Review: THE GIRL WHO WAS TAKEN by Charlie Donlea

I recognized Charlie Donlea as an exceptional new author when I read his debut novel, SUMMIT LAKE. His new stand-alone, THE GIRL WHO WAS TAKEN, is equally superb. In the small and peaceful, quiet community of Emerson Bay, North Carolina, young women have disappeared. In bordering states, other girls have also gone missing, and some are discovered months, even years, later. Concomitantly, a young man trolls true crime groups and Internet chat rooms, seeking skewed individuals with a similar dark mind-set to his own. Dr. Livia Cutty is a pathology fellow at the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Raleigh. Her autopsy of a corpse suspected to be a bridge jumper begins the unraveling of a complex and deadly mystery as Livia perseveres to reveal truth, no matter how unpalatable.

Having read Summit Lake by this author and really enjoying it, I couldn't wait to read this one. It didn't disappoint in fact I loved this book even more than the previous one, the ending was totally unexpected.

A thriller with lots of things going on that I had no choice but to keep reading to find out what happens!.

A full 5 stars from me for this one, roll on the next book from Charlie Donlea!

Great book, I thoroughly enjoyed it!
A chilling book I couldn't put down.
The plot was clever, lots of red herrings but the ending was quite a surprise.
A chilling book I couldn't put down.

Thank you netgalley the Author and Publisher for a chance to read this book.....

I read over 100 books a year and I already know this is top of the list for 2017. I devoured this in 2 days. Ok if you like to end a book scratching your head then this is for you. This book makes you think and ponder long after the book closes

I have seriously been blown away by this book. I enjoyed Summit Lake by this author, but this story was even better.

THE GIRL WHO WAS TAKEN by Charlie Donlea had me tangled up in plot twists and turns that left me completely surprised at the climax of the plot. I knew the answer, no I didn’t. I knew the answer, no I didn’t. I could NOT put this book down!

The majority of the story is told in the present with Livia Cutty, a fellow in forensic pathology wondering if her missing sister will ever appear on her autopsy table and Megan McDonald, the girl who got away, when both Megan and Nicole Cutty disappeared one summer night. Both are searching for the truth of the girls’ disappearance for differing reasons. Their search is intertwined with flashbacks to the months and days before the abduction and the story of Megan and Nicole’s summer after their senior year in high school.

These characters where all realistic and unforgettable.Megan was not the same girl she was before her abduction and she still doesn’t remember everything from the two weeks she was gone. Mr. Donlea did a great job of showing her before and after and the psychological changes. Nicole was a teen in rebellion and it took so little to tip her over into even darker things. Someone who she thought understood her, changed her whole world in one night.

This was a well written suspense with a plot that keeps you on your toes. This book will definitely be a recommendation read to all my suspense loving friends.

Why forensic pathology? It was a question asked of Livia Cutty at each of her fellowship interviews. Generic answers might have included the desire to help families find closure, the love of science, and the craving to tackle the challenge of finding answers where others see questions. Livia Cutty had a story.

Livia's story is her sister went missing and it is her hope and what drives her to find out what happened to sister. Livia has lived with the guilt of not taking a call from her sister Nicole on the night she went missing and her guilt comes into play when with each body that comes in. Will this be Nicole? Will I be able to find out what happened to her? Who did this to her? The answers come when a young man is pulled from the bay that looks like an attempted suicide. Further study, she determines that he was murdered and when he is identified, she finds out that he was seeing her sister and disappeared the same time her sister was taken. Her quest leads to Megan who was taken at the same time her sister was but was able to break free from her captors. Megan has no memory of what happened but is seeing a doctor to bring back the memories of what happened. Together they work to find out the why and the who and how many more.

Charlie Donlea tells a story well. He uses the same narration of his first book which for me as a reader, hooks me line and sinker. The intensity of the beginning just pulls you as Megan emotions are high in fear trying to escape from the monster that imprisoned her. The narration goes back in forth to present to what took place before the abduction to finding out who and why. There was some confusion and I think it was meant to be as the "monster" in his narration his battling with his mind and the awful desires that drive him. When the monster is revealed, it all falls into place. No giving anything away here. Anyways, Donlea delivers with his characters, plot and delivery. There was a few loose ends for me as to Megan's mother but everything else was so good, I didn't care. Highly recommend for those that love thrillers and page turners!

A Special Thank You to Kensington Books and Netgalley for the ARC and Netgalley for the ARC and the opportunity to post an honest review.

Engaging thriller with plenty of twists and turns! There are many forensic details so those with weak stomachs may want to pass on this. Livia is awesome as a medical examiner, and readers will love her. She is determined to discover what happened to her younger sister whose body has never been found. This hooks you in till the last page, and you'll never see the end coming. This author is on my radar for future novels. I look forward to what he comes up with next.

Whoa...talk about a nail biter. Like seriously, I have none left because of this book. The Girl Who Was Taken focuses on three girls who's lives were forever changed by one night. Megan McDonald, Nicole Cutty, and Livia Cutty. One night, one tragedy, to bind them together.

"People know me as the girl from my book, or as the girl from before the abduction. I'm neither anymore."

Megan McDonald had pretty much the perfect life. She was what you would call a goody-goody. Good grades, involved in her community, never really takes risks, accepted to Duke. Then one night, she goes missing. Two weeks later she's found running down a highway with almost no memory of what happened. Fast forward a year and Megan, still in therapy to try to clear some of the fog, has released a book about her ordeal. The public loves her. She's a success story. But her success overshadows the fact that another girl was also taken the same night, but no one wants to talk about her.

"I know you think everyone has forgotten about Nicole. But I never have."

Nicole Cutty couldn't be more opposite Megan if she tried. She's vulgar, crass, and a little dark. But all of this steams from something that happened in her past. See, when Nicole was young, her cousin and kind of best friend was abducted and never found. This changed Nicole. With no one in her family giving answers or even talking about it, Nicole grows up fascinated by the idea of kidnappings. This ultimately leads her down a dark road where ironically she becomes the victim of the very crime she's obsessed with.

Livia knew she might spend her entire career waiting for Nicole to arrive in her morgue, bu that day would stay somewhere in the ether of the future.A moment suspended in time that Livia would chase but never catch.

Then we have Livia Cutty, Nicole's older sister. Haunted by the one phone call from her sister that she didn't pick up. The phone call from the night Nicole disappeared. Livia lives each day trying to move forward but also expecting her sister's body to wind up in her morgue. When a body arrives in her lab with mysterious findings, Livia is suddenly thrown into the middle of solving a crime that everyone seems to have forgotten.

"I know who took me."

This book hooked me from beginning to end. As a fan of CSI, Criminal Minds, Law & Order, etc., I love trying to solve crimes before the book/episode ends. Sometimes I'm right, sometimes I'm wrong. Donlea did an excellent job at presenting, what I thought were, many suspects. I was always looking for little nuggets of information and trying to tie them to what I had learned about the girls. My original suspect was completely off, but I did solve this one before it was revealed! So yay, point for me lol.

The story is told through a combination of past and present times which worked in it's favor. We got to see the aftermath of the crime and the process of the investigation, but at the same time we got to learn about the girls before the abduction and begin to put the pieces together through that. The views blended perfectly and at no time was I ever confused about what time period I was in, which I have found to be a problem in some books.

I couldn't give this one 5 stars, however, because I just wanted more. When the perpetrator is finally revealed, I couldn't help but want to know more about why this person did what they did. It was kind of like bang, suspect caught, end scene. Yes, we got a few chapters in the perps mind, but this didn't really give me the answers that I needed.

There were good things about this book. I liked the characters and the forensics lesson. Two girls were taken. One came back one did not. It sounded like the kind of thriller I like. Livia is a main character and is the older sister of the girl that is still missing. We spend a lot of time with her searching for what happened to her sister and she is determined to find her, and hopefully not in a body bag on her autopsy table. There is Megan's story too....the girl who came back and somehow escaped her kidnapper. She battles not remembering what happened to her because she was drugged most of the time. I had a problem with part of her story not being all that believable.

I thought the plot was a little too long. I also got confused a few times about the timeline and keeping people straight. The story is told from several different viewpoints and it switches back and forth between before the abduction, day of the abduction, and after the abduction. I did not guess the kidnapper, tho I thought it might be one person or another. I was surprised for sure. I also have to say I didn't care for the ending. I was left annoyed and frustrated. It might ensure that the reader buys the sequel, but, I thought at least another sentence or two would have been much better. I thought perhaps I had a page left out of my ARC. I kept sliding (the ebook on my kindle) while wondering where was the rest of it might be. I found that part disappointing.

I do want to thank the publisher and NetGalley for digital copy to review. I will read other books by this author. I do recommend this one to people who like thrillers. But, if you want everything wrapped up in the ending, it may not be for you.

4.5 stars!
High school students Nicole Cutty and Megan McDonald are last seen at a summer beach party before their disappearance. Though the police force conducted an extensive search for the girls, there were no clues pointing to their whereabouts or what happened to them. Until one day, Megan emerged from the woods after being held for two weeks. One year after her escape, Megan describes her terrifying experience through a best-selling novel that captured national attention. However, her book failed to mention Nicole, who was still missing.

Nicole’s older sister Livia is a fellow in forensic pathology and determined to find out what happened to her sister. When a man’s body ends up on her autopsy table, she soon realizes that he is connected to her sister’s past and she begins to investigate the suspicious circumstances surrounding his death. As Livia digs deeper into her investigation, she discovers that there are other missing girls and she needs Megan’s help.

This book is a slow-burning mystery with plenty of red herrings along the way. I kept thinking I knew how it was going to work out, but I was wrong every time! I found the forensic aspect of the story quite fascinating with some very descriptive autopsies, though I could have done without some of the medical terminology. The characters are well-developed, and I found Megan to be very likeable. I actually held my breath during her therapy sessions in the hopes that she would uncover a memory to help Livia find her sister. Livia was a strong character and I wouldn’t mind if Donlea made a series for her.

I highly recommend The Girl Who Was Taken to readers who love a good mystery.

This was the second book by this author I have read, and he does a really solid job of it.

Nicole and Megan are high school girls who disappear one day and only Megan comes back, two weeks later. She writes a bestselling book about her ordeal but she has gaps in her memory. Can she figure out what REALLY happened to her?

Livia is Nicole's sister - she is training as a pathologist and feeling guilty because she was busy when Nicole needed her the most. A case lands on her desk which seems to have some connection to Megan....and therefore to Nicole. In her spare time, she starts to dig a little bit into Nicole's case, but does she really want to know what has been going on?

I enjoyed this book because it is multi-layered and the story is quite complex. There are many strands which come together and a revelation which was unexpected. However, it had a very abrupt ending which was annoying, and the jumps between the past and the present could have been done better which is why I gave it 4.5 stars instead of 5. This author is clearly very talented when it comes to story telling, there is just a little bit of tweaking to be done, here and there.

A recommended read from me :)

I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book. Thank you to Kensington Publishing Corporation and NetGalley.

I must confess that I absolutely loved Summit Lake so I was extremely excited to receive a copy of Charlie Donlea's newest novel. I really enjoyed this book and with the intensity of the story pushing me forward I flew through this book and was caught off guard by its shocking conclusion! Excellent writing, great characters and lots of twists and turns! I highly recommend this book!

The Girl Who Was Taken is a rollercoaster of a read, and is quite a dark story, as Livia tries to find the answers to the girls abduction. She is also full of guilt as she didn't answer the phone when her sister Nicole tried to call her on the night she was taken and was never seen or heard from again.

As Livia is a fellow in forensic pathology she has to carry out at least one autopsy every day, all very precisely described in detail and which I found fascinating, though I think some squeamish readers may find this hard to stomach, but I thought it was really interesting and all added to the story.

The story went back and forth in time, alternating between present day and the time before the abductions which worked really well in not giving too much information away too soon. I particularly liked the way we were given several suspects and also several red herrings too.

The suspense was drip fed gradually, at just the right pace, slowly building up the tension. A well-written story, with surprises and twists which kept me turning the pages quickly.

Fabulous book! Keeps you guessing right to the end. Highly recommended!

THE GIRL WHO WAS TAKEN by bestselling author Charlie Donlea is a well-written mystery crime suspense thriller that is another winner. I was very impressed with his debut novel, “Summit Lake, that I jumped at the chance to read his new novel.

Charlie Donlea, is a suspense novel, riddled with twists and high tension, about two abducted girls—one who returns, one who doesn’t—and the forensics expert searching for answers.

“Nicole Cutty and Megan McDonald are both high school seniors in the small town of Emerson Bay, North Carolina. When they disappear from a beach party one warm summer night, police launch a massive search. No clues are found, and hope is almost lost until Megan miraculously surfaces after escaping from a bunker deep in the woods.”

After her horrific ordeal, Megan, American girl, daughter of a sheriff, abducted in the summer of 2016, has released her book, “Missing” to tell the story of her abduction and escape. But Nicole is still missing. Nicole’s older sister Livia, a fellow in forensic pathology, expects that one day soon Nicole’s body will be found, and it will be up to someone like Livia to analyze the evidence and finally determine her sister’s fate. Instead, the first clue to Nicole’s disappearance comes from another body that shows up in Livia’s morgue—that of a young man connected to Nicole’s past. Livia reaches out to Megan for help, hoping to learn more about the night the two were taken. Other girls have gone missing too, and Livia is increasingly certain the cases are connected.

But Megan is suffering from flashbacks…and not everything is as was revealed in her book. Memory is coming back and with that comes a darker side.

The timeline jumps between past and present, but easy to follow.

This was a fast-paced mystery whodunit plot that keeps you guessing until the end. The characters were engaging, and it was enjoyable to have the POV from a medical examiner's perspective. And lots of red herrings to throw you off the course. Clues are relayed on a need-to-know basis.

Can you solve this mystery? I didn’t but maybe I wasn’t concentrating enough on all the clues as they were reported.

Many thanks to Mr. Charlie Donlea, Kensington Books, and Net Galley, for an advanced copy of this novel.

I have a thing for kidnapping stories that take place after the victim escaped. For me the aspects of finding a way back to the normal way of living after extreme trauma is a lot more interesting than reading about the abduction itself. So even though I didn't really like Donlea'a previous book I couldn't resist this one.

It's a lot different from the first one and I'm glad he didn't try to repeat the plot of the previous one. Two girls abducted on the same night and only one got home. The missing girl's sister who is a medical examiner cannot find peace till she finds out what happened and the young woman who escaped slowly starts to unfold what really happened that night.

The book is written from many different povs, and the voices of the characters are actually distinguishable, but the writing is lacking at some places unfortunately. The medical jargon sounds forced most of the time, as if the writer was trying to cram in everything he learned while researching the topic and there is still work to do to make the conversations more life-like but this book is a huge improvement compared to the previous one. There were some huge cliches but they weren't that bothersome either because the outcome wasn't simple.

Despite these negative factors we still get a well paced, interesting and complex thriller. After a slightly slow start it captured my attention and kept me guessing till the end, making me excited to know what happens next. I think it's a perfectly entertaining read and I certainly don't regret giving it a shot.

Overall I'd give 3.5 stars.

I'd like to thank Netgalley for providing me an Arc in exchange for a honest review.

The Girl Who Was Taken

This is the first book I've read by this author and by golly it won't be my last! I absolutely loved it and totally recommend it!

Two high school girls Nicole and Megan, disappear from a party one night. Despite police efforts, hope is almost lost until Megan escapes her captor. Nicole remains missing.

Almost a year later, Nicole's older sister, Livia, who is a fellow in forensic pathology, starts to dig deeper in the search for her sister.

I'll say no more about the plot as you can read the blurb yourself...if that doesn't make you pick this book up, I don't know what will!!

This truly is a book that I couldn't put down. As Livia dug deeper and deeper, I could feel myself become more and more emotionally involved in the plot. I felt Livia's pain and anguish, her guilt, and her passion to discover the truth.

The writing in this book is truly beautiful, the plot intricate and the characterisation outstanding. There are twists and turns that will lead you a merry dance but when it clicks who took the girls, you'll be left gobsmacked!

I can't give this book anything less than five stars, if I could give more I would! I read it in two sittings, it would've been less if the kids didn't need feeding-haha!!!

With thanks to Netgalley and the publisher.

The girl who was taken is an excellent book!
The story is thrilling and the characters are well develop, I think Charlie Donlea nail it with this book!
I would totally recommend it!

Do you like to read books that may take a short time to warm up, but then when they do, things take off at a breathtaking pace? Or how about books that are intricately plotted with a cast of well drawn, realistic characters? What about books that skim the boundaries of genre labels and just do their own thing? If you found yourself nodding along while reading that, then I have the book for you!

Stories that focus on the aftermath following an abduction are always quick to draw my attention and though this started off a tiny bit slow, I was still hooked rather quickly. The beginning focuses on Livia as she’s completing her residency in pathology and there is quite a bit of medical jargon used, but that type of thing interests me and Livia’s POV was a new one for me. It uses an alternating timeline from the weeks leading up to the abduction and then over a year after Megan escapes and Nicole is still missing. The chapters are short and extremely fast paced and as things flip back and forth, you slowly but surely find out what happened. Nicole’s flashbacks have crossover appeal as they had a YA feel to them, adding to the realistic writing throughout.

There were a lot of hints dropped that mislead me and in no way did I have it all figured out, Donlea didn’t take the easy way out by going with the obvious answers, he executed some killer twists that left me gasping. I think this is one that will fool even the craftiest of readers, multiple times. At times it was dark as it explored some sick, odd obsessions but that made it all the more of a compulsive read for me. I also really liked the chapters where Megan was doing hypnotherapy sessions as it’s a subject that intrigues me. This was a fantastic, solid mystery that delivered on all levels.

This was an interesting read. It held my attention and kept me guessing til the end. I did not care for that ending at all. One more sentence could have given this a complete ending.