The Taker is a book about the uneveness of love between two people. How often there is one person in the partnership who loves all-consumingly, to the detriment of their self, and the life of their love object, whose love is an owning and jealous one.

Ostensibly set in a small town in modern Maine, the story is told to an ER doctor, Luke, whose failed marriage preps him to respond to a young woman brought into the ER by the police, suspected of murder.

He abandons his entire life and runs away with her, compelled by her disturbing and unbelievable story.

There is little I can discuss about Lanore, the young woman, without giving away parts of the mystery, and since uncovering the mysteries in this story; what Lanore is, how she got this way, what happened to her true love, Jonathan, it would be disservice to discuss it.

The mysteries, and the appalled fascination I felt discovering along with Luke the manipulative sexual and humiliating treatment Lanore was victim to, is what drew me along the story.

Unfortunately, I never really connected with Luke, or Lanore or Jonathan, although I wanted to be sympathetic to her. While the things that happened should have viscerally horrified me, I felt a little estranged from the narrative and from Lanore by the narrative conceit of the story, as well as a curious lack of emotional connection to Lanore I can't really pinpoint the cause of.

The person that engaged me the most was Lanore's tormentor, and the roots of his horrific behavior, while somewhat explained by his all-consuming desire for blind love, was never fully revealed to us in the story, and thus I was left without a basis for building my love/hate relationship with this mesmerizing character.

While definitely worth a read for people not turned off by unconsensual sexual relationships and dominance/submission issues, I was left at the end feeling somewhat unsatisfied by the emotional journey I followed reading this; it should have been epic and tormenting, and sometimes I was a bit bored.

This Book's Food Designation Rating: A delectable looking Cioppino chock full of mussels and shrimp that end up being tough and gritty on your tongue and a bit bland.

This book exceeded my expectations. It was well written and descriptive. The story begins with Luke. He meets Lanore and she tells him her story. Not much is said about Luke. He’s just an honest guy who goes to work everyday. But I couldn’t help but feel that he needed to hear this woman’s story, needed to help her in some way. He needed a spark of adventure, a change of scene.


I was captivated by Lanny’s character. She narrates her story of the town of St. Andrew in the early 1800’s. I normally don't read books that take place quite so far in the past. Although that is probably because the characters are usually content with the way life is and I find it stifling. It's nice to connect with her, as she feels just as stifled by the life she is living.


She falls in love with her friend Jonathan, the most striking and popular man in the town. But she’s never his love interest. He has a reputation and sleeps with virtually everyone, only coming to Lanny for advice. He’s pretty much friend-zoned her, much like girls do with sweet guys these days. The worst part is that Lanny is not stupid. She understands exactly what kind of person he is. She isn’t deluding herself into thinking he’s in love with her, too. She lives off of his trust and friendship, thinking that because he’s so open and honest, he must think of her above others. I guess it’s true, in a sense, but I got the feeling that this wasn’t going to end well for Lanny.


Even after Lanny was sent away to Boston, she holds a place in her heart for Jonathan, not blaming him for anything. Without including any spoilers, I suppose I felt like she should have moved on and perhaps even blamed him a bit for her predicament. I suppose it’s difficult for women to do that back in that time period.
Lanny’s adventure really begins in Boston. She’s taken to a mansion by three charming people. They turn out to be less charming after taking her to meet Adair. This is where the immortality comes from. No, these people aren’t vampires. That would be too easy. But they are just as cold, conniving, and ruthless. Adair tells his own story to Lanny. Despite the fact that he’s somewhat of a monster, he’s rather likeable, in his own way. Lanny cares about him, but she’s wary and untrusting, still. With good reason. Adair has created his own following of immortal and ruthless beings. Why he chose Lanny, I don’t know, but she struggles with the same question.


I can’t give any more of the story away, but it’s quite interesting and the plot twists in a few directions. Jonathan is weaved back into Lanny’s life and she has to make some tough decisions. The story goes from Lanny’s past to her present, where she is telling Luke the story and they are driving up to Canada. Luke continues to be drawn to her.


This is the first book in a series and I am eager to read more. While the ending leaves room for more, this book can stand alone just as well. I enjoyed the dive into the nature of people, the nature of relationships, and the psychology of Lanny and the people she encounters. She makes some bad decisions, but she is not a terrible person. Her character has a lot of depth.


I would definitely recommend this book to others. I think it appeals to a wide audience because it has it’s foot in many genres. Fantasy, historical fiction, romance, paranormal, horror, and literary aspects are dotted throughout this book. Wonderful debut novel and one that will stay with me. It is dark, twisted, horrifying, sad, and absolutely wonderful.


'I could make all kinds of excuses, like how that's the way it was back then, that wives expected their men to fool around. Or that it was just the kind of man Jonathan was and I had to accept it. But that's not the real reason... I don't know how to explain it. I've always wanted him to love me the way I loved him. He did love me, I know he did. Just not the way I wanted him to. And it's not so different for a lot of people I've known. One partner doesn't love the other enough to stop drinking, or gambling, or running around with other women. One is the giver and one is the taker. The giver wishes the taker would stop.'


'But the taker never changes,' Luke says, though he wonders if this is always the case.


'Sometimes the giver has to let go, but something you don't. You can't. I couldn't give up on Jonathan. I seemed to able to forgive him anything.'"

UPDATE: I really need to do a quick scan of other reviews before posting mine because I always come across a few people talking about the same points and now I feel like I need to address them.

An issue people seem to have with this book is the character of Jonathan being flat and boring. I disagree that this is a flaw. One of the notes I put while reading this book was

"Why is it so easy to criticize others, as she did with Sophia, yet she follows in her exact footsteps. What is it about life that makes us feel we are different and what we experience is any different?"

I wrote it about Sophia and Lanny, but I think it's relevant regarding Jonathan. A flat and boring character, one that the main character seems to love, but we as readers can't understand it and it feels unrealistic is actually realistic in many ways. If people didn't care about horrible people, if people didn't care about those who treat them badly, if people didn't care about flat and selfish people then my facebook would be a bunch of crickets half the time. These things happen ALL the time. I don't think we as readers were supposed to like Jonathan. But he's not a placeholder and he's not unrealistic. He's just not likable. I think Jonathan's character was great and needed and serves a purpose and the fact that he is such a flat character matters and is not a flaw.

The other thing I kept seeing on other reviews was the problem with the sex. It's not good, romantic... not even close. It's brutal and terrifying and horrible and that (I think, at least) was the point. This book is not for the faint of heart or the easily offended. I probably should have said that in my review. It's dark. It works and adds to the story. It does not take away. If both Jonathan was likable and the sex was romantic, it wouldn't be the same book. It wouldn't make the same points and it would not have earned 4 stars from me.


http://meganm922.blogspot.com/2012/04/taker-review.html

Beautiful writing about horrible people doing horrible things. Some irresponsibly portrayed scenes of a rape victim enjoying sex with her abuser. Like another reviewer said: beautiful writing, well plotted. I just wish the author had chosen to tell a different story.

I picked this up without expecting much. I was pleasantly surprised, and couldn't put it down. Luke is an emergency room doctor in Northern Maine. In the last few years he lost his wife and children when she divorced him. Both of his parents have recently passed away and he is just surviving. Late one night Lanore is brought in by the local police, suspected for murder. When she tells him her unbelievable story of her life as an immortal. Most of the book shows her journey, and that of her friends over the last two hundred years. The ending catches us all up to the present, and leaves with a final twist pretty much guaranteeing I'll pick up the second book right now!

I picked this up without expecting much. I was pleasantly surprised, and couldn't put it down. Luke is an emergency room doctor in Northern Maine. In the last few years he lost his wife and children when she divorced him. Both of his parents have recently passed away and he is just surviving. Late one night Lanore is brought in by the local police, suspected for murder. When she tells him her unbelievable story of her life as an immortal. Most of the book shows her journey, and that of her friends over the last two hundred years. The ending catches us all up to the present, and leaves with a final twist pretty much guaranteeing I'll pick up the second book right now!

I wanted to like this book. I wanted to love this book. I am dying for a book that spills real love and real heart. This book was trying so hard to be Anne Rice. Katsu begins her book by going down that road, but ends up with a sad mimicry of a Rice's connection between immortality and sadism (something that could not have been avoided by the characters even if Katsu had a better writing style). The characters were flat and apparently incapable of making sound or selfless decisions. There is never any explanation of why or how they are this way. ***Spoilers following (kind of b/c Katsu made a kitschy show of "shocking" the reader about the immortality of the characters)*. One would think that after hundreds of years, a person would develop some sort of personality. According to Katsu, this does not happen; unless, of course, you count the last two chapters where Jonathan (presumably a cousin of the Twilight clan, based on his exceedingly good looks with nothing to hold his head on) magically develops personality, just in time for a dramatic exit. Besides that, NOTHING effects the characters decisions or personality, and I do mean NOTHING.

A most original take on immortality. Such good storytelling, and an incredible twist. A second read through for me, so I can pick up the next two in the series. Very captivating, and I’m actually excited to start the next one.

Well I finished, and I should have stopped. Not for me.

I gave it 3.5 stars

Reviewed by http://urbanfantasyinvestigations.blogspot.com/

I'm not huge into Historical type books so I really wasn't sure going into THE TAKER if it would be something I would enjoy. That is important to tell you because in a shocking switch I enjoyed the flashback/historical moments of the story the most. The story is about a woman Lanny who falls in love with a man (well boy as they were children when she fell in love with him) that will never love her back. The story switches from present day to past as Lanny recounts her centuries of life with and without this man by her side to an ER doctor Luke who happens to live in the town she is from. Luke is pulled to Lanny and her story from the beginning of the book and listens to everything she says as they escape the town Luke hasn't been able to break away from. Every word of THE TAKER is beautifully written while your pulled into this tragic love story. The plot flowed nicely and was quite different from what I usually read. I was disappointed with the ending, I was reading along and all of a sudden there was the acknowledgments right as It felt like stuff was about to happen so it was left feeling unfinished so I really hope that what I read from someone else's review of there being another book is true. THE TAKER is definitely worth the read if you enjoy historical type books and just might surprise you if you aren't usually taken with that sort of thing.