James Cameron may have sworn he was only "in the 'Avatar' business. Period." in an interview earlier this year with The New York Times, but it looks like the blockbuster director has finally found a new white whale. Cameron has bought the film rights to Taylor Stevens's bestselling thriller novel, "The Informationist," according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Stevens's novel stars protagonist Vanessa Monroe, an information specialist working for corporations, heads of state, and private clients. She was raised by missionary parents across Africa, and eventually returned to her home in the U.S. at 14. A Texas oil billionaire hires her to find his daughter who vanished in Africa four years ago, and while it's not her normal line of work, she can't resist the challenge.

Soon, Monroe is pulled deep into the mystery of the missing girl, and she finds herself back in the lands of her childhood, "betrayed, cut off from civilization, and left for dead."

"Vanessa Munroe is an intriguing and compelling heroine with an agile mind and a thirst for adventure," said Cameron to The Hollywood Reporter. "Equally fascinating for me is her emotional life and her unexpected love story. I'm looking forward to bringing Vanessa and her world to the big screen."

"The Informationist" was published in 2011. A sequel, "The Innocent," arrived earlier this year and a third book featuring Munroe, "The Doll," is due in 2013.

"This was an opportunity to continue our relationship with Fox and Jim Gianopulos beyond the Avatar films," producer Jon Landau said in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter. "We were drawn to this book because of the terrific, compelling narrative and the character, who typifies the strong female protagonists that have inhabited Jim's work. In this case, Vanessa Munroe is essentially a mix of Lisbeth Salander and Jason Bourne."

Landau added, "This is one of the most cinematic books I've ever read. And it's got all the classic Jim Cameron elements - a female protagonist who is smart, physically adept and skilled, great action, and an unexpected love story."

"Avatar 2" and "3" appear likely to be shot back to back, with the first sequel arriving in cinemas in 2015. Considering Cameron's glacier-like output, we may not be seeing the movie version of "The Informationist" for quite some time.

Author Stevens was born into the Children of God cult, raised in communes across the globe, and denied an education beyond the sixth grade, before she broke free "in order to follow hope and a vague idea of what possibilities lay beyond."

"I'm often asked how much of the setting within 'The Informationist' is real, and if any of the events described within Malabo, the country's capital, could have ever actually happened. They would, and they did," says Stevens. "And most of the Malabo scenes were drawn from real life experience. These were some of the most difficult parts of the book to construct, the issue not in painting the landscape, but dampening it sufficiently in order to avoid turning the book into a travelogue, and to keep the action moving."

Stevens announced recently via Twitter that she's recently signed a contract for books four and five in the Vanessa Monroe series. Sounds like Cameron might be in the Vanessa Monroe business - Period - now.

"The Informationist" has received generally positive reviews, with many comparing the heroin the Sherlock Holmes, and Lisbeth Salander from Stieg Larsson's "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" series.

"Extraordinary....No one has written a more exhilarating, adroit, and stylish debut for a suspense series since Raymond Chandler introduced Philip Marlowe in The Big Sleep back in 1939," said TheDailyBeast.com

"One can't help but think that Munroe and Salander are lone wolves who, if they ever had a chance to meet, might discover they are really part of the same hunting pack...Stevens...writes with the confidence of one who knows she's hit on a winning series character who has the world at her beck and call," said The Los Angeles Times.