This is my first book by this author and I enjoyed the quick read. Love the story within a story concept always.

It follows the story of Alex who’s a journalist fearing she’s on the brink of losing her job. She gets a book that’s eerily similar to the death of a writer she thinks this could be her next big story. She and her sister rent out the house of the writer where he husband still lives! While they’re their it becomes increasing obvious that someone doesn’t want them to be there or get to the bottom of the story.

The taken ones
Jess Lourey

Wow... This is definitely my favourite book of the year so far!! I am a massive fan of crime, thriller and mystery genres and absolutely loved this. It is extremely well written and is full of everything you would expect from a thriller but with a twist...I don't want to give any spoilers away.
I definitely wasn't expecting the twist in the story at about chapter 15.
I cannot wait to see what van and harry get up to next!

I really enjoyed this! I thought it was a gripping read - dark & creepy in places, and so compelling. It moves along at a decent pace and I had to know what was going to happen next!

Jess Lourey has a was of writing that pulls you in from the start, and they just feel so real. Van was a fantastic main character. As someone with her own traumatic childhood, she’s instantly able to relate to those involved, and her unique abilities are able to help her with this case. I thought Harry was a great partner - he’s fact based while she works off her gut - and they worked together well. I’m really hoping we get to see Van & Harry again, and that we get to see more of Harry’s background as they solve cold cases.

In 1980, three girls entered into the Minnesota woods and only one came out. Not speaking and with a faded memory of what happened to the other two girls, the police run out of leads and the case of “the taken ones” goes cold. Fast-forward to present day, 42 years later in the summer of 2022, a woman is found buried alive clutching a necklace belonging to one of the missing girls. Cold case detective Van Reed and forensic scientist Harry Steinbeck are assigned to the case leading them in many different directions and uncovering the truth buried under all of the secrets and lies.

This was such an addicting, gripping page turner that I could not put down. Filled with questionable and unreliable characters, I was constantly changing my thoughts and theories. It was super creepy and had multiple plot twists throughout - a true crime/mystery lover’s dream! The ending and the reveal of the “who done it” was the perfect resolution, but that cliffhanger 😮‍💨… I need the next book in the series NOW!
Highly recommend this one if you’re a thriller lover!
I’m going to go pick up Jess Lourey’s backlist now 😅

First, I'm PUMPED that this is only book 1 for Van and Harry. The ending left me wanting more from this odd couple duo and I'm already looking forward to the next cold case.

The Taken Ones is the 2nd book in a row that I've read where one of the characters grew up in a cult-like community. This one is 1,000% more exciting in that we don't know HOW Van left or escaped, but we do know that she's now working on cold cases.

A woman is buried alive and has ties to a cold case from 40+ years prior. Van, Harry, Kyle and their entire team are racing against the clock to find the killer as well as try and solve the cold case.

That's the summary I can provide. What I can also tell you is that this is a messy bunch, full of secrets. I loved every single one of them. It's a sad story about missing girls, and the one who escaped, it's also about Van and her guilt and her insight. Her PTSD from her time with the Minneapolis PD is a huge story line and one that affects the case.

Jess Lourey is a talented writer and I think she's found her groove with this book.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review this book.

It has been literal months since a thriller has kept me interested past the third chapter, but Jess Lourey’s newest release The Taken Ones had me hooked from the very first page.
I loved the cold case angle and how it coincided with an active case, plus the police politics had me on the edge of my seat. I had so many theories on who was behind the abductions 40 years prior, and none of them were right.
Van, Harry and Kyle made a great team, although after that epilogue I am ready for more!

Thank you to Thomas & Mercer for sending me an advanced digital copy via NetGalley in exchange for review.

This is my third book by Jess Lourey and she is now one of my absolute favorite mystery/thriller writers! The Taken Ones is about three young girls that venture into the woods and only one girl is found and she doesn't remember anything about what happened. She has no idea where the other two girls are. This happened in the 1980's - a cold case never solved. Now, 40 years later, a body is found with a necklace belonging to one of the lost girls. Could the other girl still be alive after all this time? This is the start of a new series by Jess Lourey and it's great! Can't wait to read the next book in the series! Five star read for me!!!!!

Read this book! This is easily my favorite book from Jess Lourey- so creepy and so disturbing.

Just like her previous books, this is another story set in a small town in Minnesota. The timeline jumps back and forth from the 1980s when two young girls walked into the woods and disappeared, to present day when a cold case detective refocuses on this case. The reopening of the case is initiated when the detectives working on a recent homicide realize their victim is one of the girls that went missing more than 40 years ago.

There has always been superstition around the woods where these young girls went missing- locals claim a Bendy Man haunts this wooded area. The detectives don’t give much attention to these legends, but there is definitely a heavy feeling when they enter the woods. They work together to track down the person responsible and put the pieces of this troubling puzzle together.

I couldn’t put this one down and I’m so thrilled this will be a series. Huge thank you to Netgalley and Jess Lourey for this advanced copy. The Taken Ones is available 9/19/23.

5⭐️

Steinbeck and Reed #1

Cold Case detective Van Reed teams up with Forensic Scientist Harry Steinbeck in the start of a new crime series.

I’ve read a couple of this authors other books that are retro/ historical and from a younger persons pov which are excellent, Litani is in my books of the year. So I was interested to read her latest book.

The blurb gives quite a lot of information which I’ve condensed. Two crimes decades apart. A missing woman buried alive who is found wearing the necklace of a girl who vanished decades before. So we still get a retro element with this book.

Ok my first misconceptions were that the protagonists are male. But nope, Van is Evangeline, although Harry is male.

We also find out all about Van’s past. I love the retro aspects of the authors books. The characters are really well fleshed, but not at the cost of slowing the pace to a crawl which is hard to achieve. Van is very interesting, and pleasantly different to your usual antagonist. I love the authors unique style, I find it difficult to explain it any better. Harry, what can I say, he is just adorable, so kind and caring, prepared to go the extra mile or ten.

This book is simply brilliant!! It WOWED me. I can’t wait for the next one in the series. This is a great book to start with if you are new to the author. Lourey definitely deserves heaps of attention. I’ll be shouting from the rooftops!

Jess Lourey has become one of my favorite crime writers since I read "Unspeakable Things" and her other standalone thrillers. Her short story, "Catch Her In A Lie", featuring Reed and Steinbeck, was also amazing.

And so is this one! I went into this blind and was delighted with the creepy beginning. I've loved her characterization of children in the past and while this one focuses more on the adults, it was equally riveting. It took me a while to warm up to Agent Reed but I came to like her. And I can't wait to know more about Steinback.

I'm eagerly waiting for Book#2 in the series and will highly recommend this thriller!

Thanks to Netgalley and Thomas & Mercer for the advance readers' copy!

4.5/5

An fantastic read. Filled with twists and turns. I absolutely loved the characters, story and plot. I highly recommend.

I loved The Quarry Girls by Lourey and was so excited to see she had a new one coming out soon. I was instantly hooked from the start with this book and couldn’t put it down until I was done. The short chapters definitely helped with that as well. I loved all the twists and turn throughout and I thought I had it figured out but then another twist would happen. I loved Van and Harry’s friendship that grows and they worked so well together. I definitely can’t wait to see what the second book has in store for them. I also really enjoyed how all the little side stories end up connecting at the end.

Overall, I highly enjoyed this book and can’t wait to read more by Lourey and for the second book to come!

Great characters and story. First book of a new series. Looking forward to more. Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book

The story immediately draws you in when it starts out with a woman buried alive. The Taken Ones is the start of a new series featuring cold case detective Van Reed and forensic scientist Harry Steinbeck. They've been assigned to investigate a cold case from 1980. Three girls go into the woods and only one makes it out, except she can't remember what happened. It seems the woman found buried alive may have links to the past case.

Both characters are well developed and we learn a significant amount about Van's past. She was part of a cult and sustained abuse as a child. We read about her struggles with overcoming her past trauma and her attempts at preventing that from affecting her work. Van also happens to have a special gift of visions which helps guide her detective work when she follows her hunches. We don't learn as much about Steinbeck other than he is great at his job and has a soft spot for Reed. The ending leads me to believe we will learn much more about him in the next book, which I am looking forward to because I am left with a lot of questions.

The setting is spooky and creepy. Isolated woods with "the bendy man" who hides in a tree and doesn't have a face. There is a lot of moving parts to the story, but they all flowed together nicely. I was completely engrossed with this story.

The ending leaves you on a cliffhanger and I cannot wait to read book number two! I am looking forward to the unpacking more of the past of Reed and Steinbeck.

Thanks to Netgalley and Thomas & Mercer for a digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This was my first book by the is author and I really enjoyed it. It kept me reading and the mains characters back story was really interesting too. Will be looking for more by this author. Thanks NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC

Summer 1980: Three young girls walk into the woods in Minnesota. Only one walks out, and she is unable - or unwilling - to speak about what she saw in the woods. The missing girls become known as the Taken Ones.

Summer 2022: Police are called to a homicide, where a woman was buried alive. Cold-case detective Van Reed wonders why she was called until she sees the crime scene and sees that the victim is holding a chain that belonged to one of the Taken Ones. It is up to her and forensic scientist Harry Steinbeck to figure out this case before someone else is taken.

I wanted to love this book. The premise sounded so good! But, instead, I liked it, which is really okay. This novel focuses on a morally-gray MC with a complicated past. It read like an old-timey private eye or detective novel, and, while that might sound interesting, it really just felt dated and a little (I’m sorry!) boring. But then! there were moments of straight up creepy ass descriptions, and I wanted - no, craved - more of that! If the whole novel resembled those moments, this would have, no doubt, been a five-star read. As it is, I was interested enough to stick with it, and I didn't guess the ending, and those are both pluses in my book!

This story features characters that were from the Amazon Original Story, Catch Her in a Lie, which, in my opinion, should be read before reading this novel. It definitely puts certain aspects of the main characters into perspective.

I'm a recent, devoted convert to Jess Lourey's novels. Unspeakable Things, Litani and Quarry Girls are some of my favourite books that I've read this year.

The Taken Ones is a more traditional Police Crime thriller, cold case detective Van Reed teams up with forensic scientist Harry Steinbeck. A woman has been buried alive, clutching a necklace that belonged to a girl who went missing over forty years ago.

It's got it all, a gruesome death, girls who went missing decades ago, a flawed cop with a troubled past, great character writing, and intricate plotting and twists.

I love Jess Lourey's empathetic character writing and she does a great job weaving it into a crime thriller. Past and present crimes, characters with deep backstories, plenty of suspects and witnesses forced to dredge up memories they'd rather forget.

It moves at a good pace considering the depth and detail.

Very highly recommended and I can't wait for the next in the series!


Thanks to Netgalley and Thomas & Mercer

𝔹𝕠𝕠𝕜 ℝ𝕖𝕧𝕚𝕖𝕨💫

ᴛʜᴇ ᴛᴀᴋᴇɴ ᴏɴᴇs (sᴛᴇɪɴʙᴇᴄᴋ & ʀᴇᴇᴅ #1)
ᴊᴇss ʟᴏᴜʀᴇʏ
ᴛʜᴏᴍᴀs & ᴍᴇʀᴄᴇʀ
ᴘᴜʙ ᴅᴀᴛᴇ: sᴇᴘᴛᴇᴍʙᴇʀ 𝟷𝟿 𝟸𝟶𝟸𝟹
✩✩✩✩

Back in 2019 I read 𝑈𝑛𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑘𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑇ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠 by author @jesslourey and absolutely loved it! So when I recieved an early copy of Jess Loureys newest thriller 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑇𝑎𝑘𝑒𝑛 𝑂𝑛𝑒𝑠 I was so excited! Not only did the synopsis sound amazing but it’s the first in a hopefully long series!

The storyline immediately grabbed my attention- missing girls, past & present timelines, and well developed characters. This was definitely a slow burn but it worked for this murder mystery and it was a great whodunit. I really thought I had it figured out, but I was wrong, thankfully(I mean who doesn’t want to be surpised?!). I loved how although this was a dark plot (murder, kidnapping, child abuse) there was a romance aspect as well!

QOTD: have you read any books by author @jesslourey?

SYNOPSIS: “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.”

✨Special thanks @netgalley for the early copy! 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑇𝑎𝑘𝑒𝑛 𝑂𝑛𝑒𝑠 is available September 19th!✨

#thetakenones#jesslourey
#thomasandmercer#boosktagram
#bookstagrammer#netgalley#kindle
#bookstabookclub#bookclub#books
#bookish#readersofinstagram#read
#readmorebooks#reading#reader

1am a huge fan of Jess Loure! She is a consistent thriller writer and has some awesome twists in her books! This book was no exception! In the first chapter, I was drawn in wanting to learn more about Rue, Amber and Lily!

This book starts out as Amber, Rue and her little sister, Lily are heading to swim in the creek. Just a short while late, Amber and Lily are missing and Rue comes out destroyed, her feet are burned from the hot pavement and she is emotionally wrecked! The book fast forwards to 2022, a crime scene where a woman is buried alive and a necklace from one of the girls is found and Detective Van Reed is called in from the BCA, cold case unit. Her and her partner
Harry Steinbeck are trying to solve the cold case and assisting in the current case. Both Reed and Steinbeck have a history that is unknown to their partner. Reed has a cult background and some of this is discussed in the book. That, paired with her sixth sense of sorts, make the book so interesting! I really wish we learned a little more about Reeds backstory and the lives of Rue, Amber and Lily! I really hope there will be more Reed and Steinbeck books, especially with that ending! I enjoyed this book! Preorder this book now!!
Great thrilling read!

Thank you to @netgalley @thomasmerceruk and @jesslourey for the opportunity to listen to this book in exchange for my honest opinion. My opinion is my own and has not been influenced in any way.

This is my second read by this author. I enjoyed it yes but I don't this is my top favorite I feel like that still belongs to The Quarry girls. But still it was good well worth it, kept my attention and wanting more for sure. It was a quick read for me.