A stand-alone Harlequin paperback.
Genre: adult urban fantasy romance
About Taken:
Sophie Wilson never believed she was special. Avoiding a violent ex, she can’t remember the last time she felt truly safe. Then vampires murder her best friend and Sophie is kidnapped by a dangerously sexy shapeshifter.Source: Info in the About Taken was taken from the author's website at http://www.lilithsaintcrow.com/journal/the-books/taken/ on 21/06/2011.
Zach insists Sophie is a shaman–someone with a rare gift for taming a shifter’s savage side–and he needs her to help him save his pack. Now, with a malevolent enemy closing in, Sophie and Zach must risk everything on a bond that may be their only salvation…
My Thoughts:
I've read this author's previous work before but I did not like Strange Angels. However this author has such a compelling author's voice that I decided to give her work another go. Besides another book blogger said that her Lilith Saintcrow persona writes differently from her Lili St. Crow one. So I reasoned to myself that in this work, the things I did not like in Strange Angels might not be there anymore. However, Lilith Saintcrow still has a penchant for stupid heroines. Although this time around it's not so bad. Besides, it was in line with the character's personality make-up. Which made the character just this side of annoying. I would give the character development a 3 out of 5.
The "author's voice" is still good in this book but for some reason it did not feel as good as it was with Strange Angels. Don't get me wrong, it is still compelling, just not as compelling as I remember it to be with Strange Angels. I would give it a 4.5 out of 5.
The cover could use a little bit of lightening up. I know the fantasy noir is high up in the market at the moment but it didn't quite work with this cover art.
The world building is not only very good, it's masterful! Lilith Saintcrow brought the world of the Carcajou wolves come to life very vividly! I'll have to give it a 5 out of 5.
Overall, I did enjoy this book although not as much as I expected, given that Lilith Saintcrow has such a compelling "author's voice". Overall, I'd say that this book is a 4 out of 5.
Empirical Evaluation:
Story Telling Quality = 4.5
World Building = 5
Character Development = 3
Plot = 3
Pace = 4
Story Itself = 4
Ending = 4
Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 cherries
