Taken - Give it Back!

Taken, by Debra Lee is set in a small town in Pennsylvania. Mary, a secretary in the district attorney’s office is about to tell her long-time boyfriend that she’s pregnant. But before she can do that he announces he’s leaving her for another woman. Distraught, she goes on with the pregnancy despite the arguments of her best friend who tells her childhood stories living in foster homes. The baby is born and the ex-boyfriend Kyle realizes he’s probably the father. Oh, but he’s already married with a newborn of his own, born on the same day, of course. With his own political aspirations, he helps financially but cannot have a relationship with his daughter – his wife’s decision – not his. Then it happens – the baby is snatched from the nursery one night. Mary is devastated but also deals with the haunting memories of her own brother’s kidnapping twelve years earlier. The story continues with a few twists and turns. Many subplots are formed but none have much meat to them. I feel this story was written down in outline form and then the author forgot to fill in the details. Somewhat boring and quite predictable. It’s a shame because it definitely had a good plot but no one bothered to give it the meat it deserved. And I won’t even go into the editing (or lack of editing) issue. If you have Taken on your list to read, take my advice: give it back.