Taylor Stevens: The Mask - A Vanessa Michael Munroe Novel #5

The return of The Informationist
Taylor Stevens has scored again by bringing back Vanessa "Michael" Munroe, one of the most complex, violent but compelling characters in modern adrenaline-filled action packed adventure fiction, in a similar role to her outstanding debut novel "The Informationist". Michael is tall and slim and can become androgynous, changing her sex to survive in different environments, especially where females are treated as second class citizens.

"Michael" has taken time healing from a Somali hijacking and an attack that left her struggling for her life. She rejoins her lover Miles Bradford in Japan where he is working as a security consultant for a hi-tech firm trying to find the source of industrial espionage leaks. For a time Michael finds peace in their relationship but is soon anxious to get back into action.

Before that happens Miles is arrested for the murder of an employee of the firm using his readily identifiable Texan belt. This is clearly the action of the person responsible for the leaks but he cannot combat the accusations because he is faced with the almost impenetrable Japanese homicide police system which almost guarantees conviction and a harsh prison sentence. Fortunately Miles has sub-contracted Michael (in her male guise) to take over his work which allows her access to the facility. Another foreigner is not welcomed by most of the staff and superiors and this, combined with the Japanese social and business environment, makes it very difficult to track down the killer.

"Michael" sets about finding the killer through intense research and checking things that may have been overlooked (the Informationist role). Along the way she meets up violently with many who want to prevent her finding the truth and displays the survival skills that have kept her alive so many times. She also does battle with a very different cultural background of Japanese life where things are never what they seem to be on the surface.

Well done Taylor Stevens, you have succeeded in giving us another unique adrenaline filled episode in the life of Michael Munroe - one of my favourite fictional female "kick ass" characters in modern thrillers. While this book can be read as a standalone I would strongly recommend visiting "The Informationist" first to get more information about the complex and violent leading character. If you do this I am sure that you will end up reading the other 4 books in the series.

Taylor Stevens: The Catch

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Vanessa "Michael" Munroe at her/his best
This is #4 in Taylor Stevens' excellent series about Vanessa "Michael" Munroe, one of the most complex, violent but compelling characters in modern adrenaline-filled action packed adventure fiction. This is probably one of the best in the series and may make it into my list of best reads for 2014.

To understand this book you really need to know more about "Michael". In her early life in east Africa, Vanessa "Michael" Munroe experienced extreme violence which has left her with demons but with violent survival skills second to none. She is a polyglot who speaks many languages and quickly picks up others, is extremely intelligent and has an almost eidetic memory. Michael is tall and slim and can become androgynous, changing her sex to survive in different environments, especially where females are treated as second class citizens.

IMHO Michael's complex and dangerous character eclipses that of  Stieg Larsson's Lisbeth Salander. I also think she has many of the self preservation instincts of Maya, (aka Jet) Russell Blake's kick-ass ex Mossad female protagonist.

After the stresses of  the "THE DOLL MAKER" when she survives kidnapping by a notorious and viscous sex trafficker, Michael looks for a place for time-out. While others would choose popular holiday destinations, Michael chooses Djibouti near the Horn of Africa, next to war torn Somalia in the south. For six months Djibouti provides her with a comforting chaos that only a person brought up in the Third World would understand. To mould into the local culture Michael lives as a man, learns the local languages and maneuvers himself into a group of white security mercenaries helping them to negotiate the language, customs and intricacies of the local community. When one of the group is injured the leader of the group invites her to join them on guard duty on a ship sailing through Pirate Alley towards Mombasa.

Not long into the voyage Michael discovers that the ship is running guns and shortly afterwards the ship is attacked by pirates off the Somali coast. During the attack her colleagues are captured but Munroe escapes, taking the injured captain with her to Mombasa in one of the attackers' boats. It soon becomes clear to her that while the pirates have captured the boat for ransom, they were really after the Captain. Michael hides him in a small private hospital while she works out her next move.

She decides that the best way forward is to hijack the ship from the pirates to release her colleagues and put pressure on negotiations with the unknown parties who are seeking the Captain. To do this Michael has to merge into the local community, learn Swahili and explore the dark world of investment in piracy and the intricacies of Third World "hawaladar" for investment and money transfers. This becomes harder when she is attacked and seriously injured by local thugs hired to find the Captain.

This time Stevens allows us to see Michael's vulnerability and capacity to operate in an environment when things seem to be out of her control. This is high-octane stuff that is not for the faint hearted. In contrast to many thriller writers Stevens writes long sentences with multiple actions, but they work well to push the action along and keep you in the picture. This time the action may be slightly less over-the-top than her previous books but for once she shows us a more human side to Michael, but also a determination that never wavers.

Taylor Stevens has a very different background to most successful thriller writers. She grew up in a cult commune and forced to beg in the streets for the cult. Her education was deliberately limited. Her success in escaping that background and becoming a successful published author is mindboggling.

Before reading this book I would recommend that you should read a excellent novella THE VESSEL released to promote this book. This will give those who have never read any books in the series an insight into the complex character of Vanessa "Michael" Munroe. It will also give those who read THE DOLL more information about how Michael had took her revenge on the "man with the dog".

While there are a few blips in the plot that concerned me, overall this is top quality high octane stuff and is highly recommended to discerning followers of action adventure thrillers.

Taylor Stevens: The Vessel

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The Doll - the missing link
Vanessa "Michael" Munroe is one of the most complex, violent but compelling characters in modern adrenaline-filled action packed adventure fiction. In this novella Taylor Stevens gives those who have never experienced Michael the chance to see her in action. It also allows Stevens to fill in an unfinished link at the end of THE DOLL about how Michael had taken her revenge on the "man with the dog".

In her early life in east Africa, Vanessa "Michael" Munroe experienced extreme violence which has left her with demons but with violent survival skills second to none. She is a polyglot who speaks many languages and quickly picks up others. Michael is tall and slim and can become androgynous, changing her sex to survive in different environments, especially where females are treated as second class citizens.

This novella gives you a great introduction to this complex character and a preview of THE CATCH. I have read and really enjoyed an advanced copy of that book and highly recommend it, especially as it shows a more vulnerable Michael, operating again in third world countries in Africa.

The novella includes a conversation with the author which tells a lot more about the formation of the character and suggests to newcomers that they read the novella, then THE CATCH and then go back and read the rest in order. It also tells you more about how the author grew up as child labour in a cult commune, was made to beg in the streets and her education was limited. Her success in escaping that background and becoming a successful published author is especially praiseworthy.

I have read a lot of unsatisfying novellas that have been written just to promote an upcoming book. This one is different because it is so well written and gives new readers an introduction to the series and old readers some information that was deliberately missed from the previous book.

Taylor Stevens: The Doll

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Remarkable, exciting and harrowing thriller
This is a remarkable, exciting but harrowing thriller that is not for the weak at heart. This is the third book by Taylor Stevens featuring Vanessa "Michael" Munroe, a dangerous loner who bears emotional and physical scars from her youth, reminiscent of Stieg Larsson's Lisbeth Salander.  Michael's  horrific past gives her a potential for  ferocity and violence to overcome her enemies. She's a super-intelligent and dangerous character who is skilled in martial arts, and always carries a knife. She has an eidetic memory and speaks multiple languages.  

After a period of reasonable contentment with her lover and business associate Miles Bradford, things spiral out of Michael's control. Bradford looks out of the window one day and is powerless when he sees Michael collapse next to her motor cycle and is quickly spirited away in an ambulance. Then follows a nightmare where Michael wakes up in a cell in Croatia under the control of the "The Doll Maker" - a notorious and viscous sex trafficker. 

His name stems from an obsession with a huge collection of life-like porcelain dolls, hand-painted and air-brushed, perfectly clothed with waxen hair, curled and styled - each doll in perfect condition. "Perfection, they have no flaws, only beauty. ... they bring me joy." 

Paradoxically "The Doll Maker" cashes in on the value of the female body and traffics kidnapped human cargo across the globe to continuing misery as sex slaves. His richest and most important clients ask for the most beautiful and valuable - untouched and doll-like. Michael is forced to transport an extremely valuable girl across Europe and deliver her in pristine condition. The Doll Maker pulls Michael's strings to make her co-operate by capturing and torturing a person who is nearest and dearest to her.

Stevens keeps the suspense high all the way, with constant action, a huge body count, and many kidnappings and violence. It is a roller coaster of a ride that taxes all of Michael's strategic and violent strengths.

I really enjoyed "The Informationist" which introduced us to Michael but was a bit disappointed with "The Innocent" that touched on the kind of extreme religious cult where Taylor Stevens grew up. "The Doll" takes us back to the original Michael who is as deadly as any of the male fictional heroes you will read and also has a really dark side that she has to fight to keep under control.

I highly recommend this book for those who like to read intelligent but violent thrillers.

NOTE: The Amazon link is to the US version. If you live in Australia you may have to search by title as your version may have a different ASIN number.

Taylor Stevens: The Innocent

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Vanessa "Michael" Munroe faces her demons again
In the Informationalist. Taylor Stevens introduced us to Vanessa "Michael" Munroe, a dangerous loner who bears emotional and physical scars from her youth, reminiscent of Stieg Larsson's Lisbeth Salander.  Michael's  horrific past gives her a potential of ferocity to overcome her enemies. She's a great character who speaks multiple languages, skilled in martial arts, and always caries a knife.

In this sequel we see more of the scars to Michael's personality, and the dangers lurking so close to the surface. She is commissioned by some of her "friends" to rescue a teenager from a religious cult who have kidnapped her from her natural parents and immersed her in religious, social, mental and physical abuse. Michael has to face up to a different form of child abuse which challenges her mental and physical well-being.

The story is built on the personal experiences of the author, Taylor Stevens, who was brought up in a religious cult, raised in communes around the globe, denied an education beyond sixth grade and spent most of her adolescence begging on the streets, or caring for commune children. She only broke free of the commune in her early twenties. Her emergence as a major author is a fantastic achievement.

Given the background this book, it is not an easy or comfortable read and is not as good as the original in the series. The book shows the undoubted skills of the author and further develops the demons in the lead character.

Despite this it left me waiting for more adventures of Vanessa Michael Munroe to be released, hopefully on more straightforward, more adventurous and less personally emotional issues.

Taylor Stevens: The Informationist

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A important new female thriller hero

Vanessa "Michael" Munroe is a dangerous loner who bears emotional and physical scars from her youth, reminiscent of Stieg Larsson's Lisbeth Salander.  "Michael" is an important new female thriller hero with a history of major emotional and physical scars, which builds her into a powerful protagonist for good and evil.

Michael's  horrific past gives her a potential of ferocity to overcome her enemies. She's a great character who speaks multiple languages, skilled in martial arts, and always caries a knife.

She uses her advanced IT skills as an informationist consultant to a powerful security company, and her physical skills to battle the security challenges she has to confront. Similar to Salander she does not shrink from earning large, and sometimes illegal, returns from her adventures.

It is clear that the author has built a character that can support a number of action packed and emotional sequels. This debut novel by Taylor Stevens was one of the best books I read in 2011 (prior to getting a Kindle) and left me waiting for more adventures of Vanessa Michael Munroe to be released.