Thursday, June 29, 2017

More bookish suspense...

Title:  The Girl Who Was Taken by Charlie Donlea
First line:  Darkness had forever been part of her life.
Similar read:  The Never List by Koethi Zan

The Plot:  Two girls go missing, both abducted in the summer of 2016:  Nicole Cutty and Megan McDonald. Only Megan comes back.  One year later, they still don't know where Nicole is. Nicole's older sister, Livia, is studying forensic pathology in the hopes of one day figuring out what happened to her sister. But then the body of the man her sister had been dating that last summer shows up in Livia's morgue. It appears he was murdered around the same time her sister went missing. So what happened to him? And what does Megan know that she's not telling? And, most importantly, where is Nicole? Livia can't help digging for  the truth.


The Verdict:  This mystery unfolds in two ways:  through Livia's and Megan's POVs and their actions in the present, and through Nicole's own story in the weeks leading up to her abduction. I don't always love narratives that alternate between the past and the present, but it works here. Each piece of Nicole's story added to the mystery of her disappearance and kept the suspense building which was a nice contrast to Livia's more methodical forensic side of the investigation. And the more I read, the more intense the mystery got. These two sisters could not be more different. Then there's Megan who keeps trying to remember details from her abduction; as she gets closer and closer to the truth the tension really begins to mount. Kudos to Charlie Donlea. The Girl Who Was Taken is an engrossing mystery with several good twists and turns that really kept me guessing. I liked it a lot.

Happy Reading!

12 comments:

  1. I'm glad you enjoyed this book! I finished his other book, Summit Lake, and though it was a suspenseful read there was one scenario which I wasn't buying. That said, I want to read this book. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. There was one small thing at the end of this one that I wished I could change. But then, that change might have made the ending too neat and tidy. All in all, this is a good read.

      Delete
  2. Wow! Sounds like a great mystery book to enjoy this summer. I need to read it! I love when they have different POVs - makes the story more fun to read.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. And the different POVs in this one really added layers to this mystery that made it an above average read. Let me know what you think of it! :)

      Delete
  3. This cover fascinates me. I just sat there staring at her hair for some time. The story sounds very good. Definitely one that would keep you guessing.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That cover is a little mesmerizing. The story is even better. :)

      Delete
  4. Replies
    1. It was a fun read. Have you read Donlea's other book?

      Delete
    2. I abandoned the first book, but Melody read it recently and liked it a lot. I didn't realize when I requested The Girl Who Was Taken that it was by the same author. The first one was a standalone, but this one might have Livia taking the lead in a series.

      Delete
    3. I'd read another book with her as the main character.

      Delete
  5. Oooh, this sounds good! I'm going to add it to my TBR mountain chain. Thanks for the rec!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You're welcome! Hope you enjoy it, too. :)

      Delete