The Taken Ones: A Novel

by Jess Lourey

Overview

Two girls vanished. A woman buried alive. Between two crimes lie decades of secrets yet to be unearthed in a pulse-pounding novel by the Edgar Award–nominated author of Unspeakable Things.

Summer 1980: Despite the local superstition that the Bendy Man haunts the woods, three girls go into a Minnesota forest. Only one comes out, dead silent, her memory gone. 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. They’re both desperate 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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781662507618
Publisher:	Amazon Publishing
Publication date:	09/19/2023
Series:	Steinbeck and Reed , #1
Pages:	332
Sales rank:	55,639
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.88(d)

About the Author

Jess Lourey is the Amazon Charts bestselling author of The Quarry Girls, Litani, Bloodline, Unspeakable Things, The Catalain Book of Secrets, the Salem’s Cipher thrillers, and the Mira James mysteries, among many other works, including short stories, young adult fiction, and nonfiction. Winner of the Anthony and Thriller Awards, Jess is also an Edgar, Agatha, and Lefty Award–nominated author; TEDx presenter; Psychology Today blogger; and recipient of The Loft’s Excellence in Teaching fellowship. Check out her TEDx Talk for the true story behind her debut novel, May Day. She lives in Minneapolis with a rotating batch of foster kittens (and occasional foster puppies, but those goobers are a lot of work). For more information, visit www.jessicalourey.com.

Editorial Reviews

2023-07-26
A police officer fights for her job and her life in this creepy psychological thriller.

Agent Evangeline “Van” Reed grew up physically and mentally abused in a cult known as The Farm. Perhaps that’s why she has premonitions that her former partner on the Minneapolis Police Department took seriously. After his death, she was forced out and now works cold cases for the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, where she’s mentoring Kyle Kaminski, whose early morning call about an odd homicide with a connection to a cold case plunges her into a nightmare. An unhoused person found and tried to rescue a woman buried alive but was too late. Since the lead detective on the case, Dave Comstock, was instrumental in forcing Van out of the MPD, she knows she’s in for trouble. Guided by the findings of legendary crime scene processor Harry Steinbeck, the team thinks the victim is one of the Taken Ones—three girls who walked into the woods 15 miles northwest of Minneapolis in 1980, while only one, Rue Larsen, came out, too traumatized to remember anything. Near the body is a necklace that looks like one that belonged to Rue—half of a heart, whose other half was worn by one of her missing friends. All the while, Van’s recurrent visions of children being tortured revive the bad memories of her own childhood. The original case of the missing girls was horrifying, and digging into the files disturbs Van’s peace of mind, a state she attains only while volunteering at the animal shelter. Comstock, who’s still her enemy, does what he can to make her look bad, but he’s covering up some big mistakes of his own. Van’s insights and some new forensic evidence may crack the case, but not before her life is almost destroyed.

Twists and turns you don’t see coming make for a real page-turner.

Kirkus Reviews

Twists and turns you don’t see coming make for a real page-turner.” —Kirkus Reviews

“There are twists and turns galore that make reading this novel almost unbearably fun and intense. I cannot remember another psychological thriller that created such a dichotomy of feelings about the protagonist, which shows just how talented Jess Lourey is.” —Publishers Weekly

“Jess Lourey’s The Taken Ones is a twisty thriller with a complex, damaged cop in search of someone responsible for the disappearance of two young girls and a recently found adult woman buried alive. You won’t be able to put this down. I promise.” —Montecito Journal

“Setting the standard for top-notch thrillers, The Taken Ones is smart, compelling, and filled with utterly real characters. Lourey brings her formidable storytelling talent to the game and, on top of that, wows us with a deft stylistic touch. This is a one-sitting read!” —Jeffery Deaver, author of The Bone Collector and The Watchmaker’s Hand

“The Taken Ones has Jess Lourey’s trademark of suspense all the way. A damaged and brave heroine, an equally damaged evildoer, and missing girls from long ago all combine to keep the reader rushing through to the explosive ending.” —Charlaine Harris, New York Times bestselling author

“Lourey is at the top of her game with The Taken Ones. A master of building tension while maintaining a riveting pace, Lourey is a hell of a writer on all fronts, but her greatest talent may be her characters. Evangeline Reed, an agent with the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, is a woman with a devastating past and the haunting ability to know the darkest crimes happening around her. She is also exactly the kind of character I would happily follow through a dozen books or more. In awe of her bravery, I also identified with her pain and wanted desperately to protect her. Along with an incredible cast of support characters, The Taken Ones will break your heart wide open and stay with you long after you’ve turned the final page. This is a 2023 must read.” —Danielle Girard, USA Today and Amazon #1 bestselling author of Up Close

From the Publisher