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    Taken
    Taken
    Taken
    Audiobook7 hours

    Taken

    Written by Steven Pinker and Robert Crais

    Narrated by Victor Bevine and Luke Daniels

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    The search for a missing girl leads private investigators Elvis Cole and Joe Pike into the nightmarish world of human trafficking in this #1 New York Times bestseller from Robert Crais.

    When Nita Morales hires Elvis Cole to find her missing daughter, she's sure it's a ruse orchestrated by the girl and her boyfriend. She's wrong. They've been taken by bajadores—border bandits who prey on the innocent by buying, selling, and disposing of victims like commodities.

    Cole and Joe Pike start an undercover investigation to find the couple, but their plan derails when Cole disappears, leaving Pike to burn through the murderous world of human traffickers to find his friend as well as the missing young people. But he may already be too late...

    “Luke Daniels doesn't just narrate Robert Crais's latest novel featuring Elvis Cole and Joe Pike—he transports us to the terrifying world of human trafficking, which Cole must infiltrate in order to find a client's missing daughter.” —Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2012, Portland, Maine

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBrilliance Audio
    Release dateJan 24, 2012
    ISBN9781423375685
    Taken
    Author

    Steven Pinker

    One of Time magazine's "100 Most Influential People in the World Today," Steven Pinker is the author of seven books, including How the Mind Works and The Blank Slate—both Pulitzer Prize finalists and winners of the William James Book Award. He is an award-winning researcher and teacher, and a frequent contributor to Time and the New York Times.

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    Reviews for Taken

    4/5

    385 ratings25 reviews

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    • 3/5
      Pretty good thriller, not much of a mystery. I found that the multiple viewpoints added to the suspense but thinned out the character depth. Found the AG Mother mostly a distraction.
    • 1/5
      The book might have been OK, but the recording was badly fragmented and skipped important content. I give up
    • 4/5
      A fast paced, action packed thriller! When Krista Morales goes missing, her mother hires Elvis Cole to find her! And when human traffickers and bajadores get involved, Cole brings in Joe Pike and Jon Stone, and the three of them stop at nothing to get her back! The body count is high in this one and the victims are many! A nice follow up to Crais' last book, "The Sentry"!
    • 4/5
      Great book by Crais. This is number 15 of the Elvis Cole and Joe Pike. This is a later book in the series so it is really good. The earlier books were good but not this good.
    • 4/5
      This is another outstanding Robert Crais novel featuring Elvis Cole and Joe Pike.A young woman and man are kidnapped in the Southern California desert while visiting the location where her mother entered the United States 30 years age as an undocumented immigrant. The criminal organization responsibility for the gang is headed by a ruthless psychopath known as the Syrian. The gang extracts ransom payments from the victim’s loved ones and then kills the victims.Elvis Cole is hired to locate and rescue the daughter and his partner, Joe Pike, recruits Jon Stone, an elite mercenary contractor, for additional assistance. Cole identifies the criminal organization responsible for the kidnapping and infiltrates the gang but winds up a captive. Big mistake. Now the bad guys have Cole on the inside and Pike and Stone on the outside gunning for them. Little doubt how this will turn out.This is one of Crais’ more exciting books, filled with mystery, action, and intrigue, but it is flawed by the use of a hopscotch timeline. The story zig-zags back and forth in time and focus between the kidnap victims, Cole, Pike, Stone, the kidnappers, the Korean mafia, and the Sinaloa drug cartel. Each shift in time and perspective is jarring and interrupts the sense of forward momentum. I would have preferred the book begin with an account of the kidnap victims’ experiences up to the time Cole and Pike joined the hunt.Still, followers of Cole and Pike will find “Taken” to be a strong addition to the series. Newcomers to the series will enjoy the book if they are able to follow the plot line across the back-and-forth shifts of time and perspective.
    • 5/5
      I really love Robert Crais. One of the few authors I would gladly read several novels a year. Cole and Pike are the best mystery team duo out there right now. Quick read but you will live the ride.
    • 4/5
      Nita Morales hires Elvis to bring her daughter back from Los Vegas where she thinks she is living it up with her boy friend. What they don't know is the young woman & her boy friend have been rounded up by bajadores with a group of illegals being smuggled into the USA from Mexico. The bajadores hijack other smugglers illegals and then ask relatives or employers for ransom or they kill the transient. When they collect the ransom, they still do not release the person but rather ask for another amount. This continues until the payer runs out of money or patience and says no more money. At that point, they kill and bury the illegal. They never free someone they have captured.When Cole & Pike realize who they are dealing with, Cole tries to go under cover but he also ends up captured. In this story, another friend of Pike's named Jon Stone appears and he is real dangerous and crazy
    • 4/5
      For me this was an audiobook listen. I have loved the Elvis Cole and Joe Pike books from the start. Taken has both Elvis Cole and Joe Pike along with another character John Stone lending support. Yes, Elvis Cole is the Worlds greatest detective but in this book Joe Pike and John Stone have all the action. I found myself interested in the John Stone character and would like to read more about him. This novel has a good storyline and keeps you reading or in my case listening.

      When Nita Morales hires Elvis Cole to find her missing adult daughter, she isn’t afraid, even though she’s gotten a phone call asking for ransom. She knows it’s a fake, that her daughter is off with the guy Nita will only call “that boy,” and that they need money: “Even smart girls do stupid things when they think a boy loves them.”
      But Nita is wrong. The girl and her boyfriend have been taken by bajadores – bandits who prey on other bandits, border professionals who prey not only on innocent victims, but on each other. They steal drugs, guns, and people – buying and selling victims like commodities, and killing the ones they can’t get a price for.
      Elvis Cole and Joe Pike find the spot where they were taken. There are tire tracks, bullet casings, and bloodstains. They know things look as bad as possible. But they are wrong, too. It is about to get worse. Going undercover to find the two young people and buy them back, Cole himself is taken, and now it is up to Joe Pike to retrace Cole’s steps, burning through the hard and murderous world of human traffickers to find his friend.
      But he may already be too late..
    • 4/5
      A nice fast read.
    • 5/5
      First-rate crime thriller by the master.
    • 3/5
      Not his best book. I read them all dutifully in hardcover, as soon as my mom finishes with them. I always enjoy them and this was no exception, but he may have phoned this one in a little.

      I don't really understand why he chose to tell it out of chronological order, maybe it built suspense better that way?

      I will say that I enjoy having both Pike and Elvis figure prominently in the narrative, with chapters from each of their points of view.
    • 2/5
      Everything was good except the format. It just didn't work. It was distracting and made it hard to read. I finally gave up and read all the kids'part, Elvis' part and then all Pikes.

      The first time ever I have given a 2 to Mr. Crais.
    • 5/5
      Elvis Cole along with Joe Pike and Jon Stone go head to head with kidnappers from the US-Mexico border. Exciting book.
    • 4/5
      Nita Morales hires Elvis Cole, the best detective in the world according to a recent magazine article, to find her daughter. She believes Krista has run off with her boyfriend, possibly to get married. Elvis tracks the two young adults to an old plane crash "hang out." When he finds evidence of shooting, several cars and other people in the area, he calls his best friend Pike to help. Pike is a man of few words, but he is one of the best trackers in the world. Elvis and Pike stumble upon a human trafficking ring and bajadores, bandits who steal the border-crossers from the coyotes and then ransom them to their families who have already paid to get them to the States.The book takes place over a week or so and the chapters jump around to different time periods within the week. That was confusing to me at first. The book is narrated in the first person by Elvis, but is told from other characters' points of view as well. It's fast paced with plenty of action.It took me a while to get used to Luke Daniels' narration. His voice for Elvis seemed a little light and young. However, he did so well with the other voices that I ended up liking him.
    • 4/5
      Crais takes a different approach with this novel. He has the same characters but changes narrators to move the story. It moves the story well and give each character a view of the plot development.
    • 4/5
      Elvis Cole is hired by a woman, Nita Morales, to find her adult daughter, Krista, who was with her boyfriend when she was kidnapped.Nita is skeptical and wonders if the kidnapping was staged so Krista could get money to elope. Although Krista is smart and ambitious, even intelligent girls do stupid things when they think a boy loves them.Krista and her boyfriend were at a popular spot in the desert when they were kidnapped by 'bajadores' - bandits who prey on other bandits and anyone else they find. They concentrate on immigrants who are crossing the border, they hold these people for ransom. If their families don't pay, they kill the immigrants. They believe that Krista and her boyfriend are from wealthy families who would be able to pay a good fee to get their children back.Elvis and his partner Joe Pike work together with Elvis posing as a dealer in human contraband to meet the leader of the 'bajadores' and offer to buy the release of the captives.Elvis and Joe don't realize the heartlessness of these outlaws and we wonder if Elvis will succeed in his plan.There is a high level of suspense as we follow the actions of Joe and Elvis who combine to make this a memorable read.
    • 5/5
      Brutal, probably will be made into a movie.
    • 4/5
      Every time a new Crais book comes out I'm hesitant to read it. Yea Joe and Elvis are interesting and the story was good, but do I really want to read it? Then as soon as I'm into it, I'm quickly wondering why I was hesitant. These book are just exceptional and this one is better then most. In this case Elvis and Joe get involved in a human trafficking case and it's griping. Do yourself a favor and read this one.
    • 4/5
      Pike and Cole together is always a bonus. I stuck with it because of their characters despite the stomach-turning graphic evil -- all too believable -- in the plot.
    • 5/5
      2012 is going to be a good year, if we can go by Taken. It's the first mystery published in 2012 that I have read and it is a winner. Fast paced. You can see far enough ahead that you are held in it's grips. You see in one place that Elvis is 'taken'; what happened? did he want to be 'taken'? If not, how will he get away? How will he save the hostages? This is not a cozy mystery. Elvis and Joe take no prisoners. There are lots of dead bodies and a really bad 'bad guy'. There is also a new character, Jon Stone, who is as good as Joe and Elvis and I hope that he becomes another regular character in this series. Here is hard-boiled detective fiction at its best.
    • 5/5
      I am always so excited when Robert Crais releases a new book - I just know I'm in for a night of great reading. Yes, a night - because once I start, I can't stop until I turn the last page. Crais' latest book - Taken - was no exception!A group of young people, partying out in the desert by an old abandoned plane. Two of them - Jack and Krista - decide to hang back after the others have left. They unexpectedly find themselves witness to a local coyote (human smuggler) unloading his cargo. And things go from bad to worse when the coyotes and their load are hijacked - and kidnapped - including Jack and Krista.Krista's mom calls in Elvis Cole - self proclaimed World's Greatest Detective - to help her find her missing daughter. She's received a ransom request, but thinks it's a joke - they've asked for only five hundred dollars. Elvis calls in his partner and best friend Joe Pike. When Elvis goes missing too, the kidnappers don't know who or what's coming for them - Joe Pike.Crais has created two of my favourite recurring characters in one series. Elvis is full of snappy one liners and really, he never stops talking - even when he should. Joe Pike - well, he barely speaks at all. Both of them are dangerous men, but Pike - he's in class of his own. With Elvis in trouble, Pike calls in a fellow mercenary this time - Jon Stone. Stone is a great addition to this cast. He's just as tough as Pike, as chatty as Cole and bored when he hasn't got a 'situation' to work on.Crais has taken an issue that has been in the headlines and exposed it's dirty underbelly - human trafficking is very real. His scenes are gritty, painting realistic pictures of what may befall those looking for a better life.Taken is told in a unique format. The storyline snaps back and forth telling the story from the view of Jack and Krista, Elvis and Pike. The narrative is told in non linear fashion - the timeline jumps to before and after each was taken. This absolutely ratcheted up the tension (and the speed at which I turned pages!)Why do I love this series so much? The plotting is great, the action non stop and the characters are fantastic. And at the bottom of it all for me - Joe Pike. Who isn't holding out for a hero? Jack Reacher fans will love Pike. If you're looking for an action packed read, you will have found it with Taken. (By the way it's already #1 on the New York Times Bestseller list!)
    • 4/5
      I read Taken in one day. The storyline is a bit confusing as the threads that connect the main characters--Elvis Cole, Joe Pike, Jon Stone, and the college age and foreign hostages--bounces back and forth among the days of the hostage taking, days of Cole being held hostage, days before Cole being taken hostage, and Pike and Stone trying to find Cole and the others. Regardless, the narrative and the action keep moving along at a pace that it is impossible to put the book down. I'm anticipating that the author plans to add Jon Stone as a major character in the future--either in his own series or as a major player with Pike and Cole.
    • 4/5
      No foreplay, just slam bam thank you ma'am. This book jumps into the action from the get-go and keeps it up throughout. Another new character - Jon Stone. Elvis and Pike - as tight as it gets.
    • 4/5
      A quick read, keep my interest through out, trying to keep up with who might have kidnapped Mary's baby, the author certainly keep one guessing because he pointed the finger at all the different characters of the book.
    • 2/5
      This is not one of Crais' better books. Joe Pike doesn't seem himself and Crais has added another ex Army hot shot special forces veteran who is totally unnecessary to the plot/ Furthermore the cross border immigrant attrocities, even if true, do not make for a great plot. C-.