Alma Katsu - The Taker

84. The Taker by Alma Katsu (2011)
The Taker Trilogy Book 1
Length: 440 pages
Genre: Horror
Started: 2 September 2014
Finished: 7 September 2014
Where did it come from? From a Library Book Sale
How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 1 June 2013
Why do I have it? I like horror and Alma Katsu is a new author for me.

In the tiny town of St. Andrew, Maine, on a freezing wintry night, Dr. Luke Findley is expecting a quiet evening of frostbite and the occasional domestic dispute - just your typical midnight shift at Aroostook County Hospital. That's until Lanore McIlvrae - Lanny - walks into his Emergency Room, and completely changes his life forever. Lanny is unlike any woman Luke has ever met - a mysterious woman with a past and plenty of dark secrets. He is inexplicably drawn to her, sure that they have met somewhere before...despite the fact that she is a murder suspect and currently in police custody; under armed escort. 

A stranger and apparently new to town, Lanny is accused of a bizarre crime: allegedly killing a man and leaving his body in the Great North Woods. Lanny insists that while she committed the killing, the man had wanted to die. Always a practical man - a man of science - Dr. Luke Findley witnesses something which he can't explain - a miraculous impossibility that confounds him, and leaves him enthralled by this woman, whose very existence defies all reason. And so, as Lanny begins to tell her story - a tale of enduring love and consummate betrayal that transcends time and mortality, Luke Findley finds himself utterly captivated.

Her impassioned account begins at the turn of the nineteenth century in the same small town of St. Andrew, Maine, at the time that it was a Puritan settlement. As a child, Lanny finds the love of her life in Jonathan St. Andrew, the privileged son of the town's founder. She promises herself that she will do absolutely anything to be with him forever. But the price she pays is too steep - an immortal bond that chains her to a terrible fate for all eternity. Now, two centuries later, the key to her healing and salvation lies in the hands of Dr. Luke Findley.

I must say that Mareena actually chose this book for me at the Library Book Sale that we went to in June of last year. While I would technically classify this book as horror, in my opinion, the story actually wasn't all that horrific - creepy or eerie perhaps, but not scary. To be honest, I probably wouldn't have chosen this book to read for myself - as this is not my usual choice in horror - although I still thought it was very well written and an interesting story nevertheless. 

I was certainly fascinated by this particular story; some aspects of the plot which seemed utterly implausible to me, actually made perfect sense within the story. In my opinion, The Taker by Alma Katsu was just the slightest bit too long, although I still enjoyed it very much. I give this book an A! 

A! - (90-95%)
 
Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight