Taken

Taken

Dee Henderson

Bethany House Publishers

Abducted at the age of sixteen and coerced into assisting the Jacoby crime family, Shannon Bliss has finally found a way out. She desperately wants to resume some semblance of normal life, but she also knows she has some unfinished business to attend to. She has enough evidence to put her captors behind bars for a very long time.

When Shannon contacts private investigator and former cop Matthew Dane to help her navigate her reentry into society, she quickly discovers that gaining her freedom doesn’t mean her troubles are over. For one thing, her brother is the leading candidate in the race for Illinois governor, and news of her escape will create a media frenzy. For another, the ransom her family reportedly paid years earlier appears to have been a scam; no one knows what happened to the money. And then there’s the fact that Shannon’s escape involved faking her own death. If the Jacoby family learns she is still alive, they’ll stop at nothing to silence her.

If justice is to be done, and if Shannon’s life is ever to get on track again, Matthew will need to discover exactly what happened to her–even if it means stirring up a hornet’s nest of secrets

   Remember my review of Undetected last year? Though it wasn't a favorite, it did remind me of how I enjoyed past books by Dee Henderson, so I decided to check this one out.

   While I definitely enjoyed this book better than the last, I had a lot of the same problems. Despite being labeled "romantic suspense" there was very little of either in this novel. There were never any moments where my heart pounded or where I didn't know what was going to happen, and all of the character's actions were very controlled...everyone seemed to act perfectly somehow? I don't know if I'm really making sense here, but the characters, while not being unrealistic or even shallow were very...controlled. Yes, repeating myself there but that's the only word I can think of. Nothing unexpected happened and I never really felt like anyone was in danger at all during the course of the story; the book seemed to be dealing with the aftermath of something that had already happened.

   Also, I feel like the romance fell really short. Believe me, I'm not a "romanc-y" person but the relationship between the two characters, while it could have really worked, fell a little flat. Not that I wanted a whole lot of "mushiness," but some conflict or lively conversation between the characters would have been nice, at least.

   I wasn't bored with this book; it kept my interest and, like I said, I liked it better than Undetected. But it wasn't quite what I was hoping for and I admit to being a little disappointed.

Rating: 7

I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for my honest review.