The Mask

April 20, 2015
Stevens’s underwhelming fifth Vanessa Michael Munroe thriller (after 2013’s The Doll) takes the information broker to Osaka, Japan, where her coworker and best friend, Miles Bradford, has taken a job to uncover a corporate spy at a company called ALTEQ-Bio. Munroe can enjoy time by herself while he works, Bradford maintains, though she resents that he doesn’t include her in his effort to ferret out the spy. Munroe has an uneasy feeling when Bradford brings her to the ALTEQ-Bio office one day, shortly before he’s arrested for murder. Munroe kicks into high action, determined to find out who framed Bradford. Her propensity for rage remains a believable part of this series as she mixes her intelligence with her extreme martial arts skills. The fight scenes, though well choreographed, seem at times like an afterthought, thrown in when the plot frequently stalls. The Japanese setting is under utilized in a slow-grinding story that could be set anywhere. Agent: Anne Hawkins, John Hawkins & Associates.

April 15, 2015
Stevens sends the gritty, tough, and very deadly Vanessa Michael Munroe to Japan, where she settles a score, piling up bodies in the process. Munroe's in love, but that doesn't mean she's grown soft. Her specialties-the ability to pass as either a man or a woman; superior fighting skills; an instinctual ability to curate information; almost mythic language abilities-come in handy when her lover, Miles Bradford, is jailed on a bogus charge of murder. Not one to simply hire a lawyer and walk away in a country where the accused have few rights, Munroe works her way deep into the Japanese company that hired Bradford as a security consultant to uncover the motive and mastermind of the setup. Bradford's arrest sets the stage for Munroe to unleash her masculine side and return to the company on the pretense of finishing the job, and it doesn't hurt that she's picked up fluent Japanese during her short time there. Stevens (The Catch, 2014, etc.) puts her own unorthodox upbringing as part of an international cult to good use as she once again explores a side of society that few see. Some previous Munroe novels have played out against the backdrop of less affluent countries in both Africa and South America, where the protagonist's no-holds-barred style of fighting sometimes goes unnoticed; by setting this story in a cutting-edge company in a highly developed country, Stevens presents new challenges for her lethal yet deeply troubled and larger-than-life heroine. Although slow to evolve, the action eventually revs up and the storyline grows more interesting as Munroe closes in on the real killer. Though the author eventually addresses this issue, it still takes a healthy suspension of disbelief to buy into the idea that a corporation worried about industrial espionage would allow another of Bradford's associates to take his place after his arrest. Although Stevens takes longer to develop the action than usual, any Munroe is better than none at all.

COPYRIGHT(2015) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

May 1, 2015
Killing machine Vanessa Michael Munroe returns for her fifth outing. Recovering from events in The Catch (2014) that left her near death, Munroe is looking forward to some downtime as she joins her boyfriend, Miles Bradford, in Japan, where he is on a top-secret security assignment. When things go haywire and Bradford is arrested for murder, Munroe risks her life to figure out the truth and rescue her lover (in a nice feminist twist to the genre). Unfamiliar with the customs and expectations of her new surroundings, Munroe, an intrepid informationist and multitalented risk-taker, manages to dodge the Japanese mafia and fight her way through a host of challenges, thank you very much. Stevens doesn't disappoint, filling the book with nonstop action, deception, and ramped-up tension. Readers will want to start at the beginning of the series to learn more about Munroe and how she became such a fierce and complex character.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)

Starred review from June 15, 2015

Stevens's new series entry (after The Catch) starts with a woman in love. Vanessa Michael Munroe reconnects with her lover Miles Bradford in Japan, where he is working as a security consultant. Bradford has been brought in to weed out a corporate spy. Despite Munroe's pleas, Bradford remains adamant that she can't help him in his current assignment, so she plays the dutiful girlfriend. But all that goes south when a woman is killed at the office and the murder weapon just happens to be Bradford's belt. He's arrested and Munroe rages at the knowledge that her boyfriend has been keeping secrets from her. Luckily, our heroine is used to channeling her rage. She will have to outhink, outfox, and outfight the forces that are determined to make sure Bradford is convicted of murder. VERDICT Stevens delivers nonstop action and some finally requited romance that will please series fans. Highly recommended for all thriller junkies who love unconventional protagonists such as Lisbeth Salander and Jason Bourne. [See Prepub Alert, 12/8/14.]--Susan Moritz, Silver Spring, MD

Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2015

In this latest from Barry Award winner Stevens, Vanessa Michael Munroe is persuaded by her lover Bradford to go to Japan for a modestly distracting case. Then Bradford is arrested for murder.

Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

June 15, 2015

Stevens's new series entry (after The Catch) starts with a woman in love. Vanessa Michael Munroe reconnects with her lover Miles Bradford in Japan, where he is working as a security consultant. Bradford has been brought in to weed out a corporate spy. Despite Munroe's pleas, Bradford remains adamant that she can't help him in his current assignment, so she plays the dutiful girlfriend. But all that goes south when a woman is killed at the office and the murder weapon just happens to be Bradford's belt. He's arrested and Munroe rages at the knowledge that her boyfriend has been keeping secrets from her. Luckily, our heroine is used to channeling her rage. She will have to outhink, outfox, and outfight the forces that are determined to make sure Bradford is convicted of murder. VERDICT Stevens delivers nonstop action and some finally requited romance that will please series fans. Highly recommended for all thriller junkies who love unconventional protagonists such as Lisbeth Salander and Jason Bourne. [See Prepub Alert, 12/8/14.]--Susan Moritz, Silver Spring, MD

Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.