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Taken
Taken
Jan 7, 2025 3:17 PM

Author:Niamh O'Connor

Taken

A beautiful woman

Model and it-girl Tara Parker Trench is famous across Ireland - with her beauty, glittering lifestyle and perfect three-year-old son Presley, she seems to have it all.

A stolen child

Until, one cold wet Dublin night, Tara pulls into a service station for petrol, leaving Presley strapped into the back of her car. Five minutes later he's gone, kidnapped while his mother's back was turned.

A hidden world

Tara, terrified and hysterical, begs DI Jo Birmingham to help her find her child. But why doesn't Tara want the public to know he's missing? Soon, Jo is drawn into a dark underworld of corruption and extortion, where sex is a commodity, and life is cheap. Who is really telling Jo the truth about the missing little boy- and who's got too much to hide?

A gripping crime novel, with an unforgettable heroine - welcome to the dark side of Dublin's Fair City

Reviews

Gripping, terrifying. If you like Martina Cole, you'll love this

—— Tess Gerritsen

Niamh O'Connor has written five successful true crime books, and burst onto the burgeoning Irish thriller scene last year with her first Jo Birmingham adventure, If I Never See You Again, which was a best-seller. With Taken, O'Connor has pulled off the elusive feat of delivering a second novel that betters the original

—— Irish Independent

One of the greatest writers of the 20th century . . . no other writer can set up a scene as sharply and with such economy as Simenon does . . . the conjuring of a world, a place, a time, a set of characters - above all, an atmosphere.

—— John Banville , Financial Times

Simenon's supreme virtue as a novelist, to burrow beneath the surface of his characters' behaviour; to empathise . . . it is this unfailing humanity that makes the Maigret books truly worth reading.

—— Graeme Macrae Burnet , Guardian

Gripping . . . richly rewarding . . . You'll quickly find yourself obsessing about his life as you tackle each mystery in turn

—— Stig Abell , The Sunday Times

A hauntingly gothic story of captivity, escape and revenge

—— Grazia

The Never List got its sticky, sharp talons into me on the first paragraph and wouldn’t let go until I’d finished it in less than two days…a stylish and impressive debut thriller

—— S.J. Bolton

A nonstop thriller with heart-wrenching twists

—— Jed Rubenfeld

A book never to be missed. Zan's razor-sharp debut combines the very best of page-turning suspense with classic head-game thrills and chills

—— Lisa Gardner

Cleverly plotted and highly entertaining, The Never List is a haunting psychological thriller that begs to be read in one sitting. Be prepared

—— Alafair Burke

The Never List is a perfect entertainment. Thrilling, super smart, witty, and just about the most distracting thing in my recent life. I've stayed up past my bedtime, missed whole subway stops, left children at the playground. First readers will have to know what happens, and then they'll be awed by the flair with which Koethi Zan makes it happen. This novel deserves all the success it is sure to have

—— Darin Strauss

This fast-paced debut turns the traditional crime novel on its head

—— InStyle

If you like dark and disturbing thrillers, this stylish debut is for you... This will hook you in till the end but should come with a warning – it’s not for the faint-hearted

—— Deirdre O'Brien , Sunday Mirror

A perfect page turner for the beach

—— Now

Full of heartbreaking twists and turns, you'll not be able to put it down

—— My Weekly

This dark twisting thriller is perfect for those looking to fill the void left by Gone Girl

—— No 1

The Never List is the best kind of entertainment, one that thrills while bringing new awareness of the world in which we live. I predict some earlier bedtimes for Koethi in the future as, no matter how good a lawyer she is, there seems to be a brighter future beckoning as a novelist and screenwriter

—— The Bookbag

This is an astonishingly assured debut, and a thoroughly absorbing book which will keep you gripped to the very end. Set aside a whole block of time to read it, because you won’t want to put it down

—— Crime Fiction Lover

Warning: don’t read this psychological thriller late at night

—— Sun

It’s a gripping page-turner

—— Press Association Syndication

A thoughtful, profoundly unnerving psychological thriller

—— John O'Connell , Guardian

A huge page-turner. This is the perfect beach read, absolutely gripping and with a pacey storyline that’s guaranteed to see you racing to the final page within days

—— Katie Archer , Argus

This is a rare thriller that manages to be thoughtful and frantically compelling

—— Mail on Sunday

I found it hard to put down, with several ingenious twists

—— Jake Kerridge , Sunday Express

This is the perfect beach read, absolutely gripping and with a pacey storyline that’s guaranteed to see you racing to the final page within days

—— Women's Way

Absolutely loved The Never List. Absorbing, innovative and thought provoking. Great read too! Fantastic new voice in fiction

—— Martina Cole

If you’re looking for an edge-of-your-seat thriller, then this one is sure to suit

—— My Weekly
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