Forty-two years ago on a hot summer day, three young girls went into a neighborhood forest on the way to a creek to swim. One traumatized girl walks out of the woods. This is a cold case that Evangeline (Van) takes the lead to solve. She has a history of abuse that is unknown to her fellow offices at the bureau, along with occasional dreams that guide her in solving cases. A woman is found that had been buried alive and she was one of the girls that had disappeared. Van becomes obsessed with this cold case and is running out of time to find the second girl.

This is an intense story of manipulation, evil and survival.

Thank you NetGalley

A cold case from 42 years ago comes into play when a new murder case occurs.
Cold Case detective Van, is more than who she appears to be and is a favorite character of mine! She is in charge of the cold case and runs into a few snafus. Amazing storylines and I love the different point of views in the book.
Also, the ghost story of the woods is The Bendy Man and what name could be better than that!

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

Jess Lourey is known for the high suspense and fast pace of her thrillers, and The Taken Ones is no exception.. The book starts with a small, heartwarming scene as Evangeline “Van” Reed volunteers at an animal shelter and gives an old abandoned dog some exercise and love. Within paragraphs, the focus shifts with a phone call. Van is a cold case detective with the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Investigation, and she is called to work the case of a woman who died after being buried alive. The victim was clutching a heart charm necklace belonging to one of three girls who vanished in 1980. Van and forensic scientist Harry Steinbeck both have ties to the earlier case, and for Van the current crime stirs devastating memories of her own childhood. Together they work to find the connections between the two cases and stop a killer on the loose. The tension never slackens in this chilling and heartbreaking story.

This is my first book by this author and boy was I impressed. Two girls disappeared 42 years ago while walking through the woods to a creek. Present day one girl is buried alive but help arrives too late. There is tension, action, stress, excitement....all the makings of a great detective mystery thriller. Loved this book - highly recommend! Thank you to NetGalley. #netgalley #the takenones

Summer 1980: Three girls go into a Minnesota forest despite the local superstition that it is haunted. One only comes out…without her memory.

Fast forward to 2022: Cold case detective Van Reed and forensic scientist Harry Steinbeck are assigned a disturbing homicide where the dead woman is found clutching a heart charm necklace. The necklace belonged to one of the missing girls from 1980. Now they’re both desperate to catch the killer before he strikes again. Can they trust each other and work together to solve this homicide before it’s too late?

I picked this one up because it had an interesting premise, I kept reading this one because my friend @littleblondebombshelf enjoyed it.

I found this one to be a little too slow for my liking. I struggled to get sucked into the story like I typically enjoy. However, about halfway or so, things picked up and the pieces started coming together and I did enjoy it. I loved the mystery element to this one. It kept me guessing and, on my toes, begging to find out the answers. I did read The Quarry Girls by this author, and I really enjoyed it. So, for me it was just an issue with this book. I do enjoy the author’s style overall and enjoy her books.

Thank you to Thomas & Mercer, and Netgalley @netgalley, for access to this e-arc in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts are my own.

Publication Date: September 19, 2023

3.5 stars rounded down.

Additional links will be added once posted.

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