Two girls vanished. A woman buried alive. Between two crimes—decades of secrets yet to be unearthed in a pulse-pounding novel by the Edgar Award–nominated author of Unspeakable Things.
Summer 1980: With no fear of a local superstition, three girls go into a Minnesota wood. Only one comes out. Dead silent. Memory gone. No trace of her friends. 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. Their common ground is the need 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.
In the 1980’s, three girls went out into the woods to play. But only one of them returns back. The case was dubbed as The Taken Ones and remained unsolved until the present day. In the present day, Van who is an agent is assigned to the Taken Ones case along with Henry when one of the girls’ body was found buried alive. Van must solve the case to find what really happened to the other girl by interviewing the only survivor while dealing with her own past that was similar to the Taken Ones case.
I enjoy reading Jess Lourey’s books as her books are all realistic though it is a work of fiction. This book is no exception. This was fast-paced, a page turner and there were times when the author managed to grab the reader’s attention by making the reader feel like they are on the edge of the seat. This book, just like all her other books are a page turner and I couldn’t wait what was going to happen towards the end. I also liked the fact that we get a glimpse of Van’s horrible which I did enjoy reading about. Overall, this is a page-turner twisty novel and worth 4.5 stars!
If you haven’t read Jess Lourey’s books, I recommend read Bloodline, by the same author
Many thanks to Netgalley and the publiher for the ARC. The review is based on my honest opinion only.
Hi, folks! While I write across genres, there’s one universal connecting all my books: secrets. I grew up in a house choking with them, and I remain fascinated by the thoughts and actions we hide from the world.
My beginnings as an author were pretty grim, something I speak about in my TEDx Talk (https://youtu.be/a5vSLh3oPXI). I’ve come a long way since that first book, and I’m proud to call myself an Amazon Charts bestselling, Edgar-nominated, ITW Thriller and Anthony Award-winning author of nonfiction, children’s books, YA adventure, magical realism, and crime fiction. I also love to teach creative writing in international workshops.
I live in Minneapolis with a rotating batch of foster kittens (and occasional foster puppies, but man those goobers are a lot of work). You can find out more at jessicalourey.com.
Thanks for checking out my books! If you’re wondering which to read next, check out my Jess Lourey Book Recommendation Machine: https://forms.gle/SfFSEPt9HZcpLibi6
Tropical Girl Reads 