Not a fan of this one at all.

I absolutely hated the main character and I keept thinking that the plot seemed really familiar. I could swear I've read this book before but it's too new for that to be true.

I found the ending completely unsatisfying and the romance angle to be completely out of left field, over dramatic, and annoying.


( )

Greatest disservice to this book would be to compare it to "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo".

True, both characters are female with special set of skills but that is where all similarities end. Lisbeth is not violent person in terms of uncontrollable rage - she behaves like an outcast but she is not self-destructive. As a matter of fact she is working very hard not to be in harms way and even if she gets herself in trouble she will try to find a workaround. She is pretty cold with exacting vengeance and she applies very simple math - me or them.

Vanessa on other hand is slightly more .... crazy. This woman has serious mental issues. The moment she starts tripping she only sees red - very much like berserkers of old. It does not matter what happens to her in that moment, she just moves in with whatever is at hand and wipes the floor with everyone (while collecting few "trophies" in process). And she is always playing with peoples minds to get them into fight because she enjoys that.

Both characters are damaged in terms of child traumas but unlike Lisbeth, Vanessa decided to leave her parents and roam the world where she did find the company of pretty messy people. And here we come to second point - Lisbeth is lone wolf, most of data collection (hacking etc) she does alone. She knows people but she needs to refund them for their services. Vanessa on the other hand relies on friends to assist her with issues at hand. And although Vanessa uses technology her main job is still hands-on espionage, break in and entry, standard detective work (interviews) and/or extraction of data by ... other means (again when she flips).

So in general, very similar but again completely different characters. And I love adventures of both. I enjoyed the first novel in Munroe series and will be reading more.

Highly recommended for all action and thriller aficionados. ( )

Vanessa Munroe comercia con la información de empresas, jefes de Estado, clientes privados y quien pueda pagar su insólito trabajo. Nacida en el centro de África, Munroe se formó con un traficante de armas, hasta que algo la obligó a huir y empezar una nueva vida sin mirar atrás. Hasta ahora.
De repente, un magnate del petróleo la contrata para encontrar a su hija, que lleva cuatro años desaparecida en África. Aunque no es su línea de trabajo, Munroe no puede resistirse al reto y vuelve al paisaje de su infancia. Sin embargo, para escapar de la selva y de los demonios que la persiguen, deberá enfrentarse a su propio pasado.

This was a well written book with a very good sense of place. The author made Africa feel so real. And coincidentally a place that I have no desire to visit at least the countries she writes about. The story was interesting and the outcome was different from what I expected. The characterization of the main character, Michael, was very rich. The other characters not so much as you didn't really know anyone else in any depth. I enjoyed watching her solve the mystery and do the informationist thing. I liked her mad skills. What held it back from more stars for me was a personal thing. I am not so fond of heroes/heroines who are so broken that they can't look on any bright side at all.

Still I am going to try the next in the series. ( )

I listened to the unabridged audio version of this book. I wish I had a map of Africa. Good story and I'm looking forward to the next one ( )