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Hazel (2934 KP) rated Taken in Books

Oct 18, 2020

Taken

Lisa Stone | 2020 | Crime, Thriller

6.0

(1 Ratings)

Book Rating

Having previously read and enjoyed "Stalker" by Lisa Stone, I certainly wasn't going to pass the opportunity to read this one and I wasn't disappointed.

What we have in "Taken" is a complex and gripping story of the abduction of 8 year Leila whose life is far from perfect being the daughter of a mother (Kelsey) prostituting herself and fighting addiction who has already had her older children taken from her.

Told from multiple points of view, we get a real insight into all the main characters which is not as confusing as it sounds believe me ... it works really well and, I believe, it makes the characters more believable and memorable.

The pace is perfect, the plot is absorbing, despite it being a little unrealistic in parts, and I did get the twist fairly early on but it was such that I continued to question myself until it was revealed.

Overall, a thought-provoking and enjoyable read which deals with some difficult subjects that, sadly, are prevalent within today's society but without the usual gratuitous violence which made a refreshing change.

Thank you to HarperCollins UK / HarperFiction and NetGalley for my copy in return for an unbiased review.

Kudos

Leanne Crabtree (480 KP) rated Hot Head (Head #1) in Books

Sep 6, 2019

I'm probably the odd one out with my rating of three stars but I didn't feel the romance (and that's what I read books for). Not right from the start, anyway. Maybe from around the 75% mark but not before.
 
Seeing it from only Griff's POV helped us realise that he had feelings for his best friend but he fought against it with everything he had. We never really saw anything from Dante to know if he wanted Griff the same way until the second porn video was made--maybe not even then--and that had to be at the half way point.
 
Maybe if the romance had started a little sooner I'd have given it a better rating.
 
Another thing that I found a little strange was all the sound effects wrote into the book: "lub-lub" "thwack-thwack". Gave me a few WTF? moments.
 
One thing I liked the authenticity of the fires and the guys in action; the teasing, the teamwork, the fire fighting.