, which is thought-provoking and disturbing because it seems entirely possible in a greedy, changing world. --Elyse Dinh-McCrillis, writer/editor blogging at Pop Culture Nerd.