David Massey

A great and seductive tale that blends a bit of history with the supernatural, friendships, budding romance, and some eerie killings in Paris. Main character Fellin takes readers through what started as an exchange between British students and comparable ones in Paris to strengthen their language skills. You meet her right after she's been pulled, bloodied and hysterical, from the crypts underneath Paris after a rave-like party turns into a horror show. Much of what follows is told in the show more form of her being interviewed as a murder suspect, but things get even more interesting after this is concluded. There are plenty of red herrings and some wild chase scenes, all while you're trying to figure out who's been murdering teens in pretty gruesome ways. A brain-challenging and most satisfying YA mystery. show less

Torn has a strong female protagonist, lots of action, a little romance, and a few mysteries that need to be solved, including one surrounding a young girl dressed in blue that keeps showing up right before someone dies. It wrapped up a little too neatly for my liking, but had a few twists and turns along the way that made it interesting. The audio-book was well done, considering the female reader had to do a ton of male voices and several different accents. Recommended.

Taken by David Massey was one of those books that I simply couldn’t put down. This is the story of 6 young people who are kidnapped from their boat as they were attempting a round-world sailing cruise for charity. They were barely a day out of Cape Town and didn’t have a chance when overtaken by 4 speed boats. Their boat is sunk and they are brought back to an isolated African beach. What follows is a nightmare march across the plains and jungles of Africa. Constantly on the move, they show more eventually learn that they are being held for ransom by a group that calls itself the Lord’s Resistance Army, a well-known terrorist group. Of the 6 young people, 4 are handicapped in various ways, three of them had received their wounds while serving with the British Army.

The story that follows is both harrowing and exciting. The only jarring thing to me was that the romantic triangle continued even after they were kidnapped and romance should have been the last thing in their heads. This more juvenile plot line felt like a nod to it’s YA label. As they are marched across Africa and see these terrorists commit horrendous acts both to them and to others, they realise that if they want to be saved, they will have come up with a plan of escape for themselves.

Taken is a story of survival and adventure, there are many scenes of violence both to animals and humans. I would suggest this would be appropriate reading for the more mature YA reader. Although I had very few expectations for this book, I was actually quite taken with the story. Perhaps not the best writing, but nevertheless I found myself both involved with the ongoing story and desperately wanting to know how the book was going to end. show less

Interesting to have a female soldier as the lead character. Ellie is a medic in the British army fighting in Afghanistan who learns the hard way to be on the lookout on her first day when she has a shower in an enclosed courtyard and looks up to see 3 male soldiers on the roof watching her! She has to not only cope with the war and the injuries people suffer ( as a medic) but also a very aggressive bunk mate in her patrol leader Heidi who thinks she is useless. As well there is the prospect show more as she patrols the desert streets that the wary people she sees around her might actually be out to kill her (not just the obvious rebels and enemy.)
It turns out the 3 men watching are all in her patrol and they soon come to rely on each other in a crisis and the first day's events are forgotten. I thought the part where she helps one who steps on a mine a little unrealistic. There is also the supernatural/strangely unexplained phenomenon of a girl who keeps reappearing and disappearing in Ellie's vision - is she an omen of death to come? As well as that there is a budding romance between her and a US superior officer. Different and fairly engaging story - has suspense and action in it and from memory, swearing is censored. show less