Lanore McIlvrae is brought into a hospital in small town St. Andrews, Maine late one cold night by the police. She had been found wandering the highway in the middle of the night, with blood soaked clothes, and is suspected of murder. Luke Findley is the ER doctor on call who is inexplicably drawn to Lanore as soon as he meets her. Lanore starts to tell Luke a fantastic story, about her childhood in St. Andrews over two hundred years ago. That of course can not possibly be true, until Lanore proves to Luke that in fact her claims of immortality isn’t the stuff of fairy tales. Before you know it, Lanore and Luke are on the run from the police and more of Lanore’s incredible life story unravels, including her life-long love for the self absorbed Jonathan (who also happens to be the man she is suspecting of murdering) and the connection that binds her to Aidar, a sadistic man who made Lanore what she is today. But can Lanore truly run from her past and start over again, or is it only a matter of time until it all catches up to her?
The Taker
What’s interesting about The Taker is that even though I didn’t find the character’s very likeable, I still wanted to continue reading to see what would happen to them. Lanore comes off as selfish and manipulative, Aidar is controlling and just plain crazy and Jonathan as a self absorbed man who has a wandering eye for all the pretty ladies. This would usually turn me off, as I tend to need to get emotionally invested with the characters to care what happens to them. This wasn’t the case however with The Taker. I simply found the story to be so darn intriguing that I just had to continue reading! I was glad though to read in the Q&A section at the back of the book, where the author says that ultimately the characters in the series will struggle with the question of redemption. I’ll be holding my breath to see if in fact the author will make the characters a bit more sympathetic in book two. Regardless, I very much enjoyed The Taker and cannot wait to get my hands on book two, The Reckoning
Yep. I’m going to have to get this one now. You sold me.
Cat – I think you will really like it. It was one of those books that I put down and said “oh no, I have to wait another month for book two! Ugh!”
Yeah this was one WILD RIDE. I totally loved it, despite the fact that the characters were just abhorrent. I just finished Gone Girl, which was another book whose characters were awful but I couldn’t stop reading. I cannot wait for The Reckoning!
Sandy – I read Gone Girl too (my TLC book review will be up late June) and have to agree – bad, bad characters in a really awesome book!
I met Alma at SIBA last year and really want to read this even though it’s outside of my comfort zone.
Kathy – there is a bit of a dark sexual mood within the story, but rather than being graphic it is mostly just implied. Hope you decide to give it a try as I really did find the story fascinating!
This does sound interesting!
Seriously, it was just such a great story – you should really give The Taker a chance!
You have a beautiful, beautiful blog. I’m glad I stopped by just now.
Thank you Beth! I’m glad you stopped by too!
I just heard her talk at a book festival, and I have to admit I wasn’t crazy about the book when I read it. But hearing her interpretation, I know that I need to re-read it, because obviously I took things wrong in it. So I look forward to reading it again with the invaluable insights she provided. Can’t wait, actually!
Now I’m intrigued! What did she say that made you decide to give The Taker another chance?
Okay, trying to read my notes…. she talked about the importance to her of myth and fairy tales for her story, because she felt they are of such enduring relevance and appeal to people (oh, so hoping I’m not mangling what she said!). And so, for example, she wanted to include an equivalent to the dark evil force that so often inhabits fairy tales (i.e., not the cleaned-up Disney ones but the real ones). She emphasized that fairy tales don’t lie to you or sugar-coat reality: bad things really do happen out of the blue and some people have everything and some nothing and that’s just the way it is. So she wanted The Taker to embody those ideas and to have a magical, off-kilter feel. Moreover, she said (epiphany for me!) that the fairy tale that most inspired The Taker was Pinnochio! WHO WOULDA GUESSED! Her new book coming out (the sequel) owes more to Beauty and The Beast. Now, I can’t wait to reread with those insights and with looking for the parallels to Pinnochio! Also, I sort of approached The Taker with the idea of yuck – this evil is just TOO icky (for want of a more sophisticated term) and I hate it. On the contrary, she says it is necessary to provide testing and challenge for the hero (insert Joseph Campbell analysis here I didn’t get too well), and to show the hero what the world is like – but the hero doesn’t just capitulate in the face of such evil but struggles to overcome it. She didn’t talk about why she chose the particular manifestation of evil that she did, but I did get a much better feel for the need for it to drive the story.
Well, I guess you had to be there! LOL
Sorry to have made you write all that! I really appreciate it though, and think now if the author comes to NJ on tour I’ll have to jump at the chance to see her!
You hit the nail on the head for the reasons why I just didn’t enjoy this book! I could not for the life of me identify with or connect with the main characters. I made it 3/4ths of the way through the book before I finally gave up. I admit that I’m interested in seeing how it ended but I really don’t care what happens to any of the characters. I was so disappointed because I have read tons of good reviews. I’m glad to hear that you liked it so much though!