A homicide where a woman is buried alive leads to the reopening of a cold case from 1980.

This was a good start for a new detective series that I’m excited to read more of. I loved the ending and how it set it up for more character depth in the next books. There was a creepiness factor added to this one because of local legends. I would have loved if that was leaned into even more. I don’t typically love detective and investigative stories, but I enjoyed this one.

“Those closest to us are the most dangerous to us. It’s the risk of human relationships.”

The Taken Ones comes out 9/19.

I love a good police procedural book every now and then and this one checked all my boxes! I loved the story and found myself so invested in it and had a hard time putting it down. I loved the interactions between Steinbeck and Reed and can’t wait to see how their story and friendship grows. I had no idea who the perpetrator was until close to the end and found their story so unique from other books of this kind. I also liked how the story wrapped up almost completely and then left a big cliffhanger at the end. I can’t wait to read the next book in this series next year and need more Steinbeck and Reed adventures in my life asap! Somehow this was my first Jess Lourey book but I’m hooked and can’t wait to read some of her others.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for the early digital copy for my honest thoughts and review.

The Taken Ones is one of the best thrillers I've read this year! I'm hoping this is a new series as Jess Lourey has created memorable characters that have been through so much in life that you grow to genuinely care about them. The Taken Ones is told in two timelines, 1980 and present day. In the summer of 1980, 3 girls went into the woods to go to the creek to swim, but only one came out. Two of the girls were 8 years old and one was the younger sister who was 5. The older sister, Rue, is the girl that made it out. She was found standing in the road near her home by a neighbor. Rue was barefoot in the road and it was a record breaking hot day. The tar on the road was bubbling and it melted the flesh off the bottom of Rue's feet. She didn't seem to notice and didn't speak for months after. When she did speak she had no memory of what happened in the woods.

In the summer of 2022, Van Reed was working cold cases with forensic specialist Harry Steinbeck and her partner, Kyle. Kyle was new and she was mentoring him. The team got a call about a disturbing case in which a homeless man heard a woman crying and calling out. As the man looked for her to help her, he couldn't see her. Then he realized that the sound was coming from below the dirt. The woman had been buried alive! The man started digging as fast as he could with his bare hands. Unfortunately, when he reached her body, he was at the wrong end. He had uncovered her feet. He then raced to the other end and began digging but the crying and calling out had stopped awhile ago. He finally got her uncovered and he felt for a pulse. There was no pulse despite his best efforts to help. As the police arrive and the EMS they block off the area to try to gain as much evidence as possible.

As test results come back and a necklace is found near the victim's hand things start to move quickly. Could this new case be linked to the cold case from 1980? Who is the woman that was buried alive? Who could do such a thing and why? Why is Rue so distraught when she reads about the woman in the newspaper? The necklace belonged to one of the girls who vanished in 1980. How did this woman get it? The person who buried the woman is furious that they found her and so quickly. He's hiding in plain sight and is almost caught watching the scene unfold. Who is this man and why did he bury this woman alive?

Van has secrets from her childhood that keep her from sleeping at night and wake her from nightmares quite often. When she works a case like this one it makes it even worse. No one knows about Van's past as she doesn't trust anyone. She left the Minneapolis Police Department when her former partner died. Van and her former partner knew everything about one another and it freed Van to know someone had her back. She doesn't have that now and it is a lot for her to carry alone. Harry also has secrets from his past and he hasn't told anyone either. Van and Harry like working together. Will they be able to trust each other enough to share what they've been through? Will they be able to solve the case and the cold case? Are they related?

I dare you to start this book and be able to put it down! When I was unable to read I was thinking about it and telling people I was with about it. This is a fantastic book that will keep you cheering on Van, Harry, Kyle, and the team as they search for the killer from 1980 and now. I rate The Taken Ones 5 stars with my highest recommendation. The Taken Ones comes out on September 19 so make time and read this book! I'd like to thank NetGalley and Thomas and Mercer for an advanced copy of The Taken Ones in exchange for a fair review. #TheTakenOnes

First of all, I can’t wait for the next book in this series! It ends with a massive cliffhanger unrelated to the story and I am dying to find out all about Harry!

That being said, Jess Lourey has been an autoread for me since I read Unspeakable Things. I love how her books are set in the 80s in Minnesota and often with a young girl as the narrator or MC. In this case, we have dueling timelines and points of view.

Our main character is Van who is an agent with BCA. She is brought on to investigate the ties between a woman recently buried alive and a case of two missing girls from the 80s. Van grew up with her own trauma and appears to have some kind of special skill that helps her solve crimes. Her partner is Harry who is very handsome, charming, and mysterious. She has ties to the local police department and the local officer who is also assigned to the case. He has some kind of beef with her and is pressing her boss to get her off the case. Her boss sets a timeline to solve the case; will they solve it in time?

I really enjoyed this one. I am a sucker for a badass female detective main character with a difficult past, and Van does not disappoint. The mystery was creepy and not easy to figure out. I got a little confused and thrown off track by some of the red herrings. For some reason it was difficult for me to keep track of who was who among the suspects. That being said, the wrap up was satisfactory and I can’t wait to read the next book in the series.

Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity.

This was my first book by Jess Lourey. My first thought after reading it was I wish I had a buddy reader. I loved this book so much and just wanted to talk to someone about it. It is currently sitting at 4.35 on goodreads so I know there are plenty who agree with me.

You can read the synopsis online but to get it out of the way: In the summer of 1980 three young girls go into the woods and only one comes out. Nobody has a clue what happens and this eventually goes into a unsolved cold case. Fast forward to the present and we are introduced to Cold Case Investigators Van Reed and Harry Steinbeck. They are assigned to a brutal murder and there are connections to that crime and the two missing girls from 1980.

Ok, what follows is nothing but a solid crime thriller. But beside that we are introduced to two great characters in Van and Harry. Van suffers from dreams/nightmares and we learn she has a very troubled upbringing. She is a loner and suffers from a little social anxiety and prefers to spend her spare time caring for dogs at a local shelter.

The mindset of these characters and they try and solve this crime is incredible. There are some twists and one absolutely turns this story onto it's head towards the middle. It is a great "Holy Shit!" moment. Plus this books is just creepy and scary in places. In a good way.

I can't recommend this book enough and it leaves you with so many questions in the end...... There has to be a sequel. I have no idea how the future with Van and Harry will go on. I just need it too.

I really appreciate Thomas & Mercer for giving me the opportunity to read this book for free for a honest review and it has a publication date of September 19, 2023.

Loved it and would give the book 4.5 stars. Didn't even realize "Catch Her in A Lie" was the prequel to this book until Van and Harry started talking about Costa Rica and the Sweet Tea Killer. Then it all came back to me. I was hooked from the first page and couldn't wait to find out what happened to the missing girls. Van had an extremely traumatizing childhood. The Farm sounded like a terrible place to grow up. Frank terrorized all who lived there. I had no idea who the killer/kidnapper would be. I kept wondering if it would be someone linked to the Farm. Hopefully Harry will be like Van's previous partner Bart. I have a feeling they will become great partners and solve a bunch of cold cases. The BCA is the perfect place for Van, especially after how Comstock and her fellow officers treated her. So happy this is a series. I can't wait to learn more about Van and Harry. Maybe Van will be able to solve the mystery about what happened to Harry's sister.

Definitely recommend the book. This was a great mystery/thriller. Loved the characters, writing style and story. I can't wait to find out what's next for Van and Harry. What secret is Harry keeping from Van? So glad this is a series. Look forward to reading more books by the author.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Thomas & Mercer through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own

Riveting story!! I could not wait to get home to finish this book. Van is a detective working a cold case which has connections to a recent homicide. Along with her team both cases are revealing new clues. She also has a gift of visions that keep her up at night. Her childhood was full of trauma and gives her a hard edge but she remains a likeable character.

The way the story unfolded is what made me enjoy this one. The author gave us glimpses of the predator which gave us some creepiness. While the crime itself is heartbreaking and terrible there is a glimmer of hope for both Van and the people affected. I especially liked her stoic coworker which I began to sense a chemistry there....and he seems to have some secrets of his own...I can't wait to see what happens with the next book!

I recommend this book to anyone who likes crime thrillers and police procedural storylines. I honestly had a Kiss the Girls and Gillian Flynn vibe which I loved. Thank you Netgalley.

Summer 1980: three girls go into the woods to swim in the creek. Only one comes out, silent and with no memory of what happened. Summer 2022: Cold Case Detective Van Reed and Forensic Scientist Harry Steinbeck are assigned to a homicide case of a woman buried alive. Even more disturbing than the crime is the fact that the victim is holding a necklace that belonged to one of the girls who vanished in 1980. Together, Van and Harry must stop this killer. As they work together, Van struggles with her own past trauma, one that she is reluctant to share with Harry.

Another Jess Loury book that blew me away! I loved her previous book, The Quarry Girls, and in this book, I was once again drawn in by her writing style. She is a wonderful story teller, and this book had my heart pounding from the very first few pages! The pacing of the events was perfect and the tension didn’t let up; you could feel the pressure that Van was under to solve her cold case. The rumors surrounding the woods the girls disappeared in were SO creepy, made even more so by the multiple points of view telling the tale. I can’t say much else that without spoilers, but trust me - this book belongs on your spooky TBR list!

Finally, I love the setup of this series of Van and Harry! Their different styles balance them out SO well. While Van follows her gut, Harry follows the scientific facts and I enjoyed learning so much about forensics and Van’s approach too.

Thank you to Thomas and Mercer for the ARC! The Taken Ones releases September 19, 2023!

This review will be shared to my instagram blog (@books_by_the_bottle) shortly :)

Nothing better than reading a book, falling in love with the characters, and then realizing that this is the first in a series! This book focuses mainly on Van (Evangeline) Reed's character, her history and her secrets. Working cold cases in Minnesota, she comes across a case that brings her own abusive past back to the forefront. It was a great way to learn about her and follow an intriguing mystery. I am not 100% sure how I feel about her prophetic nightmares. The summary refers to it as "her gut" but really it is a bit more than that. I assume we will learn more about her counter-balance, Harry Steinbeck, in the next installment. Sounds like he has his own mysterious past and I can't wait to read about it!

In 1980 Rue, her sister Lily and their friend Amber enter the woods by their home one day and only Rue comes out. Years later a woman is found buried alive. How can these two cases be connected?

The Taken Ones by Jess Lourey was definitely a hard book to put down! The prologue had me super creeped out and had me powering through the book (at my power through pace haha) because I needed to know what happened to the girls in the story!

The two other main characters Van Reed and Harry Steinbeck are working on the cold case of the girls in present day. I liked Van but I feel like she has a lot going on in this book. Almost one to many things she has gone through or did. I think maybe if one was taken out then you could have explored the other more and see more what makes her tick but I still did enjoy her character and thought she was intense but also kind (she loves animals!).

You don’t get to learn too much about Steinbeck in this one but from how it ended I think the next book will go more into his character. But from what I saw in this book I really liked him and found him to be a compassionate person.

The killer also had a POV in the story and wow. That was so creepy I literally was scared I would have nightmares.

Jess writing style is very readable and addictive. It pushes the story along well and she adds enough red herrings to have you wondering what and where the story is going to go. I would recommend this to those who enjoy police procedural books and stories that have you guessing.

Prior to snagging the latest novel by Jess Lourey, I read Quarry Girls and enjoyed it.

When I saw The Taken Ones, I didn’t initially realize it was the same author. However, as I got deeper into the book I could see her writing style emerging more clearly by the page.

In 1980 two girls go missing and 22 years later a woman is found buried alive. What’s the connection?

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.

Guys this book shook me. I now check under the bed, behind the shower curtain, in the closet, and peer inside books after reading The Taken Ones. There were truly moments in this book that gave me goosebumps and made me shutter. Even as I write this I call recall specific scenes in the novel that truly creeped me out. I was immersed in the story and had to find out the truth about what happened all those years ago on that hot summer day.

Hats off to Jess Lourey for this one! It’s been a long time since a book has gripped me that way!

4 stars

This is only my second Jess Lourey book and it certainly will not be my last. I'm absolutely obsessed with Lourey's Minnesota Thrillers era. I've read the synopsis of multiple books from Lourey and it seems to be a common theme. The Taken Ones is no exception. This book had been a little bit of a slow read for me at first but it really picked up the pace for me about 30% in. I couldn't put it down. I am hopeful that this is going to be a series since the ending was a bit of a cliff hanger!

This book is coming out at the perfect time. A creepy, woodsy thriller filled with twists and turns. Strong Plots and even stronger characters.

Definitely recommend this one!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publishers at Thomas & Mercer for the opportunity to review an ARC of The Taken Ones. Pub Date: 09/19/2023

As always I love the way Jess Lourey can spin a story. I love the mystery, I love the different perspective of the killer sprinkled in. Van's background is rough but I found myself totally rooting for her to work thru it/ work on herself.
When I started this the thought was in the back of my mind that Steinbeck & Reed sounded familiar. The references to Costa Rica didn't sink in until I had already finished this and remembered these Agents are introduced in the story Catch Her in a Lie (which was part of the Amazon Original Stories Getaway Collection). I can't wait to read more of Harry & Van!

Would recommend if you like:
-a cold case
-police procedural
-FMC with a rough background & she's working (at least trying) thru her shit

In the 1980's, three girls went out into the woods to play. But only one of them returns back. The case was dubbed as The Taken Ones and remained unsolved until the present day. In the present day, Van who is an agent is assigned to the Taken Ones case along with Henry when one of the girls' body was found buried alive. Van must solve the case to find what really happened to the other girl by interviewing the only survivor while dealing with her own past that was similar to the Taken Ones case.

I enjoy reading Jess Lourey's books as her books are all realistic though it is a work of fiction. This book is no exception. This was fast-paced, a page turner and there were times when the author managed to grab the reader's attention by making the reader feel like they are on the edge of the seat. This book, just like all her other books are a page turner and I couldn't wait what was going to happen towards the end. I also liked the fact that we get a glimpse of Van's horrible which I did enjoy reading about. Overall, this is a page-turner twisty novel and worth 4.5 stars!

If you haven't read Jess Lourey's books, I recommend read Bloodline, by the same author

Many thanks to Netgalley and the publiher for the ARC. The review is based on my honest opinion only.

The first book of a new mystery series, The Taken Ones by Jess Lourey (2023) features a new crime-solving duo. Detective Van Reed and forensic scientist Harry Steinbeck work for the Minneapolis Bureau of Crime Apprehension (BCA) Cold Case Unit. They are called to a murder scene when evidence is found linking it to a case of two missing girls forty-two years earlier. Van, Harry, and the BCA team revisit the old files and re-interview everyone involved once again. Van suffers nightmares from her own childhood trauma raised on Frank’s Farm, a cult now disbanded. Her direct style of investigating causes a ruckus with her boss and her visions escalate, further complicating the case and threatening her career. Harry, like her former partner, is a fact-based investigator and a helpful counter to Van’s use of unusual visions to gain insights into crimes. The first of a promising new Steinbeck and Reed series, this makes for an enjoyable four and a half stars crime read rating. With thanks to Thomas & Mercer and the author, for an uncorrected advanced review copy for review purposes. As always, the opinions herein are totally my own, freely given and without inducement.

3.5

I will start by saying I am a big Jess Lourey fan, and I was so excited to see this new crime fiction series starter from her. With that being said, this felt a little messy to me. There are a LOT of moving plot points that I’m sure will feel more natural the longer we move into the series. But they definitely overshadowed the crime being solved in this story.

Lourey always does great work with setting the scene and really bringing the setting to life, and this book is no different!!

I loved the start of the relationship between Van and Harry and we get a nice little cliffhanger at the end that makes me impatient for the next installment. I’m hoping that since all the groundwork was laid in this series starter things feel a little less hectic in the next books.

I have read almost all if Jess Lourey’s books, I have one left. I love them all! This one had me hooked right away. It begins with two girls who go missing in 1980, then fast forwards to 2020 when a woman is found buried alive on a beach. The two cases may be related…..but how? I loved the two detectives on the case, Steinback and Reed. When I got to the end….I was like what? It’s a cliffhanger…be prepared! I immediately messaged the author with questions!😂 She was so kind to respond so quickly to me. She put my mind at ease. LOL
This was an easy read that I needed in my life, and now I need the next book ASAP! It is fast paced and dark, with multiple POV which is my fave. Jess Lourey will always be an auto buy author for me. Her writing is unlike any other.❤️

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

Summer 1980: With no fear of a local superstition, three girls go into a Minnesota wood. Only one comes out. Dead silent. Memory gone. No trace of her friends. 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. Their common ground is the need 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.

Loved it. Will recommend to others.

A twisty tale featuring Van Reed and Harry Steinbeck, partners who have different approaches to crime solving thanks to their backgrounds, This moves back and forth over a forty year period, starting when one young woman did not come out of the woods with her friends, In the present, Reed and Steinbeck have a puzzle on their hands, Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. There's a lot going on- Reed's back story, her love life, and so on could be a whole novel in itself. That said, it's fast paced and just spooky enough,

This was my first book by Jess Lourey and it will definitely not be my last! This is the first book in a new police series and it was a great start. In the summer of1980 three girls go into the woods and only one comes back, but she seems to have no memory of what happened and the case goes cold. Present day, summer 2022, a woman is buried alive holding a heat charm that belongs to one of the girls that vanished over 40 years ago. Now, detective Van Reef and forensic scientist Harry Steinbeck are on the case to find this killer before he kills again, and also, they both have a connection to the case which was fun to try and figure out the clues. Going between past and present was really easy to follow and it was really intense. The ending has closure but also has a bit of a cliffhanger which makes you want to continue onto the next book. I will definitely be reading the next.

Out September 19.

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for the gifted copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.