The Informationist by Taylor Stevens
Official Summary: “Vanessa “Michael” Munroe deals in information—expensive information—working for corporations, heads of state, private clients, and anyone else who can pay for her unique brand of expertise. Born to missionary parents in lawless central Africa, Munroe took up with an infamous gunrunner and his mercenary crew when she was just fourteen. As his protégé, she earned the respect of the jungle’s most dangerous men, cultivating her own reputation for years until something sent her running. After almost a decade building a new life and lucrative career from her home base in Dallas, she’s never looked back.
Until now.
A Texas oil billionaire has hired her to find his daughter who vanished in Africa four years ago. It’s not her usual line of work, but she can’t resist the challenge. Pulled deep into the mystery of the missing girl, Munroe finds herself back in the lands of her childhood, betrayed, cut off from civilization, and left for dead. If she has any hope of escaping the jungle and the demons that drive her, she must come face-to-face with the past that she’s tried for so long to forget.
Gripping, ingenious, and impeccably paced, The Informationist marks the arrival of a thrilling new talent.”
The Informationist by Taylor Stevens is clearly in the same vein as many other recent books that have a strong female protagonist who can take care of herself in any situation. It tells the story of Vanessa Munroe, who escaped a traumatic childhood to become an information mercenary traveling the world to conduct research and write reports for her clients. Having just finished an assignment, she is reluctant to take on another, but the money offered to find the daughter of a rich oil executive is just too good to turn down. The assignment takes her back to the continent of her childhood, bringing with it all the painful memories and lost personal connections that she has turned her back on for so many years.
Stevens never shies away from the violence of Munroe’s past or that of her present employment, making for a book that is grittier and darker than the average mystery novel. Munroe herself fits with the current trend in mysteries and thrillers of strong, independent and remote female protagonists. While she does have a network of associates, and even perhaps friends, she works hard to be free from any strong personal ties and moves around the globe regularly for jobs rather than settling in any one location. The details of Munroe’s childhood, which explain much of her attitude, are slowly revealed over the course of the novel and give readers a better sense of how Munroe reached this point in her life. The plot itself has the twists and turns that one traditionally finds in the genre and it will legitimately keep readers guessing on a number of fronts until the very end.
Despite the complicated and surprising plot, this book didn’t quite hold up for me. While it kept me turning pages, several points in the story didn’t quite ring true and overall I think it suffered from comparisons to Steig Larsson’s Millenium books, which I found to be the superior thrillers. Having said that, I think that readers who are interested in the story’s exotic locales and intense protagonist will find the story gripping and will be kept guessing until the end.
Check it Out: The Informationist is available now as is the second book about Vanessa Munroe, The Innocent.
Read Alike: With its tough and distant female protagonist, many have compared The Informationist to Stieg Larsson’s Girl with the Dragon Tattoo trilogy and those who like this book would undoubtedly like that series, perhaps even better. For those looking for more similar books, I would recommend Red Wolf by Liza Marklund or The Ice Princess by Camilla Läckberg.
