The Taken Ones

A Novel (Steinbeck and Reed, Book 1)

By: Jess Lourey

Narrated by: Carly Robins

Length: 10 hrs and 31 mins

Publisher's summary

Two girls vanished. A woman buried alive. Between two crimes lie decades of secrets yet to be unearthed in a pulse-pounding novel by the Edgar Award-nominated author of Unspeakable Things.

Summer 1980: Despite the local superstition that the Bendy Man haunts the woods, three girls go into a Minnesota forest. Only one comes out, dead silent, her memory gone. The mystery of the Taken Ones captures the nation.

Summer 2022: Cold case detective Van Reed and forensic scientist Harry Steinbeck are assigned a disturbing homicide—a woman buried alive, clutching a heart charm necklace belonging to one of the vanished girls. Van follows her gut. Harry trusts in facts. They’re both desperate to catch a killer before he kills again. They have something else in common: each has ties to the original case in ways they’re reluctant to share.

As Van and Harry connect the crimes of the past and the present, Van struggles with memories of her own nightmarish childhood—and the fear that uncovering the truth of the Taken Ones will lead her down a path from which she, too, may never return.

©2023 Jess Lourey. (P)2023 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Critic reviews

“Narrator Carly Robins ramps up the tension, portraying Van's increasingly fraught state as things hit uncomfortably close to home. Lourey (The Quarry Girls) skillfully uses flashbacks and changes in perspective to create a deeply suspenseful listening experience. Share with fans of mysteries and suspense involving intriguing women detectives who employ a hint of the supernatural.”—Library Journal

“Twists and turns you don’t see coming make for a real page-turner.”—Kirkus Reviews

“There are twists and turns galore that make reading this novel almost unbearably fun and intense. I cannot remember another psychological thriller that created such a dichotomy of feelings about the protagonist, which shows just how talented Jess Lourey is.”—Publishers Weekly

Plot was good, but hard to follow

Overall plot was good, but the narrator’s cadence and the way the book’s chapters were written, made the first half of the book very hard to follow. I felt like it was jumping all over the place. I’m glad I finished it though.

It Was Pretty Good

This book held my attention the entire time I was listening and was very interesting to say the least. I liked the twists and turns when it came to the life of our main character. I think I would have liked more development in the secondary character, Harry, I think the plot had amazing ideas but that they fell short or being fulfilled to their fullest. I think the concept was there just not fulfilled to the fullest extent. I am interested to know what the next book holds.

Really great story

I really enjoyed the characters and I hope that she has a sequel on the way!

Great series start.

Great mystery suspense with a little paranormal twise. Van, Evangalina, Reed, is a detective in the cold case devision. A 10 year veteren, fromer homicide detective, who was drummed out of the department after the death of her partner. She is finding her place in her new unit.
A buried alive murder has ties to a 1980 cold case, and puts Van as lead investigator. She has to work with her nemeise from homicide, Detective Dave Comstock, a friend to her deceased partner Bart, who turned on her after his death. She is determined to pruve herself. She has a great team to work with. Detective Kyle Kaminski, who she is mentoring. Forensic scientist, Harry Steinbeck, and his team. Forensic photographer, Deepty Singh and investigator Johnna Lewis, a trace evidence specialist.
The story jumps from the present to the past, in both the case and Van's life. Van is brillient and troubled. Her childhood on a commune was abusive and tramatic. Her former partner shiled her as much as he could, while fostering her "intuitive" gift. Her gift has been telling her things,about her current case, and she is struggling with putting the pieces together with out Barts help. Van tentively starts to give Harry hints. Harry trys to support, though he does not understand. He has some suspicions about her and a past case.
While Van navigates her cold case, Comstock is determined to see her fail. As Van cloeses the case, she lets the true nature of her "intuition'" slip to Harry. Trough the case she deals with some of her own past and finds a new strength.
Great story, looing forward to the next book, What is Harry's secreat.

Just do it!

I went in ‘blind’ off the few reviews; Aaahhhhmazing. Honestly this has the potential to really sore as a series. Cannot wait to start the next!

The suspense.

The Twist to everyone in the story is what kept me listening until the end

This was a decent mystery

This story was good, intriguing and kept me interested. Not the best I’ve read but certainly not the worst.

Great Book!

I really enjoyed this book! I hope that the authors book 2 will be on its way! I don’t like reading books that it’s sequel is so far in advance! Especially since we were left with Harry, getting ready to reveal his secret to Van! That was a twist I did not expect! The author once again has a book I couldn’t stop reading and listening to until it reached the end. The narrator did a great job also. I love Jess Lourey’s books!

Pleasantly surprised by this one

This is my 1st book read in this series and I am definitely looking forward to more. It starts out interesting but slows down about midway through. Be sure and stick it out bc it picks up and turns out to be a unique protagonist that had me Googling to verify facts. I listen to 1-2 audiobooks a week and I often get halfway into a fiction book and realize that I’m not listening bc I’ve lost all interest. This one kept my attention.

Great!

Loved the story & the characters. The author did a great job of keeping it interesting but descriptive.

Hope it’s a series!