Taylor Stevens: The Informationist

In her first novel in her Vanessa Michael Munroe series, Taylor Stevens has Michael going back to Africa where she was created into the woman she is now:

Vanessa Michael Munroe deals in information. She has the ability to get information that no one else is able to obtain and she goes through some extreme measures to get it. Michael has the ability to adapt, be who people need her to be in order to achieve the information required. You would never know Michael was there unless she wanted you to know. When she is approached by a an oil tycoon to find his daughter who has gone missing in Africa, Michael is forced to return to the place where she was tormented, abused and reshaped into the women she is today. The places where Michael needs to go are just as wild and dangerous as all the years ago when she escaped, but it is time to put certain demons to rest in Africa before they have the chance to kill her first.

I found that this book was not an easy read and I do not believe it was written to be one. This is not only because of the dark elements within this book but also you need to pay attention to all the events happening in order to follow Michael's thought process but also the events that are unwinding and where the clues lead next. You never really know throughout the book who can be trusted and who is Michael's ally or foe or both at times, this keeps you guess with all her relationships in the book which means to me that this book was the perfect mix of mystery and thrills. Further, I liked that Stevens was not afraid to take the readers to Michael's dark past to see how she was created into the woman she is today.

With this book you either like Michael or not and this will probably be the deciding factor as to whether you will enjoy this book or not. Michael has such a dark history that it is amazing that she is able to function in regular life many people would not have has the strength to carry on. Michael is a complete chameleon and it was interesting to watch her transform herself to fit not only in to different culture and situation but also the stereotypes that people have. You can see that she used this ability to be useful to the rebels in Africa and how she was able to survive the torture she endured.

What an ending, it had me on the edge of my seat even though some aspects were a little predictable. This is a great debut novel and first in a series. This book, for me was well thought out and written so much so that it appeared like Stevens had been writing for years and could outshine some big name authors. I cannot say how much I enjoyed this novel and Michael and I would definitely read the next book in this series. Bravo Stevens.

Enjoy!!!

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