I was very happy to be offered the opportunity to stretch my reading muscles with this not quite historical fiction, not quite fantasy novel from Simon and Schuster. They sent me a copy of The Taker by Alma Katsu at no charge for my honest review.
About The Taker:
True love can last an eternity . . . but immortality comes at a price. . . .
On the midnight shift at a hospital in rural Maine, Dr. Luke Findley is expecting another quiet evening of frostbite and the occasional domestic dispute. But the minute Lanore McIlvrae—Lanny—walks into his ER, she changes his life forever.
A mysterious woman with a past and plenty of dark secrets, Lanny is unlike anyone Luke has ever met. He is inexplicably drawn to her . . . despite the fact that she is a murder suspect with a police escort. And as she begins to tell her story, a story of enduring love and consummate betrayal that transcends time and mortality, Luke finds himself utterly captivated.
Her impassioned account begins at the turn of the nineteenth century in the same small town of St. Andrew, Maine, back when it was a Puritan settlement. Consumed as a child by her love for the son of the town’s founder, Lanny will do anything to be with him forever. But the price she pays is steep—an immortal bond that chains her to a terrible fate for all eternity. And now, two centuries later, the key to her healing and her salvation lies with Dr. Luke Findley.
Part historical novel, part supernatural page-turner, The Taker is an unforgettable tale about the power of unrequited love not only to elevate and sustain, but also to blind and ultimately destroy, and how each of us is responsible for finding our own path to redemption.
About the Author:
Alma Katsu is the award-winning author of six novels, most recently Red Widow, The Deep, and The Hunger. She is a graduate of the master’s writing program at the Johns Hopkins University and received her bachelor’s degree from Brandeis University. Prior to the publication of her first novel, Katsu had a long career as a senior intelligence analyst for several U.S. agencies. She lives in West Virginia with her husband.
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My Opinion:
One of the things I most enjoy about reviewing books is the wide range of titles that come before me. Every so often I stray from my comfort zone and choose a book I would not ordinarily read to challenge myself. As I am sure you can tell I adore historical fiction but sometimes it is good to stray a bit.
While The Taker has hints of that genre present, is is first and foremost a love story. The synopsis fails to describe just how rich and involving this book truly is. I started it reluctantly because I am not generally a fan of this type of book but, BUT once I started reading I simply could not put it down.
The story draws you in and you find yourself in a world, well two worlds actually and you don’t want to leave either one until you come to the end. But you don’t want it to end. Ms. Katsu has that kind of writing style that is so masterful and fluid that you don’t feel like you are reading rather that you are just floating along in her world.
The characters are all well rounded – none are perfectly good or totally evil. Their development is nice and slow so that your really get to know them and sometimes something one of them does will really shock you. Ms. Katsu keeps you on your reading toes with quite a few surprising twists and turns.
My only slight disappointment was the ending – I felt it just felt faded compared to the power of the rest of the tale. This is truly, though one of the best books I have read this year.
Rating:
4.5
Continue with The Taker Trilogy:
Also by Alma Katsu:
