Torn

Randall Shane #3

by Chris Jordan

In a small New York town, a deranged man holds over one hundred schoolchildren hostage...With the SWAT team about to go in, the gymnasium suddenly explodes in flames. Fortunately, all the students escape--except ten-year-old Noah Corbin. Noah's mother, Haley, is frantic. Was her son killed in the explosion? Did he somehow wander away from the scene, hurt and confused?

Or did someone take him?

Haley hires ex-FBI agent Randall Shane because she needs the truth. Their investigation leads them to a desolate area of the Rocky Mountains, and into the resort compound of a notoriously secretive cult ruled by the rich and powerful.

Haley knows they have something to do with Noah's disappearance. But they will protect their secrets. No matter what.

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

360 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published February 1, 2009

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

[Kristin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this book on my mom's bookshelf a while ago but never got around to reading it until now. Jordan isn't an author she ever mentioned and I didn't see any other books by him on her shelf, so I read 'Torn' as a completely new reader. The description sounded appealing, but it went off on an immediate tangent that didn't quite live up to my hopes. A school shooting and explosion leaves the local police chief dead, along with the shooter. All of the children escape unharmed except 10 year-old Noah, a shy boy still processing the sudden death of his beloved father. When investigators enter the damaged building, they locate the remains of the 2 adults, but there's no sign of Noah's body. Noah's mother, Haley needs to know the truth. No one at the school recalls seeing Noah, but with everyone in an assembly at the time of the shooting, it was chaos getting the entire student body out of the same room as quickly as possible, though they are nearly certain that only the police chief was shot.
Haley stumbles across the name of Randall Shane, an ex-FBI agent who now specializes in finding missing children. Holding out hope that Noah somehow survived and ran away in an attempt to distance himself from this new trauma on top of what he was already trying to cope with, Haley hires Shane to find him. Shane is convinced that there's some connection between Haley's husband's death in a plane crash and Noah's disappearance, especially when it turns out that Haley's father-in-law/Noah's grandfather is the leader of a strange cult in the Rocky Mountains.
If the book would have stuck with the school shooting/explosion angle, I would have enjoyed it more, but once it delved into this cult, I gradually lost interest. Not knowing this was book #3 in the series, perhaps if I'd have read the first two and had more insight into the character of Randall Shane, it would have been better, but I didn't necessarily feel that Jordan had left any major holes in Shane's story that might have made me realize there were other books I needed to read first.
Not entirely sure I'd read another book of Jordan's. Maybe if I see one of those first two books at a used book sale or the library and the plot seems reasonable, I'd give it a try, but I won't go out of my way to find them.

[Ellah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would like to start by saying that Chris Jordan did an amazing job at the world-building as well as the character building of this story. The characters were built in a way that they're unique but not too complicated. It was a good read and the reason it didn't reach 5, or even 4 stars, is that it's a book that i won't voluntarily recommend unless someone asks for the particular genre it belongs to. It's something that would not stick with me for long. There were no big twists, sadly, and I'm a fan of plot twists so that's a also a factor. Also, at the beginning I kept zoning out because it was confusing. It was written mostly in third-person except when it's the mother who is talking, so the switching of POVs really confused. It also contributed as to why I finished the book later than I intended to.
All in all, it was a good read, I was pretty satisfied with the ending, and if you're looking for some suspense with a sprinkle of cult-like conspiracy, you can consider picking this one up.

If you read this or have read any of Chris Jordan's books, feel free to comment down.❤

Also thanks to my bf for giving me this book. Love u always😚

[Josh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Torn Chris Jordan
Noah is held hostage at school, but as all the students are set free, Noah is not to be found. In Torn by Chris Jordan, Noah Corbin is held hostage at his school and he needs to get out, however, the cops bust open the doors and everyone is saved, except Noah. This story is very dramatic and intense. For example, a splatter of blood is found outside of the school and is matched to Noah Corbin’s DNA. Another example is, in part 7 The Bad Clown and part 9 An Angry Blur, the shooter threatens to blow up the school with 50lb of C-4. Noah’s mom, Haley Corbin, is in the crowd of people praying and crying for their kids to come out. To conclude I highly recommend this book because it is very interactive with the reader (meaning you must infer a lot of things) and I recommended this to someone who loves a good mystery.

[Sisimo · Rating 2 out of 5]

A nice thriller to pass some time. Unfortunately I found it quite predictable, so there was no real suspense for me personally.
It is an easy read and I liked the writing style, switching characters with every chapter to get a better insight of the persona and their feelings.
I did not really care about the short love story at the end (but I never care for lovey-dovey stuff in my thrillers)...at least it was just on the last couple of pages. In my opinion did not need to be in the book but at least was written in a fun-cheeky way.

[Gabriel · Rating 3 out of 5]

An entertaining book based on the same familiar theme used by this author as someones child is kidnapped and our main protagonist is trying to save the victim while helping the mother cope with the whole ordeal... not bad if you like this style of thriller suspense...

[Janet · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fairly good addition to this series. They all seem to have the same theme so while I enjoyed reading this, I didn't love it.

[Sheila Myers · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great fast-paced thriller that kept me interested throughout.

[Tracy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this Mr. Shane story as much as the first two maybe more, the happy little ending just got me... what can I say I'm a sucker for happily ever afters.

[*Book Euphoria * · Rating 4 out of 5]

***

[Shera Melton · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have had this book sitting on my self for more than a year. I never read it because the back didn't draw me in. It just seemed cliche and boring. But when I actually started reading it, I was surprised to find it wasn't what I was expected. I loved the way it was written. The short passages that jump around a lot were fun and really kept me interested. I also really liked that the mother's sections were from her point of view. She wasn't whiny, or crying, and there wasn't page after page of internal dialog. It was refreshing for this kind of story. And the story was definitely suspenseful. It kept me a little jumpy, and books don't normally do that. The characters were all very interesting and very detailed, even though there isn't page after page of description to bore you. What I didn't like was that the back was so boring compared to the story inside. And the fact that after reading it, I still have a few questions. Not big questions, everything was pretty much wrapped up, but a few.

Overall, this book was a lot of fun to read, and the writing style was definitely unique. I had fun while I was reading it, but after I finished I didn't find myself being wowed or thinking that I ever might read it again. For me it was one of those books you read out in the sun for entertainment, but not one to think back on or reread.

[Charlie Marston · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not the best of books, certainly not the worst, I found the first part far more interesting than the the middle and the end. To be quite honest the suspense and questions at the start is the only reason I proceeded. I like the way it was wrote, like some of the other people commented, it didn't drone on like lots of books do with unecessary details.

---'Spoiler alert ----


I found it quite predictable, I guessed it was the teacher who was in on it, I guess after the explosion that the child wasn't dead, I guessed the "wigger" youth was gonna be a set up for the rulers to get to the woman. In summary it passed the time and is worth a read if you picked it up at a charity shop for 50 p like I did, though I must say it the back of the book didn't make it sound like the most appealing of books.

[Ann Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this book up by accident...I ordered 'Torn'
by Amber Lehman ...It was a good story...it has been so long since I read anything like it...I am prompted to go and get his two previous books...a story of a mothers love and instinct...not believeing her son was killed one mother takes it upon herself to find him...it is a quick story...really not much time inbetween the action...I would recommend it

[T.M. Carper]

Once I started, I had a hard time stopping with this book. It was great to see Shane again. The cult business took a little getting used to, but the entire novel blends together by the end.



Eva the Diva is diabolical and it doesn't surprise me that she was behind just abut every event in the novel.



A great thriller. Not my favorite Chris Jordan book, but still worth the read.

[Pat · Rating 2 out of 5]

Look, it wasn't that bad . But after reading Chris Jordan's other books it was much the same formula and therefore quite derivative. I enjoy the Shane Randall character but there were no surprises in this book, no twists and no need to guess who the baddies were.
I would have rated it higher if it had been the first book I'd read from this author but after two others along the same lines I suggest it's for a change.

[Grace · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. It started off slowly and I did consider giving up especially after reading some of the other reviews, however I don't like not finishing books and I'm really glad that I persevered because I really got into it and couldn't put it down. I finished this book in 2 days.

[Karen]

I made it to page 80 but unfortunately couldn't get interested in this one.

[Nikki · Rating 3 out of 5]

An enjoyable page turner.

[Dawn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked it. good story line. i liked all the twist and turns that the book gave you to the story. every time you thought you figured things out something else happened.

[Jan · Rating 4 out of 5]

It started off very slow and I was not sure that I would finish it, but I'm so pleased I keep on reading enjoyed it in the end

[Axel Nydén · Rating 2 out of 5]

A pretty OK book; I liked it. Not particularly well-written--at least not the translated version I read (Swedish) but all right all the same. A fascinating book, and a bit scary at times, too.

[Tinamarie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was so difficult to put down. It had intrigue, adventure, and made you feel as you were watching the story unfold in person. I highly recommend this book!