Now this is how a supernatural romance is written! I finished this book with many unanswered questions, until I found out that it was to be a trilogy, news to which I rejoiced! This is a wonderful weaving of supernatural historical fiction with a bit of romance thrown in. ***Spoilers below!**** I liked Lanny‘s character, but I got fed up with her undying devotion to Jonathan, a man she knows will never love her the way she loves him. I actually felt quite bad for Jonathan as Lanny makes a choice for him that is irreversible and one he probably wouldn’t have chosen on his own. Near the end of the book I realized that the titular “Taker” is actually Lanny herself, not Adair, as one guesses throughout the story. I am very much looking forward to the next installment!

This book was a good read. Whenever I thought I KNEW what was going to happen next, the writer took the story in a different (yet pleasing) direction. Wonderfully written characters, though some disturbing. The author flawlessly moves through time and place, taking the reader on a journey of not one story but three. Very interesting and excited for more!

Good summer read. The kind of book you don't want to put down!

http://www.cozylittlebookjournal.com/2012/04/taker-taker-trilogy-1-by-alma-katsu.html Alma Katsu's debut novel, and the first in The Taker Trilogy, opens with a mysterious woman in an emergency room in northern Maine, handcuffed and accused of murder, while telling wild stories to the ER doctor about being an immortal who is over two hundred years old. The recipient of her tale, the doctor who eventually helps her escape from the police, is immediately transfixed and longs to hear the rest of her story, even if parts of it are disturbing, improbable, and interfere with everything he was supposed to be doing that night. I felt exactly the same way. Parts of The Taker ARE disturbing. It is written with the language of longing, desire and sexual fantasy, but there are scenes that are so horrifyingly violent that I wanted to scream at the character of Lanny that she didn't need a doctor or an immortal boyfriend to save her, she needed a Fairy Feminist Godmother! I wanted to stop reading in places because I could not resolve in my head how the main character could endure so much sexual violence and still find sympathy with her attackers. It was less like Secretary and more like Saturday Night Fever (you know, where the girl gets gang raped and then forgives them all in the end for no apparent reason? Sorry if I ruined that movie for you.). At the same time, there is something addicting and seductive about The Taker. It is beautifully written and the compelling writing urges me along even past the most disturbing scenes. I just couldn't put it down. I read the second in this series, The Reckoning, first (because I received an advance copy from the publisher) and I found it to be an excellent read, even as a stand alone novel. Likewise, I found I was able to enjoy The Taker even though I already knew what happened in the second book. They aren't so much linear tales as they are different pieces of the puzzle of these characters' lives. I learned more about Lanny and her captor/creator/hunter Adair in each of the two novels, but I didn't necessarily need to read them in sequence. In fact, in some ways I'm glad I read The Reckoning first because I wonder if the violence of The Taker would have put me off the series if I wasn't already hooked.

I found The Taker to be quite interesting. I normally don’t read historical novels but the synopsis of the book caught my attention so I figured I should give historical novels a chance. I liked how we are first introduced to Luke who is a doctor in the modern day world in St. Andrews. We then meet Lanny and get sucked into her past. We get to experience Lanny’s life from a teen to an adult and the challenges she has to overcome. Lanny doesn’t come off a bit of a love sick puppy dog but I think it fits with the story well and she can still hold her own. Another part of the story I enjoyed was when Lanny gets sucks into the past of a Lord Adair who we meet in Boston. I found his history to be quite interesting and I like how Alma connected everyone's past together. As much as I hated Lanny’s “love sick puppy dogness”, she is still one of my favourite characters in the book. I think its mostly because Alma wrote her so well that you felt Lanny’s pain or joy. Jonathan bugs me! He is soo freaking blind I want to smack him across the head. If only he would have manned up a bit Lanny would have been off. There are several sex scenes in the story, they don’t go into a lot of detail but not all scenes are consensual. I don’t suggest it to younger readers, definitely an adult book.

This review courtesy of Christa's Hooked on Books (http://christashookedonbooks.blogspot.com) Luke Findley is just settling in for another boring night, working the midnight shift at the local hospital, when the police bring in a young girl completed covered in blood. If that wasn't interesting enough she's also just confessed to murdering a man only hours before. Luke is shocked. Most of the time all he sees at the hospital are hunting accidents and cases of domestic abuse. For someone that has just murdered another, however, she seems quite calm. In fact she's barely spoken a word since they picked her up. That all changes once alone in the exam room - she begins to open up. She begs Luke to help her escape, claiming she's not like other people. To prove her point she grabs a scapel and slashes herself right across the chest. To Luke's amazement, instead of bleeding, the wound magically begins to heal itself right in front of his eyes. Luke agrees to help her as long as she tells him who she is and so begins an adventure that has spanned centuries and will show Luke a world that he's never imagined. The Taker is an interesting cross between a paranormal novel and a historical fiction novel. I often find this can be a dangerous line to walk; it's so easy to cross over into the land of cheesy writing. Thankfully The Taker steers clear. I found it to be engaging and exciting. Due to the nature of the myserious girl's...condition...the reader isn't limited to only one time period. The story sweeps you from place to place and you just get lost in the stories and the settings. I loved the variety of historical settings and how well each of them were represented. I have read a number of reviews and articles about this book that mention it being a vampire story (I even read this is Shelf Awareness). I would like to set the record straight and say there are no vampires in this book. There is no biting, or blood drinking and everyone functions during both day and night. I can't go into too much detail of what actually happens without getting into spoiler territory but there is definitely some unique and interesting paranormal twists going on in this novel and though I do like my vampire stories I found this a refreshing change. I really enjoyed the detail of The Taker, It really did feel like I was being swept away to the different places. The characters were interesting and I could feel myself hanging onto every word, unable to stop reading. This is a great book for fall. Perfect to read outside, once it gets a little cooler and the leaves begin to turn.

The Taker by Alma Katsu opens in present day Maine at a small rural hospital Dr. Luke Findlay is called upon to examine a young woman named Lanny - a murder suspect - before she is taken to jail. When she slices herself open with a scalpel and the wound begins to heal instantaneously Luke is stunned. She begins to tell him her story - and he is mesmerized. Against all good judgement, he helps her escape and goes on the run with her. And as they drive she continues her story. In 1817 Lanny was sent to Boston to give birth to her illegitimate child. But she never made it as far as the convent. Instead she fell in with Count Adair and his household. Adair is himself a centuries old alchemist with the ability to bind his minions to him for life - never aging and never dying. His lifestyle is depraved - an unrelenting search for the hedonistic. Lanny's story is the tale of her years with Adair and the love she so desperately seeks with the father of her child. Can she reclaim that love? What is love? How far will she go? Will Adair let her have that love? The modern day story of the doctor and Lanny takes a backseat to the pages from the past. I quickly became caught up in Lanny's recounting of her years with the Count. I very much enjoyed the historical detail of the times. Maybe it's my pragmatic nature, but Lanny's obsessiveness with Jonathan, the father of her child, became a bit tiresome after a while. The Taker isn't my usual fare, but Alma Katsu has crafted an addicting tale that's hard to define. It's paranormal, but without the use of creatures - simply immortality. There's history, mystery and yes, romance. Think Twilight for adults. The Taker was a different read, going in directions I hadn't predicted. I was a bit frustrated by the ending, which I found unsatisfying, until I found out that The Taker is the first book in a planned trilogy. I'll definitely be picking up the second book - The Reckoning - to see where those loose ends go.

Review first posted at http://unautrehistoire.blogspot.com/ I knew nothing about The Taker by Alma Katsu before I received an e-mail from Simon and Schuster Canada. So, it sat on my shelf for a couple months, I knew I was going to read it, but I also knew I had other things to read. I am so glad that I got to read this book. SO glad. Alma Katsu took me for a literary ride that I will never forget. I think after reading this story I am kind of obsessed with it. The story itself was amazing, but so was the writing, so were the characters. While reading this book, I had a hard time putting it down. It was full of suspense, and twists and turns, and thrills. It was a roller coaster that I was happy to be on. The story essentially starts with Dr. Luke treating Lanny, and Lanny- revealing herself as immortal-needs Luke's help to escape. What Lanny also needs help with is her grief. She has just lost the love of her life, Jonathan, and is suffering for it. However it's not that simple. I don't want to give away to much here, So I won't go into to much detail. However, Lanny goes on to tell Luke her story.How she came to be immortal, the people she met, the things she did, and how after so many years, Jonathan is dead. I have read stories in the past, that start out hundreds of years in the past, and somehow end up in present day. I have read stories that tell of what life was like way back when, what was done, how a character has changed for the better, and so on, and so forth. The Taker has all of this, but it also has more. What that more is, I don't really know. Lanny starts her story in 1816 when she first approaches Jonathan at church. It is here that their friendships begins. She talks about how their relationship evolved, but, she also says that she loved him from the very beginning. She tells about how things changed and she was forced to leave the town she knew as home, and venture to a big unknown city. It is here that she meets Adair, and her life of immortality begins. It was all very captivating. The Taker was a story within a story, and at one point, I was reading a story within a story, within a story. I really loved the multi-dimensional story telling that I found in The Taker. The story flowed beautifully, and I was never confused by the back and forth between past and present. Katsu is a great writer, and I feel like she had a great balance of plot and character. The characters in this novel were great, however I think that without the story that she had created they wouldn't have been that special, however, at the same time, I also believe that without the characters she had developed the plot would have fallen flat. The Taker was a story about interpersonal relationships, and the relationship dynamics were complex. They were insanely destructive,co-dependant, and incredibly unhealthy, but, at the same time, you didn't want them to end. I was happy with how the book ended, having no clue that it was indeed part of a trilogy, I felt it ended well. I thought there was some possibility for a sequel. Now I am so excited for the next installment. There are characters I am hoping will return and I am eager to read more about Lanny and Luke. The Taker was really an amazing novel and I hope that you all go out and buy it on release day. Sept 6th, it will not disappoint.

I vowed this summer that I would read at least one good, intoxicatingly fun book. The kind that would make me forget about everything else whenever I picked it up. This book would have to have a little of everything that suits my tastes – a sprinkling of fantasy, intrigue, mystery and some history to top it off. Well, The Taker by Alma Katsu is that book. The main character, Lanore McIlvrae, is written with a lot of heart. She’s far from perfect and made so many wrong choices it was difficult to feel sorry for her when she ended up in trouble. On the other hand, she showed compassion and empathy in relation to other characters and that made her likeable despite her faults. I also liked that Lanore was written honestly – she’s self-aware and admitted to herself when she failed. Much of the story is set in the early 1800’s and takes the reader from St. Andrews, a small and newly settled town in Maine, to Boston with its teeming masses of the well-to-do and the less fortunate. It is between that time and the present that the story unfolds with a short detour to the 1300’s as the author delves into lineage of Adair, another character vital to the storyline. It was Adair that had me shivering and checking the locks on my doors! I enjoyed this novel for many reasons - one of the main ones being its sense of time and place. Of course, the building excitement was good too! I recommend this The Taker to everyone that enjoys a well-developed and exciting summer read. Also, I just found out that The Taker is book one of a trilogy! I thought while reading it that there would be more to this story! YAY!