Taker of Lives

By: Leslie Wolfe

Narrated by: Andrew Tell

Length: 11 hrs and 3 mins

Publisher's Summary

A Gripping serial killer thriller

How can you outrun a killer you won’t see coming?

They are the most violent, blood-thirsty, and vicious of criminals. While hunting for them, FBI profilers call these monsters UNSUBS, short for "unknown subjects of ongoing investigations". At any given time, in the United States there are more than 50 serial killers at large, preying on vulnerable, unsuspecting victims. 

Until yesterday, no one knew Florida had another serial killer on the loose. Special Agent Tess Winnett calls this particularly elusive one the "Taker of Lives".

The crimes: bewildering.

After a well-known model commits suicide, Tess refuses to accept the findings and pushes for an investigation into the reasons behind the beautiful young woman’s decision to end her life. What she finds surpasses her wildest fears.

The evidence: disturbing.

Each new crime scene brings more questions than answers. While secrets are revealed, even those meant to be kept forever in the dark, Tess can draw only one conclusion: She’s not the one in charge; the Taker of Lives controls the game, the players, even the course of the investigation. 

The race: intense.

With little information and even less evidence, Tess must connect the dots of a deadly scenario with a large number of potential victims. If she fails, another beautiful, young girl will die tonight, and the blood will be on her hands.

The Taker of Lives might be closer than you think. Who’s watching you sleep tonight?

The best-selling author of Las Vegas Girl is back with another suspenseful, gripping crime thriller. If you’re a fan of David Baldacci, Melinda Leigh, and James Patterson, you will enjoy Leslie Wolfe’s engrossing police procedural that will keep you listening until dawn. 

©2018 Leslie Wolfe (P)2018 Leslie Wolfe

Painful to finish.

After listening for one hour I only continue to listen because I’m not a quitter. Two points made the book unenjoyable for me - the killer’s identity was obvious during the first crime scene and the lack of character development made the story pointless.

Gripping listen!!

I really enjoyed this book and this series. Leslie Wofle is a talented author and like her other books, I wanted to lock the door and listen to the story in peace until I finished it.
I read the book when it first came out and really enjoyed it so when it was released as a audio I snapped it up. It was surprising how much I remembered of the book as it happened, I think because it was so gripping I remembered it, this didn't spoil the story though.

In this day and age with social media and celebrities famous for just being famous, it is scary how easy it is for things to be manipulated or corrupted. In this book Special Agent Tess Winnett tags along on a suicide case. Its not long before something is telling her it needs to be looked into more and not to just write of as a tragic senseless death of a beautiful young women, and when she and the team start dig its not long before they make it onto the killers radar and the bodies start to build up with no way to stop them. With the power of the internet on the killer's side can Tess and her team come up with a profile and a victim list to stop the killer. With her usual twists and clues it was a very good read and I would recommend the book.
The narrator was very good and easy to listen to.

Excellent

Christina. a nightmare, so real, was it from low blood sugar, not eating enough, she was twenty four, the last edge of being a wanted model.
To take a shower and notice the uneven buttons, the nightmare was real.
Special Agent Tess.and Detective Fradella, a friend, who was a friend or what ever she allowed him to be. Gets a call, a suicide they say, full bottles of pills, this person wanted to die. High end security, engaged,doesn’t add up to suicide, Tess feels. The parents finally tell her, what happened the night before, and in their own home. The fiancé was out of town, she had called, when she told him, he broke it off. The murder was planned vengeful and targeted. This story was so real you felt you knew the people, the plot flowed, as you try to grasp the horror, of who this invader was. He is known as “The Taker of Lives”. Riveting, compelling one to read, to the end, you have questions, wanting answers, will he be stopped. I thought this was the best that Leslie has written.
Given audio for my voluntary review and my honest opinion
Was excellent and added to story

I Was On The Edge of my Seat, I Was Enthralled!

This is a book by an author who is fast becoming one of my favorite authors of this genre, so much so that even though I purchased and read the eBook when it was first released I really wanted to listen to this audio version.

The story starts when FBI Special Agent Tess Winnett is out running with her friend and colleague, Detective Fradella who works for the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office. When he is called to attend a suicide of a young model Tess, who has tagged along, sees something the police and coroner do not and firmly believes that this was not suicided. She gets permission from the Police Chief for her and, therefore, the FBI to "help with their investigation". She is proved right this was not suicide and so begins the hunt for "The Taker Of Lives".

I could not stop listening to this one, I found myself resenting having to stop for even the shortest time! Leslie Wolfe has written such a fantastically thrilling and disturbing tale with so many twists and turns that I found myself totally enthralled. The story moves along at a really fast pace as the team Tess, Fradella his partner Michowsky, and super analyst Donovan (D) together with a little help now and again from her mentor work to catch The Taker who always seems to be at least one step ahead of them, How?

There is also a second separate story here as well which runs alongside but does impact upon the original investigation. Tess has agreed to help her boss with a special project involving his own daughter, to do this she enlists the help of Michowsky, who is feeling a little out of his depth working the "The Taker's" case as it involves work he doesn't really understand as well as the rest of the team. The case she asks for his help with is not only old-school police work it is vitally important to both Tess and her boss Pearson.

I love the way Leslie builds her characters, some of whom you may know from earlier books, but even if you don't you soon get to know them well. I love the depth she gives to all the characters, no character is insignificant. In this book, you hear personally from The Taker and get to know what is driving the killings, you can't help but marvel at the cleverness of The Taker's crimes whilst holding your breath hoping each time that The Taker will be caught.

The narrator Andrew Tell does an incredible job with this story, each character is distinct and the inflections used helped to create a more vivid picture in my mind making it possible for me to get much more from the story than I did when I read the book originally. This book is gripping with a storyline that is so full of surprises it kept me on the end of my seat. Who was killing these women? I for one did not guess who it was, will you?

I was given a copy of this audiobook as a gift and am voluntarily writing my review.

Excellent Ride

Phew, gut wrenching ride, psychological thriller, murder, mystery, police. What a ride. Read the synopsis and know its better than that. Treat yourself. Read, or listen to the book!

An excellent story, brilliantly narrated

I hadn't read the book before listening to this audiobook, but this made no difference as it's such an excellent story, brilliantly narrated by Andrew Tell, that it swept me up and kept me entranced from beginning to end. So much so, I've listened to it three times so far and am already listening to it again! I'd definitely recommend it to anyone who likes murder-mysteries and psychological thrillers, and I can't wait to read (and listen to!) more books in the series!
NB I received a complimentary copy of this book, but I always give an HONEST review based wholly on my own opinions