The Mask: A Vanessa Michael Munroe Novel

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. [em]Agent: Anne Hawkins, John Hawkins & Associates. (June) [/em]