December 13th, 2024
Home | Log in!

On Top Shelf
THE DOLLMAKERTHE DOLLMAKER
Fresh Pick
A CHRISTMAS DUET
A CHRISTMAS DUET

New Books This Week

Reader Games

Video Book Club

Holiday Giveaways


December's delights are here! Thrilling tales, romance, and magic await you.

Slideshow image


Since your web browser does not support JavaScript, here is a non-JavaScript version of the image slideshow:

slideshow image
Family secrets aren't just dangerous, they are deadly.


slideshow image
A headstrong heiress and a noble gambler: wagers, intrigue, and irresistible romance.


slideshow image
An immortal vampire, a relentless agent, and a past that refuses to stay buried.


slideshow image
A PI protecting a determined daughter, a killer ready to strike again.


slideshow image
Three homeless puppies, two lonely hearts, and a massive snowstorm.


slideshow image
Two restless souls, one wild Christmas on the ranch�where sparks fly, and dreams ride free.


The Girl Who Was Taken

The Girl Who Was Taken, May 2017
by Charlie Donlea

Kensington
Featuring: Nicole Cutty; Megan McDonald; Livia Cutty
320 pages
ISBN: 1496701003
EAN: 9781496701008
Kindle: B01JEJC8PW
Hardcover / e-Book
Add to Wish List


Purchase



"Two girls were abducted, only one has come home."

Fresh Fiction Review

The Girl Who Was Taken
Charlie Donlea

Reviewed by Tanzey Cutter
Posted May 3, 2017

Thriller

Megan McDonald and Nicole Cutty, both high school seniors in Emerson Bay, North Carolina, are enjoying the last beach party of the summer when they are both abducted. Two weeks later, Megan escapes and returns home. But what has happened to Nicole...where is she? Fast-forward a year and Megan is a celebrity author after writing a novel about her ordeal. Suffering from survivor's guilt, Megan is seeing a therapist, who's helping her handle repressed memories that are coming to light. But those traces of memory seem so sinister and chilling, Megan is is afraid of the truth they will reveal. Charlie Donlea's THE GIRL WHO WAS TAKEN is an absorbing and complex thriller with just the right amount of twists, turns, and surprises to keep one guessing until the very end. The intriguing plot was scattered with enough red herrings to make me suspect several of the male characters, yet never figuring out the identity of the villain. Donlea's keenly structured narrative develops an interesting depth to his characters, and switching chapters between current day and the previous year leading up to the abductions helps to build the intensity of the storyline, as well as the shocking outcome. I especially enjoyed the well-detailed forensic elements in Livia's storyline, as well as the realistic handling of Megan dealing with survivor's guilt. With all its technical aspects, THE GIRL WHO WAS TAKEN is scary suspense at its very best. I really liked Donlea's first novel, SUMMIT LAKE, and put his name on my must-read list. I can honestly say, I enjoyed THE GIRL WHO WAS TAKEN even more than his first book. And I'm hoping the ending sentence hints at more adventures for Livia Cutty. Don't miss reading this excellent and intriguing mystery/thriller.

Learn more about The Girl Who Was Taken

SUMMARY

Charlie Donlea, one of the most original new voices in suspense, returns with a haunting novel, laden with twists and high tension, about two abducted girls—one who returns, one who doesn’t—and the forensics expert searching for answers. Nicole Cutty and Megan McDonald are both high school seniors in the small town of Emerson Bay, North Carolina. When they disappear from a beach party one warm summer night, police launch a massive search. No clues are found, and hope is almost lost until Megan miraculously surfaces after escaping from a bunker deep in the woods. A year later, the bestselling account of her ordeal has turned Megan from local hero to national celebrity. It’s a triumphant, inspiring story, except for one inconvenient detail: Nicole is still missing. Nicole’s older sister Livia, a fellow in forensic pathology, expects that one day soon Nicole’s body will be found, and it will be up to someone like Livia to analyze the evidence and finally determine her sister’s fate. Instead, the first clue to Nicole’s disappearance comes from another body that shows up in Livia’s morgue—that of a young man connected to Nicole’s past. Livia reaches out to Megan for help, hoping to learn more about the night the two were taken. Other girls have gone missing too, and Livia is increasingly certain the cases are connected. But Megan knows more than she revealed in her blockbuster book. Flashes of memory are coming together, pointing to something darker and more monstrous than her chilling memoir describes. And the deeper she and Livia dig, the more they realize that sometimes true terror lies in finding exactly what you’ve been looking for.


What do you think about this review?

Comments

No comments posted.

Registered users may leave comments.
Log in or register now!

 

 

 

© 2003-2024 off-the-edge.net  all rights reserved Privacy Policy