Review
Belying the book's title and high-tech looking cover, Taylor Stevens's debut work,
The Informationist, is a decidedly low-tech, old fashioned action-adventure novel. You won't find exotic weaponry or computer hardware here; characters are dispatched with knives and the quick twist of a head, and information is gathered through interviews and keen deduction instead of via an Internet search. The traditional format employed here works very well set against the milieu of equatorial Africa.
Stevens's writing style is elaborately descriptive, allowing readers to paint detailed mental pictures of the scenes she is trying to conjure:
They moved from their stomachs to a crouch and, as they covered distance and the silence deepened, to a full walk. And then thirst and time became the enemies... It would have been different during the...
Beyond the Book
Cameroon's official name is the Republic of Cameroon. It's located on the western coast of Africa on the Bight of Biafra, which is part of the Gulf of Guinea. At 183,568 square miles, the country is a little larger than the state of California. It's been called "Africa in miniature" by the government due to its geological and cultural diversity, and within its borders one can find beaches, deserts, mountains, rainforests and savannas. The climate, too, is varied, ranging from tropical along its western coastline to semiarid and hot in the north. The country is also known as the "hinge of Africa,"...