Taken (2012)

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. ( )

Elvis Cole along with Joe Pike and Jon Stone go head to head with kidnappers from the US-Mexico border. Exciting book. ( )

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. ( )

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. ( )

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. ( )