Stevens, Taylor. The Informationist

Vanessa Monroe, or Michael as she is known by her clients,  is a young woman who has had a tough life.  Leaving her missionary parents at the age of fourteen and living by her wits among gun runners in Africa, Michael developed the skills she needed to find out useful information, to defend herself, and to use her abilities to sell this information and make a comfortable, if sometimes dangerous living for herself.  When she takes on an unusual but lucrative assignment, to find out what happened to an oil executive’s daughter who disappeared in Africa four years earlier, she nearly finds herself in over her head.  As her past catches up with her, Michael works frantically to find the missing girl while keeping herself safe from enemies, both old and new.

This thriller has been a long time coming.  It features a brilliant and fearless protagonist who also happens to be a young woman.  The pacing is excellent, the story compelling, the setting is exotic, and the character is fully developed.  Highly recommended for suspense fiction fans looking for something a little different.