Girl, Taken

An Ella Dark FBI Suspense Thriller, Book 2

By: Blake Pierce

Narrated by: Amanda Goettl

FBI Agent Ella Dark has studied serial killers from the time she could read, devastated by the murder of her own father, and has gained an encyclopedic knowledge of murderers. But when victims are found murdered in the Pacific Northwest, their bodies strung up high in the branches of Redwood trees, Ella finds everything she’s known to be put to the test. Is she wrong?

“A MASTERPIECE OF THRILLER AND MYSTERY. Blake Pierce did a magnificent job developing characters with a psychological side so well described that we feel inside their minds, follow their fears and cheer for their success. Full of twists, this book will keep you awake until the turn of the last page.”

--Books and Movie Reviews, Roberto Mattos (re Once Gone)

GIRL, TAKEN (An Ella Dark FBI Suspense Thriller) is book #2 in a long-anticipated new series by #1 bestseller and USA Today bestselling author Blake Pierce, whose bestseller Once Gone (a free download) has received over 1,000 five star reviews.

FBI Agent Ella Dark, 29, is given her big chance to achieve her life’s dream: to join the Behavioral Crimes Unit. Ella’s hidden obsession of gaining an encyclopedic knowledge of serial killers has led to her being singled out for her brilliant mind, and invited to join the big leagues.

This time, though, Ella’s special talent seems to have disappeared.

Can she catch a killer without it?

Or will it return to her too late?

A page-turning and harrowing crime thriller featuring a brilliant and tortured FBI agent, the ELLA DARK series is a riveting mystery, packed with suspense, twists and turns, revelations, and driven by a breakneck pace that will keep you flipping pages late into the night.

Books #3-#9 are also available!

©2021 Blake Pierce (P)2021 Blake Pierce

It never captured my interest

I tried to like this book, but the narration never grabbed my attention.

The voice did not blend from Start to finish even though it was read by the same person. It seems like the reader got tired and modulation was high and low.

I struggled to stay awake while listening throughout.

Very Grating Narration

I love audio books. It’s my main source of entertainment. A good story, well-read, is a true pleasure.

This isn’t that.

The narrator was so awful I struggled just to finish the book. Although I really enjoyed the first novel of this series, I don’t think I will purchase any others of the series. The flat, toneless narration, delivered in a very predictable, sing-song cadence, was good to fall asleep to, but made it difficult to listen to otherwise. And the narrator’s upper Midwest accent was also not pleasing. Good narration makes you forget that one person is playing all the characters of the book. Each character has a distinct voice. This narration showed zero acting ability. I feel the average 6th grader could have read it with the same level of skill.

The poor narration emphasized some amateurish aspects of the writing that I didn’t notice in the first book. Namely, referring to the ground in an outdoor setting as “the floor” multiple times. Is English not the authors first language? Since when does a parking lot or park have a floor?

Also, over-using cliches like “dead to rights”. It comes off as tired, unimaginative and fake.Like watching old Drag Net episodes.

And most amateurish of all, writing the main characters as super human. I’m fine with Ella having martial arts skills, but when she is nearly strangled to death, has her wind-pipe crushed,gets a concussion and has traumatic injuries to her spine while being in a fight and does not go to the hospital but goes right back to work, it goes beyond credulity.

I’m very disappointed in this series. I hoped it would provide many books for me to enjoy. Sadly, it would take a lot to convince me to try another one.

Great book

Great book by Blake Pierce. Unfortunately, narration is monotone and detracts from the book. The audio version is very hard to listen to. First book was great and had a wonderful narrator. Read this book to fully appreciate the book.

poor ending spoiled it for me

Editor shares responsibility...what were you thinking? Nobody would notice? Actually I saw foreshadowing earlier on.

I won’t listen to this narrator again

Narration was painful, dull, lifeless. Hard to follow even because I’d get tired from listening. I’ll be more careful next time and check the narrator first.