Taken [Mass Market Paperback]

Chris Jordan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 2007

No parent believes it can happen to them—their child taken from a suburban schoolyard in the gentle hours of dusk. But as widowed mother Kate Bickford discovers, everything can change in the blink of an eye. One minute her lanky, amazing, maddening Tommy is begging for ice cream. Then in a terrible instant, he's gone.

Opening the door to her Connecticut home, hoping to find her son, Kate comes face-to-face with her son's abductor. He wants money. All she has. And if she doesn't follow something he calls The Method, the consequences will be gruesome.

Her comfortable life collapses as precious seconds tick by, and Kate is horrified to uncover the terrible, world-shattering secret she and her son share with a killer who will stop at nothing.…

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

When caterer Kate Bickford's 11-year-old son, Tomas, vanishes after his Little League game in Fairfax, Conn., she races home, hoping to find him. Instead, she discovers a mother's worst nightmare: Tomas's kidnapper, Capt. Steve Cutter (former Special Ops). Cutter is not only an abductor but also a ruthless liar, who frames the wealthy young widow for the murder of her son's baseball coach, Sheriff Fred Corso, whose body has been dumped in Kate's basement freezer. After delivering the ransom that Cutter demands, Kate soon discovers the kidnapper has no intention of returning Tomas, and she is the prime suspect in Corso's murder. To make matters worse, the authorities seem totally indifferent to finding her missing child, the one false note in this otherwise riveting suspense tale from Jordan, pen name for Rodman Philbrick (Freak the Mighty). Kate hires Maria Savalo, a sharp attorney, and Randall Shane, an eccentric expert in child abduction cases, and even snags assistance from two of her loyal employees to find Tomas. Jordan's full-throttle style makes this an emotionally rewarding thriller that moves like lightning. (July)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

". . . a single mother's terrifying fight . . . will send chills up your spine." -- New York Times bestselling author Steve Berry

"Harlan Coben meets Mary Higgins-Clark -- that's Taken." -- Steve Berry, New York Times bestselling author of The Templar Legacy

"Jordan's full-throttle style makes this an emotionally rewarding thriller that moves like lightning." -- Publishers Weekly on Taken

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Mira (August 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0778324680
• ISBN-13: 978-0778324683
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #648,800 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Chris Jordan is one of the pen names for author Rodman Philbrick. His other pen names include W.R.Philbrick and William R. Dantz. You can check out his bio at rodmanphilbrick.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars character driven chilling tale, July 5, 2006

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Taken (Mira Single Title Hardbacks S.) (Hardcover)

In Fairfax, Connecticut, widow Kate Bickford watches her eleven years old son Tomas stroke the winning hit in a Little League game. Afterward he goes to purchase a sundae while his mom goes to their minivan to wait for him. Her child never shows up. When a few minutes pass and no one knows where he went, a stunned Kate heads home assuming a communication mix-up, but Tommy is not who greets her.

Inside her home waiting for her is Tommy's kidnapper, former Special Ops officer Steve Cutter, who coldly explains how to get her son back before he departs. Complicating matters for the frantic mother is Cutter has left her a mess in her basement freezer; the murdered corpse of Sheriff Fred Corso, the coach of Tommy's baseball team. The police believe Kate killed Fred in a probable lovers' quarrel and do little to search for Tommy as they do not believe her that her son is in trouble. Kate knows she needs professional help on her two-front war. She retains attorney Maria Savalo to deal with the cops and child abduction recovery expert Randall Shane to deal with Cutter; she needs both to rescue Tommy.

Chris Jordon pens a tense character driven chilling tale that grips the audience from the moment that Kate meets Cutter who has already TAKEN her son, invaded her home, and murdered the sheriff. Readers initially believe that the kidnapper is only after some easy money and willing to kill to obtain it, but soon realize that his motive is much stronger and deeper than cash. Though the behavior of law enforcement seems odd with the alerts on child abductions, fans will consider this one of the short list novels for thriller of the year.

Harriet Klausner

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable, Fast-Paced Read, July 25, 2006

By 

Thriller Lover (Las Vegas, Nevada) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Taken (Mira Single Title Hardbacks S.) (Hardcover)

If you like your thrillers fast-paced and leanly written, this novel is a good choice.

The action pretty much starts right within the first few pages: Kate Bickford's 11-year old son has been kidnapped, and she is desperate to find him. Her quest to find her son involves a lot of twists and turns, and the author does a good job of keeping the action moving. I read this book in one sitting.

The major downside of this book is the rather flat characterization. Kate Bickford, the central character, doesn't have much of a personality. I felt sympathy for her plight, but she ultimately seemed rather bland to me. I also found much of the dialogue in this book to be rather pedestrian.

I recommend this novel to people who enjoy a good suspense story that is fast-paced and easy to read. But if you're looking for sparking dialogue or fully-developed characters, I would recommend checking out the work of Robert Parker or Harlan Coben instead.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not bad, July 12, 2008

By 

ranger11_99 "ranger11_99" (Upper Saddle River, NJ United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Taken (Mass Market Paperback)

I think the book is fast paced and well written. It's different than the usual books I read but I'd says it is comparable to Stephen Hunter's "Dirty White Boy". This is the first Jordan book I've read and I'm hoping Mr. Shane is a character in other books.

Jordan's character development is fine by me and the book keeps you interested. Almost a cover to cover read in one sitting.