Book Review: The Taker

"True love can last an eternity... but immortality comes at a price...
On the midnight shift at a hospital in rural Maine, Dr. Luke Findley is expecting another quiet evening of frostbite and the occasional domestic dispute. But the minute Lanore McIlvrae—Lanny—walks into his ER, she changes his life forever. A mysterious woman with a past and plenty of dark secrets, Lanny is unlike anyone Luke has ever met. He is inexplicably drawn to her, despite the fact that she is a murder suspect with a police escort. And as she begins to tell her story, a story of enduring love and consummate betrayal that transcends time and mortality, Luke finds himself utterly captivated.

Her impassioned account begins at the turn of the nineteenth century in the same small town of St. Andrew, Maine, back when it was a Puritan settlement. Consumed as a child by her love for the son of the town’s founder, Lanny will do anything to be with him forever. But the price she pays is steep—an immortal bond that chains her to a terrible fate for all eternity. And now, two centuries later, the key to her healing and her salvation lies with Dr. Luke Findley.

Part historical novel, part supernatural page-turner, The Taker is an unforgettable tale about the power of unrequited love not only to elevate and sustain, but also to blind and ultimately destroy, and how each of us is responsible for finding our own path to redemption." ~ From Goodreads

Alma Katsu's The Taker is a story within a story (with another story thrown in for good measure); a back and forth between past and present, weaving the tale of Lanny McIlvrae and her one, great love. I had been drawn to this book in the store a couple of times, mainly due to the striking cover, but put off reading it until recently. I have a habit of not starting a series until the next book is already available, so I can continue the story immediately if I get sucked in. Book #2 in The Taker Trilogy, The Recknoning, is available now. It's a testatment to the hook at the end of The Taker that I'm considering reading the second installment. I know a lot of people loved The Taker, and there is something engrossing about the story, but I can't say I loved this one, although it's difficult to summize my feelings while staying away from spoilers.

Characters - I can't say I fell in love with Lanny, although I didn't hate her either. To me Lanny is a character that was led by her whims and desires, not really concerning herself with how her actions affected others. There's sympathy, because at the beginning of the novel Lanny is innocent, but it doesn't seem that she ever stops to think. As much as Lanny professes to love Jonathan there's little that she does that would support that notion. I'm more convinced that she was in love with the idea of being in love with her stunningly beautiful Jonathan. Whatever dislike I felt for Lanny was probably increased by the fact that Jonathan didn't really seem like someone worthy of anyone's undying affection. Fickle, cowardly, and selfish, he does seem to be the only one who makes any moves to redeem himself by the book's end. As for Dr. Luke, he's, well, blah. Nice enough, kind of sad, definitely not the type of love interest that would make me swoon, but perhaps that's the point. Maybe Lanny's had enough of those swoon inducing types. Adair was probably the most compelling, if not likable, character in my eyes.

Plot - The premise of this novel is a good one and I did enjoy the story that Katsu spun. I also really liked the twist, however, the present day part of the story was boring to the extreme in my opinion. The fact that it was written in the present tense was also quite distracting to me. And while the synopsis talks about true love there is scant little of it in this book from what I could tell, although there is sex and excess. Or at least refrences and allusions to sex and excess and abuse. There are still two more books to go in this series, so I'm assuming that there are resolutions for Lanny and the story that are still to come, but in and of itself The Taker left me feeling unsatisfied.

First Line - "Goddamned freezing cold. Luke Findley's breath hangs in the air, nearly a solid thing shaped like a frozen wasp's nest, wrung of all its oxygen."

Have you read this book?

Agree with me? Think I'm crazy?

I'd love to hear your opinion!