The Innocent by Taylor Stevens

Vanessa Michael Munroe is contacted by her best friend.  He tells her of a girl who was snatched from her parents and hidden deep in a cult--the same cult that he grew up in.  He knows well the abuses that children are subjected to, and as a friend of the mother, wants Munroe to bring the girl out.  Heather has been in the cult for eight years, moved from place to place, given new names and almost impossible to trace.  But now there is word that she is in South America and the time is right to try a rescue attempt.

Munroe is torn.  This is the work she does, but the work is slowly killing her.  Raised in an abusive environment herself, she has trained to be a killing machine, able to take out most individuals she encounters.  She is a powerhouse of destruction and cunning, but each kill takes a bit of her soul.  Still, she owes her friend with years of ties and agrees to take on the mission.  Raising a team, the group gathers intelligence and plans their attack.  Can they be successful, or will the cult manage to spirit Hannah away once again?

This is the second novel in Taylor Stevens Munroe series.  Munroe is a complex character, at once determined to do right but doing right by doing wrong.  The intricacies of planning a successful raid is fascinating, but the book's main focus is always, always on this amazing, powerful yet vulnerable woman.  This book is recommended for suspense readers and will transport them away until the last page is turned.  This is a powerhouse novel.