Glue me to my chair,
cuz I don’t wanna get up!

Those are the words that fit my feelings of Taken by Dee Henderson. Someone insert an IV, because I ain’t moving.

Unfortunately, I had to put this book down too many times because life required it. My kids required it. SLEEP required it. sigh

THIS IS A GOOD BOOK. There, I said it, even in all caps. Yes, I shouted. Dee Henderson is the kind of author, like Sue Grafton for my mom, whose books I am collecting simply because they are that good. And if you knew how little my house is, how pitiful the space is that I have for collecting books, you might understand that my saying that I’m collecting her books is a big deal. Anyway, to the real meat of my review. . . .

Shannon Bliss was abducted as a teenager eleven years ago. She managed to sneak away from her captors and went in search of Matthew Dane, a private investigator whose own daughter had been abducted and returned to him years before. Shannon, with Matthew’s help, was determined to see justice served to the perpetrators of her abduction.

Taken incorporates characters from previous novels and from the former O’Malley series. I love it when authors keep a storyline fresh and weave in character updates from previous stories.

I loved Shannon’s and Matthew’s characters. Henderson pays very sharp attention to character traits and expertly builds her characters’ qualities so well that you can almost see their details in your mind.

The only thing that I might “pick on” is the fact that I was anticipating a big brawl of sorts, I guess is how I’d say it (without giving too much away, I hope). That didn’t happen, but it didn’t take too much away from the excitement of the story.

In short, I would say that if you’ve been a Dee Henderson reader in the past, you’ll continue being a reader after you read this novel. I highly recommend that you plop yourself in your reading seat of choice, grab a glass of iced tea or whatever you like, and be prepared to be swallowed by the storyline. You won’t regret the time spent.