Taken

by Debra Lee

USA Today Bestseller Updated July, 2017 Welcome to the fictitious little town of Watery, Pennsylvania where the district attorney’s personal secretary, Mary Murray never planned to become a single mom or a suspect in her infant’s disappearance, but she plans to find Jena before she suffers the same fate Mary’s younger brother had when he was taken twelve years earlier. AND From a beta reader-I must tell you that everything I've read lately has bored me to tears...until today. Honestly, I could not put TAKEN down. I was pleasantly surprised. I felt the author captured each character's personality and conveyed them to the reader with such clarity, that they felt like real people. I was thrilled with how the book ended---Lucilla From The Author Years ago a small child was taken from his home not far from where I live. The child was never found. His disappearance haunted me over the years, and still does. Hopefully someday I will know what happened to that little boy. It breaks my heart every time I hear a news report about a missing child. So I suppose the disappearance of that little boy long ago and those heart breaking news stories is what drove me to write TAKEN. New Update From The Author-July, 2017 I finally wrote a follow up story to Taken, NEVER AGAIN For readers of TAKEN that wanted to know what happened with certain characters after the story ended, the wait is over. I wrote a novella, NEVER AGAIN that hopefully will satisfy your curiosity. I know it did mine.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Thriller, Amazon, Ebooks, Crime

173 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 24, 2010

About the author

If I'm in a murderous mood, I might write a murder mystery or chilling thriller. When there's romance in the air, I've been known to pen a love story.

On a more personal note, I've been married to the same guy for forty years. I'm the mother of two grown sons and grandmother to one grandson and one granddaughter. I share my home in Pennsylvania with my husband and two felines. It's an interesting life.

From the author’s website.

Reviews

[Kelley · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was a fast read but an annoying book. The writing felt amateur to me. People don't poke numbers into a phone, hands don't dive into pockets, and as much as these people were jumping they should lay off the caffeine. The characters were not likable and the way the story unfolded was not believable. A cop doesn't ride along with a civilian and merely suggest they call for backup. A cop should have a spine and do his job without deferring to the civilian. Tedious.

[Sam · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read the first two chapters and then had to put it down. While the mystery sounds compelling it is terribly written. The characters are flat and stereotypical. The writing stilted and dull. So glad that this was a free book off amazon kindle.

[Lori Henrich · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mary wakes up to find that her baby girl is missing. Terror grips her heart and her mind automatically goes back in time to when her younger brother disappeared. He was later found dead, and the fear of that happening to her precious little girl spurs her into action. It seems that everyone in her life has a motive to take the baby. As the story unfolds it is hard to guess who the kidnapper could be.

This story was really well done. It gives enough information for each person in Mary's life that you begin to suspect everyone. It keeps you guessing until the end.

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book really kept my attention. It is no spoiler to say that it is about a missing baby. Through the story it appears that every character "could" be the culprit. The author keeps you guessing. I can not remember the last time I stayed up and read until a book was finished. Tonight I did!

[Denise Koopman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow..I can only say is if you get the opportunity to read this book,plese read it.It is absolutely awesome!!!!She did a wonderful job with this book.Wow!!!!!

[Sherry Kent · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great kidnapping mystery

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great quick read. A little amateurish writing but a gripping story nonetheless.

[Michelle L Shepherd · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting plot, bad punctuation and grammar

The inability correctly use commas made this book difficult to read. As did the incorrect phrases (hymn hauling instead of hem hawing), and occasional spelling errors. I read to the end to learn whodunit, at least there was a bit of a plot twist at the end.

[Kathy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read about 5 chapters and finally had to quit. The writing is so stilted, amateurish. I just skipped to the last chapter to find out who took the baby.

[Christy Thedorf · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent story, but writing was not the greatest. Very simplistic. Ending comes abruptly and not much explanation. Oh I have never said I love him, but yes let's getting married. Terrible ending.

[Junipa · Rating 1 out of 5]

Lame

[Barbara Folk · Rating 3 out of 5]

pretty basic suspense story. After reading, there are a few things that bother me:

Characters regularly call the hero by her full name "Mary Murray" or all three names (I can't remember her middle name right now). This is oddly jarring and doesn't quite seem natural.

Also, characters regularly describe how good and caring the hero is, and that they want all her attention, definitely unrealistic expectations of a new mother. I keep wondering where these people were raised that they seem to miss the part where a new mother is preoccupied with her infant child. No one seems to be aware of the needs of an infant, and more than once, someone tsks or rolls their eyes that a woman with a month old child doesn't want to be separated from her.

I think it was light reading. If the situations above would bother you, pass it by.

[Christy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have to agree with the other reviewers of this book. The use of first and last names (Mary Marie Murray) throughout the book is a little weird and distracting. The characters are completely unbelievable and undeveloped. And some of the story lines just stop w/o being tied up.

I don't know anything about this author, but I can't believe she has children. If she does, she has the worst friends on the planet if they treated her the way Mary's friends did right after she had a baby. She was asked to find her own replacement at work, read her fried's novel, and listen to another friend's petty life stories. Her friends ALL resented her baby. It was just weird.

The plot wasn't suspenseful or mysterious. I'd skip this one.

[Nenette · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is a good plot in here...Though I can say the story is complete, it could have been developed further. The whole thing took less than 200 pages, and the result was too simple and elementary.

There were a number of grammatical errors in the kindle edition. Also, the author seems to have an aversion for commas. I found myself repeating a lot of sentences, trying to determine where the pause should have been.

Just the same...for the very quick read format, and the good enough story: 3 stars.

[Leslie Orellana · Rating 1 out of 5]

I started this book about a week ago so it made for a quick read....But I achieved that after skipping a few chapters. I was bored with it. When I finally got to the chapters with any substance I felt like it was super rushed and I noticed ALOT of typos. As if she were bored with it too and she was in a hurry to finish it. Also it felt like it was confused as to what time period it wanted to be set in. The language felt like something I'd watch in the black and white movies but obviously there were computers and cell phones. I wouldn't recommend picking up this book...even if it was free.

[Claire Thake · Rating 1 out of 5]

Was very disappointed with this. From the description I thought this would be a good free read, however although the concept was good, the story lacked any depth and didn't go into the lives of the characters enough for you to feel u knew them. The kidnapper was obvious from the start although I was hoping there would be a twist at the end but no it's stayed predictable.

Overall I felt it was very rushed and felt like the author got bored and rushed the ending! I found it a struggle to finish the book without giving up.

[Marti · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an okay book. There was some suspense in it, which is good. Mary Murray gets pregnant, but hey, her boyfriend will probably marry her. Not. It seems that the louse is in love with another woman, and later the two of them end up giving birth to Mr. Louse's two daughters on the same day. Coincidentally, Mary had a younger brother who was kidnapped and found dead, and when little Jena is snatched, she fear that history is repeating itself. Was it Mrs. Louse? Where is Jena? Will things ever be good again in Watery (fictional) PA?

[Mike · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not really what I would choose to read, but the lady is now making a living writing these stories, so I thought I'd use it as research. The quality of writing was not great but I think that in spite of this there was a good story there. To make it better I think it would need embellishing and serious editing in terms of adding a bit more detail; place descriptions, internal dialogues to make it more real. Characters were pretty one dimensional and the emotions seems fairly facile. But hey who am I to criticize. The story was written lots of people enjoyed it-so respect!

[Brandon · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a very predictable story, which could have been made more entertaining. The author jumps around time periods, as well as skips events that would seem to be important, or at least add some depth to the story. The was not much drama or suspense, the book just plodded along roughly. It was unrealistic that everyone of her friends wished the baby gone. It was a chore to get through it, but I felt I should if I was going to leave a review.

[Hope · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked this book up on my kindle after I saw it on the free list. I was extremely impressed by the intricate storyline. I did find some of the character attitudes and perceptions a bit hard to stomach (since it seemed like they had no idea of the life of a new mom). I was quite caught up in the storyline and found the intricacies of the kidnapper quite riveting. I did however find a few grammatical errors but they didn't throw me too much.

[Tom · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ridiculous asinine rubbish. I've read more involving and involved (and a damned sight better written) stories from nine year olds regarding what they did on holiday. I actually feel affronted at having wasted a few hours of my life reading this tripe. I'll be keeping my eye open for other books from Debra Lee so that I can avoid reading them.

I've only given it one star because a turd wasn't an option.

[Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this book was good. It doesn't tell you what happens to everyone in the end though.

What happens with Kyle and Elaine? Does Kyle become a part of Jena's life? If I was Mary, I wouldn't want anything to do with Kyle. The fact that he would walk away from his child because his wife doesn't want her in their lives is just wrong.

I also thought things with Reilly were odd. Yes he loved Mary and all, the way he went about things was just odd tho.

[Lori Petticrew · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have never read a book and have been mortified at what took place.
Small town girl gets "knocked" up and after child is born,her "best friend" then steal baby?
Because she is JEALOUS? OMG! get real....
and was she charged with kidnapping? no idea?

Had some good things that made it interesting, but in whole a downer.

[Penny Gilbertson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I personally think this book deserves a higher rating than it has currently got..i really enjoyed it! It got me hooked int he first few pages and once the action started i had to sit and finish it there and then. Very well written and characters easy to empathise with. I would definitely recommend people to read this book.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has alot of really good points...well written, good story, but it tends to lack some of the character development that I would have preferred. Some of the sub plots and secondary characters had hints of storyline that were just dropped. Also, the end was more predictable than I like, but overall it was a good story to read.

[Nichole · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was about a family of a father & daughter. They found a baby in the woods, that had been abandoned. I thought this book was going to turn out differently, there were a few small twists and surprises, but overall I thought this was a good read. It didn't end the way I expected it to (this is a good thing!) and I always enjoy being surprised.

[Chris · Rating 2 out of 5]

The plot was interesting but the characters were underdeveloped and flat. The hokey writing and grammatical errors were distracting. How can everyone be a suspect in the baby's disappearance? The main character was too Merlot be remotely believable. I would advise to skip this one even if it is free.

[Kelli Buchanan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was just okay. It took a long time to finally get to the part where the baby is taken.
It refers to another crime but never really finishes that storyline. Also they just drop the baby's father midway through the book and we never hear anything about him again after that. The end was very unsatisfying. It was a quick read but not very exciting!

[Syndilou · Rating 3 out of 5]

Taken -- it was a quick read. Very predictable as to who took the baby and why. Half way through the book I had it narrowed down to two possible people and I was correct. Not sure why the baby's father and wife were mentioned. I know that it was to make it harder to figure out who did it. But in my opinion did not work.

[JP · Rating 1 out of 5]

I only finished this book due to how short a read it was. That said I still had to keep putting it down. The writing style and language was of the style I would expect from someone still in education. The characters lacked depth, the plot moved along unrealistically. If this is in your to read list the best thing you can do is bypass it.(I wish I had)