This is the first book with the protagonist Vanessa Michael Munroe, a woman paid large sums of money to gather information from just about anywhere in the world.

Because Taylor Stevens has lived in many places around the globe, she is able to lend a richness to the settings that few of us could pull off. This story takes place in the African country of Equatorial Guinea, a tiny mainland country with an even smaller island in the Atlantic.

Munroe spent several years living in EquaGuinea, learning many forms of hand to hand combat, just to keep herself alive, both at the time and in the current story. Her goal is to avoid fighting, but trouble often seeks her out, especially throughout this story.

It is a book that pushed me beyond my allotted reading time several nights. Stevens’ plotting, setting, descriptions, and action are first class.

Warning: this is not a book for weaklings. Descriptions of running through the jungle in 150 degree heat index will wear you out.

Mike Lawrence