Taken

Randall Shane #1

by Chris Jordan

No parent believes it can happen to them — their child taken from a suburban schoolyard in the gentle hours of dusk. But as widowed mother Kate Bickford discovers, everything can change in the blink of an eye. One minute her lanky, amazing, maddening Tommy is begging for ice cream. Then in a terrible instant, he's gone.

Opening the door to her Connecticut home, hoping to find her son, Kate comes face-to-face with her son's abductor. He wants money. All she has. And if she doesn't follow something he calls The Method, the consequences will be gruesome.

Her comfortable life collapses as precious seconds tick by, and Kate is horrified to uncover the terrible, world-shattering secret she and her son share with a killer who will stop at nothing.…

Genres: Fiction, Thriller, Mystery, Mystery Thriller, Suspense, Adult Fiction, Crime

320 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

Librarian Note: There are several authors in the GoodReads database with this name.

Aka Rodman Philbrick, William R. Dantz, W.R. Philbrick

Rodman Philbrick is an outstanding author who has won the prestigious American Library Association Best Book for Young Adults and Quick Pick Awards. Freak the Mighty has been made into a Hollywood film.

Reviews

[Kinsey Breland .: avid_midnight_reader :.]

I thought this was going to be a rather traditional abduction story, but it soon became a lot more complicated than that.

The leader of the kidnapping group, Cutter, seemed to be really good with kids, which was very surprising. As you learn more about him and his family life, this story just gets more elaborate.

The twists and turns this book ended up taking kept me on the edge of my seat. One of the best kidnapping storylines I’ve ever read.

[Branden Townes]

4th Quarter Book Review of Chris Jordan’s Taken
In Taken, There is a suburban schoolyard and kids are being taken in a blink of an eye. This woman named Kate Blickford her son is kidnapped! Her son was screaming and trying to get ice cream. And then in a blink of an eye her son was kidnapped. She is terribly scared. Kate thinks that she is going to see her son back at home but he wasn’t. Instead of Tommy there was his kidnapper and he wants money. If Kate doesn’t follow whatever he tells her she will get consequences. And they will be hard and brutal.
Chris Jordan wrote this story very well. Chris explained the story perfectly. He had me wanting to read the book more and more. Some of the book he had me really confused though he was doing stuff to the book that sometimes didn’t add up. There were switching the perspectives of the characters which made me a little confused and wanted me to read more. Chris could of changed the parts about Tommy. I would of liked to hear more about him because he was kidnapped for no reason. What readers may take from this book is horror, suspense, and some confusion. This book was suspense throughout the book from where Tommy got kidnapped to the end of the book. There wasn’t that much horror through the book it was mostly suspense.
A message readers may take from this book is to always look out for your children because you never know what can happen to them.
I would recommend this book to anyone that likes to read books that take you off your seats and wants you to read more and more. I would also recommend the book to people that are fine getting maybe scared when they read the book. This book had a lot of suspense in it. I rate this book a 7/10. I rate this book a 7 out of 10 because it was a good book overall but it could of had some changes to it that would make it better.

[Bill Muganda]

3.5 stars....



I loved how the book displayed the length parental love can reach, however It was short so i couldn't somewhat get attached to the characters but I loved how the story played out and the investigative aspect of it (I'm a sucker for investigations and suspense).... Fun read to kick start the year.

[Nikki]

Definition: Unputdownable // un·put·down·a·ble

Adjective: (of a book) So engrossing that one cannot stop reading it.

[Zoe Harrup]

It took me a while to get into this one, although it was good, and I will say, this is one book where I couldn’t pick the plot twists, so that kept things interesting. I liked that the author had each of the characters narrating different chapters, and I found the antagonist’s pov to be highly disturbing, like witnessing a disaster where you can’t look away.

[Michelle Kim]

This book was terrible. It was so hard for me to keep reading because it wasn't interesting at all. I like this genre and was excited to read it, but the concept was so much better than the book itself.

[Janet]

Good thriller! Randall Shane is the recurring character in each of the books in this series. It wasn't my favorite as far as suspense goes, but it kept my interest to the end.

[Kathryn]

Pretty good thriller.
Most far fetched scene is when Kate finds yeast in Shane's refrigerator to make fresh bread. NO WAY that would happen. LOL

[Melanie]

So the plot for this book was good and twisty, with a very origianl reason for the kidnapping. But the author can't get inside a woman's head. I didn't feel like this book was told from a woman's point of view, but from a man's idea of what goes on in a woman's head. I can't put a finger on what it was exactly, but after about ten pages, I had to look at the author's picture in the back to confirm that the "Chris" wasn't short for Christine.

[Mirta Prieto]

queee buen libro este.. quedé super admirada con la valentía de kate, nunca perdió la esperanza de encontrar a su hijo, y gracias a eso nunca se rindió e hizo hasta lo imposible por conseguirlo! los personajes de maria y Randall estaban muy bien construidos. me encantó la forma que tuvo el detective para atar cabos y desenredar la telaraña que cuter formó alrededor de kate y los niños. el final me dejó muy conforme. super recomendable este libro.

[Kez Green]

I read this book in two days. From the beginning it had me hooked. I loved the characters and it was interesting that although Randall Shane is the main character in them it was written from the perspective of his client.
I did guess the twist which I won’t spoil it I think this is more to do with the amount of crime fiction I read rather than the writing. But I’m looking forward to reading the next one

[Shannon]

Kate goes to her son's game, and he disappears. She arrives home to find a stranger in her house, whose demands she does her best to meet. The cops are having trouble sorting out what is really going on, and in fact look at Kate after finding the sheriff in her freezer.

[Serene Dairoshy]

Es un libro que cuenta paso a paso como una madre desesperada recurre a todos los métodos necesarios para recuperar lo que más ama. Este tipo de narrativas que usa el autor, se daría muy bien en una mini serie!

[Paige]

A parent's worse fear comes to life, with a twist for an ending. Suspense filled chapters, with heart stopping suspense, a mother will stop at nothing to get her son back. On the flip side, the abductor will stop at nothing to complete his mission. Who will win?

[Tamara]

Good read! Love these characters and hope to read more of their adventures...

[Ailsa Mummery]

Really good book, with a really good twist ending.

[Brian O'Leary]

Child abducted for unique reason, kind of sticks with you.

[Stephanee]

Light thriller, good summer read.

[Julie]

I found it a bit hard going at first but once I got into it I found it hard to put down!

[Lilly Reads]

Felt like a movie, the whole time reading

[Mackie]

Wow wow wow y ultra wow, este es un libro intrigante y sorprendente de principio a fin. Me tuvo en vilo a lo largo de toda la historia. Simplemente fenomenal 😍😍😍

[Cassie Atkinson]

Kept me engaged. Great ending.

[Mariska]

Heerlijk boek. Zeer fijn om te lezen. Kan niet anders dan 5 sterren geven.

[Fairport Public Library]

June 2011, Kristin G, Fiction

[Tracy]

This book was good enough I sought out and purchased the other 3 in the series.

[Tricia Cassavaugh]

3 1/2 Good but could have been a little more fast paced

[Amy Bradley]

Suspenseful the whole way through!

[Ruth Lorraine]

Great read. How far would you go to protect the ones you love....

[Rachel]

Easy read, some good twists.

[Richard Dougherty]

Good book. Easy read. I will read more in this series