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    The Catch
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    The Catch
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    The Catch
    Audiobook13 hours

    The Catch

    Written by Taylor Stevens

    Narrated by Hillary Huber

    3.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    "Stevens excels at depicting pulse-pounding danger… Her writing places her heads above most authors working in the thriller genre. Only Dan Brown and Lee Child come close." -Dallas Morning News

    Vanessa Michael Munroe, chameleon and information hunter, has a reputation for getting things done-often dangerous and not quite legal things.
     
    With blood on her hands and a soul stained with guilt, Munroe has fled to Djibouti, Africa. There, with no responsibility except a gig at a small maritime security company, Munroe finds stillness-until she's pressured to work as an armed guard on a ship bound for Kenya. On board, Munroe discovers the contract is merely cover for gunrunning; when the ship is invaded off the Somali coast, she fights her way out-dragging the unconscious captain with her.

    But nothing about the hijacking is what it seems. The pirates had come for the captain, and continuing their pursuit, they unwittingly raise the killer's instinct Munroe has tried so hard to bury. Wounded and on the run, Vanessa Michael Munroe will use the life of her catch as bait and bartering chip to manipulate every player, and wash her conscience clean.




    From the Hardcover edition.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateJul 15, 2014
    ISBN9780804165785
    Unavailable
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    Reviews for The Catch

    3.5/5

    82 ratings35 reviews

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    • 4/5
      I LOVE THIS CHARACTER and all the things I learn from him/her. This book was a fast read because I COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN. Keep me involved all the way to the end and then left me wanting more.
    • 3/5
      I get a kick reading the exploits of the intrepid (Vanessa) Michael Munroe. She’s strong and bold and, despite the violence that surrounds her, she lives by the creed of her conscious. She calls herself an informationist, a spy for hire – think James Bond without the government backing, fancy toys, or savoir-faire. Her looks are androgynous and her name is usually considered male, so she is often taken for a young man, an assumption she is more than willing to use to her advantage.In The Catch, Michael is emotionally exhausted from recent assignments and afraid that spending time with people she cares about will put them in danger. She is spending time in Djibouti, working as an arranger and wheel-greaser for a marine security company, when the owner pressures her to take part in an unusual operation on a dilapidated freighter. The job turns out to be protecting a gunrunning operation and it quickly goes sour as the ship is overrun by pirates looking not for the guns, but for the captain. Michael escapes, taking with her the unconscious captain with her. She ends up in Kenya plotting to save the lives of her friends on the boat and evading the people who are looking for the captain, and now for her. She maneuvers between Russian assassins and African political realities, dragging the uncooperative captain with her, using him as bait to protect her colleagues.Michael struggles to learn whom she can trust and to get people to trust her. She must identify all the hidden players and determine how to play them. Is the captain a liability to a nefarious politician, a double-crossing gunrunner, some kind of war criminal? Her life is now attached to his. Was her action in saving the captain worth the risk? Only by her unique wits and skills can she save the captain, rescue her colleagues, and extricate herself.
    • 5/5
      Favorite Quote - What did it profit to gain the world and lose your soul?That quote pretty much sums up Vanessa Michael Munroe to me. She constantly feels like she is losing herself and trying not to. The Doll was my first experience with Munroe and I love that she is a kick-ass heroin who is in love but runs from it because of all the violence in her life. Munroe is in Africa taking time away from her life is the only way to describe it and she passes for a boy. Which works to her advantage especially in a country like Africa. She is forced to go on a job she doesn't want to and the job ends up being even more. There is action in this book, but after Munroe gets badly injured you see how much can be done by being very smart and playing all the players against each other. Her natural ability to learn new languages in days is very helpful in playing to win. Sounds like a game but its not really although a few times chess references are made in making a point on her figuring out who is who and how to work on keeping herself alive. I am looking forward to the next book as I look forward to seeing Munroe and Bradford again.
    • 3/5
      My feelings on this are a bit mixed. The is not the first in a series, but it is the first I have read. With that said, it may be that I am missing important information from the first book, but this one read well enough as a stand-alone.

      The story is very fast moving. The premise that a ship has been hijacked by pirates off the coast of Africa is timely, but I got bogged down in the multiple locations, interjection of local language terms, and detail on the various interests and machinations of the various characters. The protagonist, Michael, is an androgynous badass. I say androgynous because no one she comes in contact with can tell she is a woman, unless she is wearing a skirt. Her bone structure, voice, or hair must be a giveaway. However, when it works to her advantage, she must be very feminine.

      The other main characters are very shallow and one-dimensional. Leo is Michael's first boss, who double crosses her. Amber Marie is his girl. Adbi is a businessman and money launderer, Victor is a good guy who befriends Michael in the beginning. There are numerous other characters who are just as shallow and poorly drawn as these. For example, why is there so much animosity between Michael and Leo? What on earth is going on with Michael's feelings for Amber? I got the distinct feel of a homoerotic undertone here. Why does Michael feel such an affinity for Victor? Does she really so badly need someone to be nice to her? Is that all she owes him?

      On top of the one-dimensional characters, I was extremely put off by the over-the-top bravado. A couple of examples:
      •The rifle discharged beside her ear, deafening, while the young man fought for control and her knife answered with a life of its own, the dormant demons ascending from deep sleep, instinct and speed in the face of death.
      •Her kills her primal, instinct that overrode logic and morality, blood and violence made flesh in the rage-induced defense of herself or another, a visceral reaction from the animal brain of the cut and bleeding girl she'd once been, the animal brain that took control and refused to die.

      These are two of the more eye-rolling passages, but the book is laden with them.

      While these were two issues that very much limited my enjoyment of the book, it was an easy book to read, and was fast-paced. The storyline was a little convoluted, but the action was compelling. That is what makes me give three looks instead of anything lower.

      However, at the end of it all, I was not really sure what the purpose was. Did Michael get what she wanted? Did Abdi get his part of the deal? Was Leo as smarmy as he appeared? Did Amber get out of debt?

      But the real question I can answer: Do I really care? Not really.

      Thank you to BloggingForBooks.com for a copy of this novel for an honest review.
    • 3/5
      This was the first book I've read by Mr. Stevens and I found it very entertaining. Wish I had realized it was the 4th is a series before starting it, but that really didn't keep me from understanding the character and her motivations. I would recommend this book to anyone who reads thrillers
    • 3/5
      This is one of the few books I received from the Early Reviewers program I found myself unable to get into. It wasn't that the writing was bad or that the characters were bad either- they were just fine- it just didn't catch me the way I had hoped. I chalk that up to personal taste more than anything else as at the end of the day I would have to say that the book itself was well-written. It just wasn't my cup of tea, I suppose, as it took me 5 different attempts to even get a quarter of the way through reading it.
    • 2/5
      I really didn't care for this book very much. With that said, I kept reading it and it did keep me pretty interested. I found the main character's female character, but perceived male by pretty much everyone in the book to be confusing/annoying. Also, the whole plot was so confusing and convoluted that it left the final chapters fairly anticlimactic. I think I understood but not really sure and there was really no AH HA moment.
    • 4/5
      Stevens breaks through with this fourth Vanessa Michael Munroe by isolating her character and slowly building the story along with Vanessa' s own personal revelations. This works as almost a real-time psychological and physical adventure. Location descriptions and authentic dialogue create a flow as if this were a blockbuster movie about sea hijackings and political double crossings but it is not really a fast read. A slowly layered read and a smart read sums it up. Series followers should not be disappointed, even with a cliff hanger ending. Provided by publisher
    • 4/5
      The Catch by Taylor Stevens is the fourth book to feature the unusual character of Vanessa Michael Munroe.Regrouping after the events of The Doll, Munroe has been biding her time in Djibouti, Africa, working as an interpreter for a small private security company as 'Michael'. When Munroe's boss accepts a job on a freighter bound for Kenya, Leo, jealous of Michael's closeness with his wife Amber and oblivious to Michael's real gender and talents, insists she accompanies the team. Part way through the voyage, the ship is attacked by pirates off the coast of Somalia but Munroe escapes with the injured freighter captain in tow. It quickly becomes obvious that the pirate's target was not the cargo, which included a secret cache of weapons, but the captain, and to save the crew Munroe must negotiate the shadowy world of piracy, Hawala and corruption.Munroe is such an intriguing character, a borderline sociopath capable of lethal violence with finely honed instincts, she is also highly intelligent, resourceful and has a prodigious talent for languages, skills which she makes good use of in The Catch.The story of The Catch is perhaps more cerebral than in previous installments. Gathering information and planning strategy is more important than Munroe's physical prowess as she scrambles to understand the motives of the pirates while nursing debilitating injuries inflicted by a vicious group of hired thugs.The weakness for me in this story is in the motive Taylor ascribes to Munroe for saving the ship and its crew. I just wasn't convinced Munroe's attachment to Amber was strong enough to risk so much for her, even given Munroe's unique sense of justice and loyalty.Though The Catch could be read as a standalone, familiarity with the unique character of Munroe lends a richness that enhances the story. As someone familiar with the series I was satisfied with this installment and I am eager to discover what Munroe's next move will be.
    • 4/5
      The Catch is Taylor Stevens' fourth entry in her Vanessa Michael Munroe series. 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. For a living, she hunts people, finds information and fixes things. After her last case resulted in a horrific personal loss, Michael has retreated to the continent that seems to draw her back time and time again - Africa.She's laying low, having taken a job with a small company that provides security for ships travelling the waters that Somalian pirates troll, providing information and greasing palms. When the owner pressures her to join the latest security job as a guard, she finds herself in the middle of a mess. The owner is lying, the hold is full of Russian guns, but it seems to be the captain that the pirates are after. And Michael's quiet retreat is no more.Stevens has again crafted another intricately plotted thriller. Munroe is on her own this time, with no back-up. The action slowly builds through the first few chapters and then hits high gear for the rest of the book. The details of the settings and culture are vivid and detailed.But, it is the character of Michael that is the real draw of this series. It's so much fun to have such a 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. Having read of Stevens' background, I wonder how much of her own life has been woven into her books.The Catch has a satisfying ending, but the door is open for the next entry is this series....one I'll pick up for sure
    • 4/5
      Another fast-moving thriller from Taylor Stevens featuring Vanessa Michael Munroe, this time tackling piracy and and arms trafficking in east Africa and seeking vengeance for the death of a young man in her employ.Not as much character development or personal story in this one, which focused on the fairly uninteresting details of the planning that went into Munroe's effort to retake a stolen ship and recover her crew. It was a fine fast read, but didn't rise to the level of the first couple books in the series.
    • 5/5
      The CatchBy: Taylor StevenPages: 358. Genre: Suspense/ThrillerCopy Courtesy of Goodreads First ReadsReviewed by: tkVanessa "Michael" Monroe is a linguist, expert in hand-to-hand weapons, strategist, and a woman of passion. Vanessa is part of a team of armed transit guards that are hired to protect , and defend a ship if attacked by pirates. Once aboard the "Favorita" she discovers that she is the only one of the team that information of the cargo, and pay is being withheld.Cheated, and betrayed by people she trusted is only the beginning of this intense adventure. From pirates, being left for dead, murder, corruption, and a chance she may not live to see home again, Vanessa struggles to avenge all that have betrayed her.This story has it all. Adventure, thrilling plot twists, intense situations, and a bit of romance to round it out. A must read if one or all interest you. You can feel your heartbeating faster at the intensity, and tears flowing at the betrayal that Michael feels. You can't put it down. A thrilling read. 5/5
    • 4/5
      Michael Munroe is not a like able heroine. She is smart, deceptive and violent. She doesn't like herself. Every time and everyone she let's get close end up in pain or dead. So Michael tries to shut herself down, to feel nothing.In this story she becomes involved in piracy on the Somalian coast, and must extract revenge for a young man who was working for her.
    • 4/5
      3.5. I was a relative late comer to this series, kept reading rave reviews everywhere but nonetheless I was skeptical. So often over hyped books do not deserve the hype, at least this is what I sometimes found after reading the books. In this case, I was wrong, I love the character of Michael, after all there are not many books where it is a woman kicking but, even though she is often disguised as a man. The storylines are always interesting, fast paced ,and the supporting cast, Michaels go to people, at least the few there are have also proved interesting. This story is a little different in that Michael is alone, trying to run away from the horror of her last case, and trying to cast off the feeling that she brings destruction to everyone she loves. She finds herself on a ship, hijacked by Somalian pirates, or so it appears, but things are never that simple. Once again she is called on to do what she does best.Fast paced, plenty of action and a complex character with a fascinating back story. Now I await the next installment in a series that I have grown to love.ARC from Crown publishers.
    • 3/5
      Although I enjoyed The Catch, it's not my favorite in the series. I like more adventure then this one offered. I guess being on a boat was not my thing. In any case it was worth the read.
    • 4/5
      I give tis book four stars, but a bit reluctantly. It's got all the ingredients to be a successful suspense thriller but something is missing. The female protagonist is interesting but has a tendency to just mimic male stereotypes which for me detracted a bit. The story while solid never really rolls until the last third of the book. However, the description of the locale and the insight into a foreign world are well worth the time invested. I'll continue to read other offering in this series and hopefully they'll continue to improve.
    • 4/5
      The fourth book in the Vanessa Michael Monroe series. I was not as impressed with this book as I was with earlier ones. (Her first, The Informationist, is extremely good.) However, still a fun read.
    • 5/5
      The Catch is the fourth book in Taylor Stevens' Vanessa Michael Munroe Series. I loved the first three books and was eagerly anticipating the release of this book. I was not disappointed. This book finds Vanessa living and recuperating from previous events as her alternate personality, Michael, in Djibouti. She is working as a fixer and interpreter for a small maritime security company. Her boss presses her to join him on a voyage and she reluctantly agrees. Unfortunately for Munroe, things go downhill from there. She discovers that the ship is running guns and she wants no part of it. Then the Somalian pirates attack. She escapes with the injured captain only to discover that the pirates didn't want money... they wanted the captain! Can things possibly get any more dangerous and exciting?? Of course they can! The rest of the book unfolds with the drama and excitement that Taylor Stevens always gives to her stories. I enjoyed this book and recommend it highly!
    • 3/5
      I was a bit disappointed in this one. Monroe is more of a lone-wolf, without some of the supporting characters from the past. The pace seems to drag somewhat, too. The action sequences are as good as ever, though. Hopefully, this is just a stumble in the Monroe series.
    • 5/5
      Because I enjoyed the first two Vanessa Munroe books, I was thrilled to be an early reviewer for this one. Once again Stevens sets up an impossible task for her protagonist. Yet, Munroe manages to use whatever is at hand to control all the pieces of her complicated chess match and in the end tie it all together to a very satisfying conclusion. Vanessa is smart, tough, and above all resourceful. Watching her handle so many opposing interests (pirates, Russian mobsters, and local thugs, to name a few) creates a fun, action-filled adventure that takes us from the high seas to dark allies and back again.
    • 5/5
      never read any of taylor stevens books . i really like this one .the charachtors are great and i really love the storyline i would highly recommend this book
    • 4/5
      Taylor Stevens has written another exciting adventure for Vanessa Michael Munroe. Wrap up this package with a bit on Somalian Piracy, add Russian hijacking, throw in a bit of gunrunning, and finish off with a bang up ending, In between all of this, learn a great deal about life in Somalia and Kenya. How much do you know about Hawala and Khat? You'll find out here, along with much more about how these Africans go about their lives. Read this one for both fun and knowledge. Keep it up, Taylor Stevens, we can't wait to see what Munroe is up to next.
    • 4/5
      The main character in this book is a cross between a female Jack Reacher and Lisbeth Salander. She is an information gatherer and basically either for hire or seeking retribution when she is double crossed. She does not hesitate to kill (and sometimes brutally) when she has to. She is a master manipulator. How anyone could survive the things that are done to her is beyond me. All the killing weighs heavily on her at times but it appears that her love of the game is all that really matters. The book held your attention to the very end with its fast-paced action.
    • 4/5
      Granted, Vanessa Munroe is a great character, but this is the weakest book of the series in my opinion. First of all, you must read this in order and the fact that I seem to have missed the third Might be responsible for some of my confusion. Yes, I was confused for a good part of the beginning of the book..like why in the world Vanessa was hanging around this nasty, violent country, with some nasty, violent folks. And I must say, that at times, he authors writing gets a little over the top. Rather dramatic...Still I am tempted to go back and read the third, The Doll, and see if reading that one and getting the story line straight effects my opinion. Until then, I was not too impressed. Go back and read the first if you have not...a very good book.
    • 3/5
      A confusing book. The hero/heroine Vanessa Michael Monroe spends most of the book disguised as a man. It is never quite revealed how she carries this off. When she wants to sweet-talk the Russian mob she reverts to her feminine identity. The plot revolves around a hijacked ship with a mysterious captain who is wanted by some Russians for possible war crimes in the breakup of Yugoslavia. It was not clear to me why the Russians wanted him, since he was a fellow Slav. There are a lot of interesting details on life in contemporary Kenya, where most of the action takes place. Monroe certainly has a high pain tolerance as she takes a lot of punishment from a variety of villains. Her plan is to hijack the ship back from the original hijackers and fool the Russians into thinking that she will turn the captain over to them. Munroe is a plucky character with a lot of grit but I found myself wondering how the plot hung together.
    • 4/5
      This is book 4 in the Vanessa Michael Monroe series. Michael is a strong, independent woman working in Africa after her last case resulted in too many deaths. She is working as a "fixer/interpreter". Those she works for and with assume she is a young man, a mistakes she does not correct. She is forced to go on a job with her employer that she knows will not turn out well. It doesn't -which leads to page turning suspense, action and amazement as Monroe works her magic to figure out what/who is really at the center of this hijack. I love this character and look forward to the next book in the series.
    • 5/5
      First, I must confess, I swiped my husband's early reader copy before he could even get to it. I was not disappointed.After the devastation of The Doll, Munroe leaves the US to protect those she loves. This new book finds her posing as a young male fixer in Africa. However, as her boss becomes increasingly jealous of her relationship with his wife, he demands that she be part of a voyage they will be protecting through Somali pirate waters. Early on, Munroe discovers arms in the hold and knows that all is not well. When the ship is disabled and boarded, she manages to escape with the captain, who is injured. As she runs for her life, she realizes the captain is the real target, and she may be able to use him to save the lives of her fellow crew. With the twists and turns of changing loyalties, this book is much more like her first with a strong balance of breathless action coupled with strategy.
    • 3/5
      I had a little problem getting started with this book. Alot of people that I couldn't figure out how they fit. The further I got into the book though all things started falling into place and the action picked up. It's a story of a ship hijacking and the extremes the heroin/posing as a man, goes through to rehijack the ship and return to safety with the crew plus the contract security crew. In the end, I would say I enjoyed the read, and would recomend it to others.
    • 4/5
      This is my first Taylor Stevens novel and I could no put it own. The protagonist is a woman named Michael who has done covert work for private and government organizations. She is currently in Arica free-lancing for a small maritime security company. As a guard on a ship bound for Kenya, she discovers a hidden cache of weapons and encounters piracy. Her tenacity, skills and courage allow bartering to save lives and soothe her soul. I am inspired seek out his other novels.
    • 4/5
      Our androgynous hero/heroine, Vanessa Michael Munroe, has fled from the U.S. to Djibouti, Africa, to recover from her last horrendous job that left numerous people dead and her lover's business in shatters. Her time is Djibouti--as Michael--has been mindless work for a security firm that views her as an 18-year old guy is search of adventure. Then she is told to join the team as it escorts a freighter through the pirate racked waters off Somalia. Against her own will she decides to do so and all heck breaks loose as the ship is captured. Through her personal and exceptional language skills and as a survivor Michael escapes, taking the ship's captain with her. The remaining 80% of the book tracks Michael as she finds out who really wanted the ship, what they wanted, and how she is able to thwart their efforts. The book is Taylor Stevens best to date with crisp writing, nonstop action, devilish planning, and less introspection of Michael's psyche that tended to slow the earlier books in the series. I found the book a wonderful read.