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    The Doll: A Novel
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    The Doll: A Novel
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    The Doll: A Novel
    Audiobook13 hours

    The Doll: A Novel

    Written by Taylor Stevens

    Narrated by Hillary Huber

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    Haunted by a life of violence and as proficient with languages as she is with knives, Vanessa Michael Munroe, chameleon and hunter, has built her life on a reputation for getting things done-dangerous and often not-quite-legal things. Born to missionary parents in lawless Africa, taken under the tutelage of gunrunners, and tortured by one of the jungle's most brutal men, Munroe was forced to do whatever it took to stay alive.

    The ability to survive, fight, adapt, and blend has since taken her across the globe on behalf of corporations, heads of state, and the few private clients who can afford her unique brand of expertise, and these abilities have made her enemies.

    On a busy Dallas street, Munroe is kidnapped by an unseen opponent and thrust into an underground world where women and girls are merchandise and a shadowy figure known as The Doll Maker controls her every move. While trusted friends race to unravel where she is and why she was taken, everything pivots on one simple choice: Munroe must use her unique set of skills to deliver a high-profile young woman into the same nightmare that she once endured, or condemn to torture and certain death the one person she loves above all else.

    Driven by the violence that has made her what she is, cut off from help, and with attempts to escape predicted and prevented, Munroe will hunt for openings, for solutions, and a way to strike back at a man who holds all the cards. Because only one thing is certain: she cannot save everyone.

    In this high-octane thriller for fans of Lee Child, Stieg Larsson, and Robert Ludlum's Bourne trilogy, Vanessa Michael Munroe will have to fight fast, smart and furiously to overcome a dangerous nemesis and deliver her trademark brand of justice.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateJun 4, 2013
    ISBN9780385359825
    Unavailable
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    Reviews for The Doll

    4/5

    77 ratings16 reviews

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    • 5/5
      I read this book with no idea what to expect. I cannot begin to tell you what an excellent writer I feel Taylor Stevens is. The characters are real. The plots are real. The twists are twists. I will remember these characters for a long time. A long time. This book made me really feel. As in, I gritted my teeth, I spoke out loud. I was there. There.I never talk about what a book is about in my reviews. You can easily find that out. I assume, that like me, you want to know if I enjoyed it and if it was worth reading.I completely enjoyed it, cannot wait to read her other books now, and I will read this one again!
    • 4/5
      The Doll is the third novel in Taylor Stevens' series about Vanessa Michael Munroe. Michael, as she is generally called, is a deadly operative, currently employed by a security firm in Dallas. Having survived an abusive childhood, Michael now brings her many skills to helping exploited and abused people, particularly young girls.Among Michael's skills is the ability to absorb language. She is also well-versed in hand-to-hand combat and is expert in all kinds of weapons. Michael also uses her androgynous appearance to her advantage, thinking nothing of shaving her head to appear like a man.One morning, Michael is ambushed while arriving at her office. She is shot with a tranquilizer gun and abducted while her boss is watching. Michael was on her way into the office to sign a contract accepting the assignment to locate a young actress who recently disappeared. Are these events related? Hmmm!Compared to the first two books in the series, The Informationist and The Innocent, I'd say this is my least favorite. Like the others, The Doll deals with uncomfortable realities of life-in this case human trafficking. But I would say that Munroe's character in this book is more caricature than flesh and blood person. Her motives and her background are fuzzier than in the others, so she is just not as interesting. I'd say that if you just picked up this book without reading the others, that you'd be confused about who this person is.Beyond that, though, this is another fast-paced, interesting plot. The bad guys are really bad, and there is a very thin line separating them from the good guys. So-not my favorite, but I definitely plan on reading the fourth book in the series which is currently in progress.
    • 3/5
      Interesting plot & subject matter, but wasn't as gripping as some books I've read.
    • 3/5
      Released in paperback earlier this month, The Doll is the third book in the Stevens series featuring heroine Vanessa Michael Munroe. It includes an excerpt of the fourth book, The Catch.This is the first book I've read in the series. Munroe has been likened to Lisbeth Salander of Stieg Larsson's Millenium series which is why I decided to read it. Who doesn't need another action heroine?While Stevens does a good job catching the reader up on Munroe's past, I rarely felt a connection with Munroe so it may have been worth it for me to read the first book in the series to get to know Munroe better.The action and story didn't suffer at all from this lack of connection. There were certainly surprises in the plot and I wanted to know what was going to happen next.
    • 4/5
      This was my first read by this author. Some reviews have called the lead character a female version of Jack Reacher, the awesome lead created by author Lee Child. While I don't completely agree with that, she is tough and formidable, not a piece of fluff. Great story, well written. There are hints of the lead character's past but no details (possibly detailed in earlier Stevens novels). I'll definitely read more from this author and recommend this book for thriller fans.
    • 4/5
      This is the latest Michael Munroe book. Again, she is the victim, as she has been kidnapped. Her friends are looking for her while she is trying to survive and save another girl from misery. This is another dark look at the evils that exist is society and the people who live on the edge. Interesting read about a life, that is far removed from my own. It also makes you think about what you would do to survive..
    • 5/5
      This is the third in the Vanessa Michael Munroe series and Michael is still going strong. It opens in Dallas, where Munroe has been hanging out with lover, Miles Bradford. She is leaving his office when she is drugged and kidnapped. Bradford tries to find her but all he discovers is that her best friend, Logan has been taken. This scares Bradford as he knows this was probably done so that whoever has Munroe can control her.Munroe awakens to find she is someplace in Europe. She discovers she has been taken to assist a very creepy man known as the Doll Maker, transport a kidnapped Hollywood actress that the Doll Maker has kidnapped for a rich buyer. The Doll Maker is part of an international smuggling ring of women to various men that will pay a fortune for them. Munroe knows if she doesn't help him, he will kill Logan and though disgusted by what he is doing, she will do anything to save Logan. But the actress won't go easily and Munroe struggles with wanting to not just save her but bring down this international ring and she is prepared to die to do it. But she won't risk Logan and has to hope that Miles can find him before she has to make any decisions.Munroe is a great character, she is very hardcore, very smart, filled with demons of her past. Others have stated that this novel could be read as a stand alone, but I think the reader really needs to meet Michael from the beginning. You are going to want to read them anyway, so you might as well not spoil them for yourself. This series is well-written and very refreshing to have a dark heroine that doesn't need rescuing from a man. I look forward to the next installment. This book and the series is highly recommended!
    • 2/5
      I've read all three of the books in the Michael Monroe series and The Doll is my least favorite. The Informationist (book 1) skillfully introduced us to Michael and her unusual skills and ferocious personality. The Innocent (book 2) added texture and humanity by exposing Michael's background, giving us insight into the forces that shaped her in her youth. In contrast, I found The Doll to be a reversion to an earlier Michael - all fight, no heart. It serves mostly as a placeholder instead of driving the series forward.If you are looking for a fast-paced, in-your-face, action packed thriller, The Doll delivers. If you are interested in Michael's character development, you might have to wait until the next book. If you are new to the series, don't start with this one. If you've read the rest, I'd still recommend The Doll, with the caveats above.
    • 4/5
      Another solid addition to the Munroe sage. I continue to be amazed at the strength of Munroe's character. Stevens has done an excellent job of establishing a multi-faceted character that evolves over time. With that said, I don't think this tale quite matches the first two novels in the series; however, Munroe has certainly not lost her edge and ability to overcome whatever is thrown her way. I appreciate the sparseness of the storytelling. Not a lot of preaching in terms of how the author wants to direct the action rather letting the character become immersed in the action, reacting to it, and letting the results speak for themselves. Something as a reader I appreciate. Excellent read ... can't wait to get into the next one in the series!
    • 4/5
      The third Vanessa Michael Munroe thriller, this one even more "thriller" than the others have been. Fast-paced and no holds barred - and often not easy to read, given that the subject matter is human trafficking. The characters here didn't get as much depth as they have in the earlier books, but the plot zipped right along.
    • 5/5
      A Vanessa Michael Munroe NovelBy Taylor StevensCrown Publishers, 335 pgs978-0-307-88878-5Submitted by Crown PublishersRating: 4.5And they're off! The Doll bursts out of the starting gate like Secretariat at Aqueduct. This is no exaggeration: page one and our heroine is darted like a bear and kidnapped by homicidal Croatians masquerading as paramedics in an ambulance stolen from the city of Dallas. Miles Bradford, lover, PTSD-sufferer, spy extraordinaire and Boy Robin, witnesses the scene from his office window.This sets off a vicious romp across countries, oceans and continents but not in search of Michael, oh no, Michael can more than handle herself. Turns out she's been "hired" by The Doll Maker, a bat-shit crazy, child-sex-slave trafficking, scum of the earth, who only passes as human because he has opposable thumbs. Michael is being coerced into delivering a particularly valuable "package" (read: kidnapped woman) to a client, as penance for what The Doll Maker sees as her past transgressions against his organization and revenue stream. The Doll Maker's minions have kidnapped Logan, the person Michael is closest to in all the world, in order to ensure her cooperation. But watch what happens when she turns the tables.This is the third installment in the best-selling saga of Vanessa Michael Munroe - chameleon, language-savant, assassin, righteous dispenser of justice. The first volume is The Informationist, the second The Innocent, both of which have been reviewed on this blog previously. Michael is a female protagonist like none before. She is something truly new under the sun: physically, mentally and emotionally courageous, just like plenty of real women. There are no wasted pages spent on improbable romantic entanglements, no "female" squishiness here. There are facts and logic and strategy and tactics - good lord it's so freeing! And there is the necessary kill. Or a dozen, maybe, who's counting?In evidence of Michael's reputation, instructions given to the kidnappers, page 22:Do not let her hear your language, the source had said, she will use language as a weapon. Keep the area around her free of objects, everything will be used as a weapon. Stay clear of her reach, she doesn't need a weapon to kill you. Don't use restraints, she will find a way out of them, and they will only give a false sense of safety. Do not touch her, the source said. Leave her in peace, and treat her respectfully, only then will the violence stay muted. Disrespect these and make no mistake, she will kill you.As long as I'm offering samples, here is an example of the way Michael absorbs and assimilates sensory information:Not real speech, a recording. She could tell that even from this drug-induced haze. She stretched fingertips to the wall and heard from touch the same story told by the smell of this place. Dank. Damp. Buried.One more. Michael has a knife fetish, upon lifting a knife off a bad guy:The handle connected with her palm like a creation returning to its mold, metal against skin, familiar and soothing.I really can't quibble with anything here. The writing is improving on schedule, as it should with a third book. The dialogue is genuine. The pacing is nearly perfect - there are no lulls in the action here. The characterizations are true. The plot is unique to the genre - exactly what genre is this? Taylor Stevens may be inventing a new one and how exciting is that? Just when you think you know where the plot is headed, it arrives in another location entirely. You think you've got it figured out but there are a hundred pages left and what's up with that? And then the tale takes off again, racing onward to a conclusion unexpected, complicated and immensely satisfying.
    • 5/5
      Doesn't the cover of The Doll just promise an 'edge of your seat' read? And Taylor Stevens delivers one....again! I've deoured the first two books featuring Vanessa Michael Munroe - The Informationist and The Innocent - and have been early awaiting the third novel to feature this kick*** character. The Doll releases today. Vanessa Michael Munroe is....well, she's deadly, with incredible physical skills and she's brilliant - she speaks many languages and easily assimilates into the situation or culture she finds herself in. She can read people and situations and think three moves ahead. She's also a bit of an enigma - her past is murky and has shaped her into the woman she is today. For a living, she hunts.... people. She's the shadowy figure people call on to do the impossible. Her weak spot? Innocents. When the last book left off, Michael had allowed herself to let down her guard a bit and enjoy her relationship with Bradford - the owner of Capstone Security Consulting. In this latest book Michael herself is the one taken. A criminal kingpin called The Doll Maker has 'recruited' Michael to deliver a package - a living doll ordered by a wealthy client. To ensure her compliance, he has also taken hostage one of the few people Michael has let get close to her - Logan, the man she considers her brother. The Doll is told in two narratives. First, from Bradford's point of view as he and his crew try to track down and rescue both Michael and Logan. Secondly from Michael's as she tries to figure out a way to save herself and her 'package'. And then destroy The Doll Maker. Each storyline was equally addictive and kept me rapidly turning pages as the action escalated. And it truly is non stop. What makes Steven's writing so good is her lead character. It's so much fun to have such a - as I mentioned earlier - kick*** female character. The action scenes are great, but there's a deeper level to this character as well. She is the walking wounded and Stevens does a fantastic job depicting Munroe's inner emotional turmoil and her physical struggle to control herself. Each book out, we learn a little bit more about Munroe and her background. She is a fascinating enigma. And a character I'm hooked on. Read an excerpt of The Doll. You'll be hooked too! Here's what Lee Child, author of the Jack Reacher books has to say...."Munroe is a sensational character and Stevens is a sensational writer, and together they put The Doll high on my books-of-the-year list." You could read The Doll as a stand alone, but I really do recommend starting with The Informationist to fully appreciate this series. (Film rights for this The Informationist have been optioned to James Cameron)Well, I raced through The Doll far too quickly.... I'll be eagerly waiting for book number four.
    • 5/5
      Plunging straight into the action from the first page, The Doll is an addictive, fast paced thriller. The third book in Taylor Stevens series featuring Vanessa Michael Munroe sees 'Michael' kidnapped by an international human trafficker known as The Doll Maker and forced to deliver a young woman to a violent sadist or forfeit the life of those Munroe loves.What I particularly enjoyed about this installment is the way in which Munroe is forced to leash her prodigious talent for violence to outwit her enemies, at least for a time. No matter the promises the Dollmaker has made, Munroe knows neither she, Logan or the girl, Neeva, will survive unless she can tip the balance of power in her favour. Given the constant surveillance during the journey across Europe, she has to exploit whatever opportunities arise all the while hoping Bradford can figure out what has happened to her and use the resources of his security agency to rescue Logan leaving her free to rebel against her captor.Munroe is such an intriguing character, a sociopath capable of deadly violence with finely honed instincts, intelligence and a talent for languages, but in The Doll her single weakness is brought to the fore. With an ability to withstand egregious torture and no fear of her own death, her connections to family, lovers and friends, something she has only just begun to make, is a vulnerability. Yet The Dollmaker underestimates the unique psychology of Munroe and ultimately no matter how much Munroe loses, he will never win.I thought the plot and motivations in The Doll much stronger than in The Innocent. There are a number of unexpected twists and the pace is intense, despite the narrative being divided between Munroe and Bradford.I'm not sure The Doll would work as a stand alone, Munroe's history informs the choices that she makes in this story and without that background, readers may find themselves somewhat puzzled by unique character.However, as someone familiar with the series, I found the The Doll to be a gripping, hard hitting action thriller and I am already looking forward to Taylor's next book.
    • 4/5
      When Munroe is drugged and forced to convey a human package to a client, she finds herself face-to-face with the Dollmaker, a human trafficking icon. Using hostages as collateral, the Dollmaker and his nephew, Lumani, force Munroe into an impossible situation as she moves across Europe to deliver a woman she was originally hired to protect. This installment in the Vanessa Munroe series once again offers action and twists with plenty of suspense. However, the strong emotional undercurrents with Bradford, Neeva, Kate, and even Lumani, create a new intensity.
    • 4/5
      The Doll by Taylor Stevens is the third book in Steven’s Vanessa Michael Munroe series, and this would have been very helpful to know prior to beginning The Doll. Naturally, this is not the fault of the author’s, but rather me, the reader. I have a dreadful habit of not reading reviews before hand and therefore I occasionally miss key clues, in this case important clues, since from what I read, the main character clearly develops throughout the series and so I was rather behind from the start. I fully intend to read the previous two books in the series The Informationist, and The Innocent and then reread The Doll. Stevens is clearly a new author to me and wow, this book was quite an impressive suspense thriller, I can only imagine how much more I will enjoy it when I read the previous two books in the series.
    • 4/5
      The Doll is my inner feminist revenge fantasy brought to life. It pushed all my girl-power, fight-the-patriarchy buttons. That said, I didn't enjoy it quite as much as the first two installments. Michael spends much of the novel in a car driving across Europe, so the setting isn't quite as rich and evocative as I've come to expect from these books. There's also a lot more death and torture, which makes the story pretty darn depressing and tempers any sense of victory. Michael’s character is still as over-the-top as always, in a ridiculous-but-great kind of way. Overall, The Doll is not quite up to par with the first two books, but it's still an exciting thriller that’s impossible to put down. I'll definitely read the next installment, coming this July.