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The Informationist

by Taylor Stevens
Crown Pub. Group. Mar. 2011. 304p. ISBN 9780307717092. $23; eISBN 9780307717115. CD: Random Audio.
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Born in Africa of missionary parents and a gunrunner at age 14, Vanessa Monroe now trades in information for CEOs, heads of state, and the like. Then a Texas oil billionaire asks her to return to Africa and find his lost daughter. This thriller is an in-house favorite at Crown, which has signed the author for a two-book deal and is highlighting her unusual background: she was raised in a religious cult whose members scorned education and burned her writings. Lots of foreign rights sales and a reading group guide.
In Stevens's debut novel, Vanessa Munroe's current case might be her last. Having spent her life distancing herself from her sordid childhood in Africa, Munroe has based her career on the skills she acquired there. She is an informationist and linguist with the ability to blend into any country and obtain the knowledge sought by her high-paying clients. Her current client is a distraught father whose daughter, Emily, vanished four years ago in Africa. After Emily's safari group finished its tour, she decided to stay on to travel more with two men she met on the tour. Of the three, only one returned. Emily disappeared, and the last man who saw her now resides in a mental institution. Munroe is intrigued by what previous investigators might have missed, but she is unprepared for what awaits her in Africa.
VERDICT Stevens has penned a fast-paced, gripping, edgy mystery with a heroine whom even Lisbeth Salander would admire. Recommended for all contemporary thriller fiction fans who like thrillers similar to The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 11/1/10.]—Susan O. Moritz, Montgomery Cty. P.L., MD
Reviewed by Susan O. Moritz , Nov 01, 2010
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