My Review of Taken by Robert Crais

[Ethan Jones]

Hello everyone,

Please enjoy my review of Taken by Robert Crais.

Ethan


While enjoying a trip to the desert, south of Palm Springs, California, Jack Berman and his girlfriend, Krista Morales, are caught in a fierce battle between coyotes, people sneaking illegal immigrants into the US, and bajadores, bandits kidnapping the immigrants from the coyotes and demanding ransom from their families. Berman and Morales are taken, and Nita Morales, Krista’s mom, hires the World’s Greatest Detective, Elvis Cole, to find her kidnapped daughter.

Taken has a fast pace. It moves the story in three lines: the situation of Berman, Morales and the other abductees; the investigation of Cole; and the support he's getting from Joseph Pike, his partner, and Pike's helper, Jon Stone, a professional military contractor. The timeline is broken, and the plot moves forward and backward in time, over the course of a few days. This method results in the reader becoming aware of some of the progress in the investigation and its results before Cole or Pike have even made those discoveries.

The story is not so much about whodunit, but what the traffickers are going to do when Cole, Pike and Stone come gun blazing. Taken brings Mexico’s drug cartels’ bloody war north of the border, to the US. There are mass graves, shootouts, torture scenes, and the overall darkness and sadness that come by delving into the subject of human trafficking.

The writing is succinct and straightforward. No time for character development. Cole comes up with a plan, and the three-man team races against time to face the human traffickers and to save Berman, Morales and the other abductees. How will they do it? Will they be too late? Will Krista Morales be returned to her mother?

[Jon Olson]

Full disclosure: I didn't read it. But it sounds like *TOO MUCH.*

[acellis]

Sounds good! I'm going to have to check it out.