The Informationist

Last updated
The Informationist
The Informationist.jpg
First edition
Author Taylor Stevens
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
SeriesVanessa Michael Munroe
Genre Thriller novel
Publisher Crown Publishing Group
Publication date
2011
Media typePrint
ISBN 978-0307717092
Followed by The Innocent  

The Informationist, by Taylor Stevens, is the first novel in the Vanessa Michael Munroe series, about a young woman raised in Cameroon as the daughter of American missionaries. She has a life-changing experience at the age of 14 when she takes up with an infamous gunrunner and his mercenary crew. Later in life she becomes a dealer of information, sort of a private eye for the 21st century, where she works for governments and corporations dealing in the specialized information of Central Africa. [1]

Contents

The book has been translated into Italian, Spanish, Hebrew, Polish, Turkish and Dutch.

Reception

Reviews often compared Stevens's Vanessa Michael Munroe to Stieg Larsson's Lisbeth Salander, in part due to their "feral, take-no-prisoners attitude." [2] Booklist's Don Crinklaw noted that neither character is "a guy in a girl suit but not one to whimper in the corner, either." [3] Sarah Weinman, writing for the Los Angeles Times , said Munroe and Salander "are lone wolves who, if they ever had a chance to meet, might discover they are really part of the same hunting pack." [4]

In a starred review, Publishers Weekly called The Informationist a "blazingly brilliant debut." [2]

Crinklaw called the novel "intriguing," saying, "The maneuvers at the end are dazzling, worthy of patience with the puzzling middle, and a tad reminiscent of Sherlock Holmes’ matter of the Copper Beeches." [3]

Weinman further indicated that Stevens "writes with the confidence of one who knows she’s hit on a winning series character who has the world at her beck and call — and, perhaps, a growing legion of fans too." [4]

Library Journal also reviewed the novel. [5]

Awards and honors

The Informationist reached the top ten of The New York Times Best Seller list. [6]

Awards for The Informationist
YearAwardResultRef.
2012 Anthony Award for Best First Novel Finalist [7]
Barry Award for Best First NovelWinner [7]
Macavity Award for Best First Mystery Finalist [7]

Film adaptation

In October 2012, James Cameron's production company Lightstorm Entertainment picked up film rights to the book with plans for Cameron to direct the adaptation for 20th Century Fox. The film is said to begin shooting after Cameron finishes the second and third installments of his Avatar series. [8]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Cameron</span> Canadian filmmaker (born 1954)

James Francis Cameron is a Canadian filmmaker. A major figure in the post-New Hollywood era, Cameron is considered one of the industry's most innovative filmmakers, regularly making use of novel technologies. He first gained recognition for writing and directing The Terminator (1984) and found further success with Aliens (1986), The Abyss (1989), Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), and the action comedy True Lies (1994). He wrote and directed Titanic (1997), Avatar (2009) and its sequels, with Titanic earning him Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Film Editing. A recipient of various other industry accolades, two of his films have been selected for preservation in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress.

<i>The Simpsons</i> (season 10) Season of television series

The tenth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons was originally broadcast on the Fox network in the United States between August 23, 1998, and May 16, 1999. It contains twenty-three episodes, starting with "Lard of the Dance". The Simpsons is a satire of a middle-class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie. Set in the fictional city of Springfield, the show lampoons American culture, society, television, and many aspects of the human condition.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jennifer Donnelly</span> American writer of young adult fiction

Jennifer Donnelly is an American writer best known for the young adult historical novel A Northern Light.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lisbeth Salander</span> Fictional character created by Stieg Larsson

Lisbeth Salander is a fictional character created by Swedish author and journalist Stieg Larsson in his award-winning Millennium series. She first appeared in the 2005 novel The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, as an antisocial computer hacker with a photographic memory who teams up with Mikael Blomkvist, an investigative journalist and publisher of a magazine called Millennium. Salander reappears in The Girl Who Played with Fire (2006) and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest (2007), sequels that Larsson had written before he died in 2004.

<i>The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo</i> (2011 film) 2011 thriller film by David Fincher

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is a 2011 mystery thriller film based on the 2005 novel by Swedish writer Stieg Larsson. It was directed by David Fincher with a screenplay by Steven Zaillian. Starring Daniel Craig as journalist Mikael Blomkvist and Rooney Mara as Lisbeth Salander, it tells the story of Blomkvist's investigation to find out what happened to a girl from a wealthy family who disappeared 40 years ago. He recruits the help of Salander, a computer hacker.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adam Gidwitz</span> American childrens author

Adam Gidwitz is an American author of children's books, best known for A Tale Dark and Grimm (2010), In a Glass Grimmly (2012), and The Grimm Conclusion (2013). He received a 2017 Newbery Honor for The Inquisitor’s Tale: Or, The Three Magical Children and Their Holy Dog (2016). In 2021, his book A Tale Dark and Grimm was adapted into an animated miniseries on Netflix.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Megan Abbott</span> American writer (born 1971)

Megan Abbott is an American author of crime fiction and of non-fiction analyses of hardboiled crime fiction. Her novels and short stories have drawn from and re-worked classic subgenres of crime writing from a female perspective. She is also an American writer and producer of television.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Candace Fleming</span> American childrens writer

Candace Groth Fleming is an American writer of children's books, both fiction and non-fiction. She is the author of more than twenty books for children and young adults, including the Los Angeles Times Book Prize-honored The Family Romanov and the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award-winning biography, The Lincolns, among others.

The Sacred Fools Theater Company is a Los Angeles-based theatre company and nonprofit organization. Founded in January 1997, it's a member organization of the LA Stage Alliance.

<i>El Deafo</i> 2014 graphic novel by Cece Bell

El Deafo is a graphic novel written and illustrated by Cece Bell. The book is a loose autobiographical account of Bell's childhood and life with her deafness. The characters in the book are all anthropomorphic bunnies. Cece Bell, in an interview with the Horn Book Magazine, states "What are bunnies known for? Big ears; excellent hearing," rendering her choice of characters and their deafness ironic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Katherine Kellgren</span> American actor and voice actor (c. 1969-2018)

Katherine Ingrid Kellgren or Kjellgren was an American actress, known for her narration of audiobooks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Angie Thomas</span> American author (born 1988)

Angie Thomas is an American young adult author, best known for writing The Hate U Give (2017). Her second young adult novel, On the Come Up, was released on February 25, 2019.

Leila Mottley is an American novelist and poet. She is The New York Times bestselling author of Nightcrawling, which was a nominated for numerous awards, including the Booker Prize, making her the youngest author to have been nominated for the award. In 2018, at age 16, she was named the Youth Poet Laureate of Oakland, California.

<i>The Maid</i> (novel) 2022 novel by Nita Prose

The Maid: A Novel is a 2022 murder mystery debut novel by Canadian author Nita Prose.

Taylor Stevens is an American author of mystery novels. She grew up in the Children of God.

<i>Liars Legacy</i> 2019 mystery novel by Taylor Stevens

Liars' Legacy is a 2019 mystery novel by Taylor Stevens, the second in her Jack and Jill Thriller series. It is preceded by Liars' Paradox.

<i>The Innocent</i> (Stevens novel) 2011 mystery novel by Taylor Stevens

The Innocent is a 2011 mystery novel by Taylor Stevens.

<i>The Doll</i> (Stevens novel) 2013 mystery novel by Taylor Stevens

The Doll is a 2013 mystery novel by Taylor Stevens, the third book in her Vanessa Michael Munroe series. The Doll won the 2014 Barry Award for Best Thriller.

<i>The Catch</i> (novel) 2014 thriller novel by Taylor Stevens

The Catch is a 2014 thriller novel by Taylor Stevens, the fourth book in her Vanessa Michael Munroe series.

<i>The Mask</i> (Stevens novel) 2015 thriller novel by Taylor Stevens

The Mask is a 2015 thriller novel by Taylor Stevens, the fifth and final book in her Vanessa Michael Munroe series. It won the 2016 Barry Award for Best Thriller.

References

  1. Heldman, Irma. "It's a Mystery: "Time ages a person's soul"". Archived from the original on May 14, 2013. Retrieved October 24, 2012.
  2. 1 2 "The Informationist by Taylor Stevens". Publishers Weekly . 2011-01-03. Archived from the original on 2023-08-27. Retrieved 2023-08-27.
  3. 1 2 Crinklaw, Don (2011-02-01). "The Informationist". Booklist . Archived from the original on 2023-08-27. Retrieved 2023-08-27.
  4. 1 2 Weinman, Sarah (2011-03-06). "Dark passages: Hungry for justice". Los Angeles Times . Archived from the original on 2021-09-17. Retrieved 2023-08-27.
  5. Susan, Moritz (2011-02-01). "The Informationist". Library Journal . Archived from the original on 2023-08-27. Retrieved 2023-08-27.
  6. Johnson, Rebecca (2011-02-24). "Nobody's Child". Vogue . Archived from the original on 2023-05-30. Retrieved 2023-08-27.
  7. 1 2 3 "Taylor Stevens". Stop, You're Killing Me!. Archived from the original on 2023-06-07. Retrieved 2023-08-27.
  8. Keegan, Rebecca (October 23, 2012). "James Cameron to direct 'The Informationist'". Los Angeles Times . Archived from the original on April 14, 2013. Retrieved October 24, 2012.