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Taken (Jo Birmingham 2) [Paperback]

Niamh O'Connor (Author)
4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
RRP: £6.99
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Book Description

Publication Date: 26 April 2012 | Series: Jo Birmingham 2

A beautiful woman

Model and it-girl Tara Parker Trench is famous across Ireland - with her beauty, glittering lifestyle and perfectthree-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

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Taken (Jo Birmingham 2) + If I Never See You Again
Price For Both: £10.48

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Product details

  • Paperback: 400 pages
  • Publisher: Transworld Ireland (26 April 2012)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1848270836
  • ISBN-13: 978-1848270831
  • Product Dimensions: 12.7 x 2.5 x 19.8 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 44,186 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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› Visit Amazon's Niamh O'Connor Page
Niamh O'Connor
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Product Description

Review

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 20110619)

Book Description

A child is abducted. How far would you go to save him?
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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars melodramatic Irish police procedural 6 May 2012
By Rob Kitchin TOP 1000 REVIEWER
Format:Paperback
Taken starts at a clip and steadily builds steam. Niamh O'Connor works as the true crime editor of the Sunday World and she brings her knowledge of Ireland's criminal underbelly to the story, fictionalising elements of rumours concerning high class prostitution she's heard in her day job. Whilst the criminal side of the story, linking the rich and famous with underclass criminal gangs seems credible, the policing and family side of the story seemed less so. The guards are portrayed as incompetent, jealous and backstabbing, and the procedural elements are weak. This worked to create some tension and melodrama, but also undermined the credibility of the story. The plot also relied on some awkward set-ups at times, such as leaving the car unlocked, putting people in an inspector's office unattended, and a mobile phone too wet to use. Despite this, the story rattles along at a heck of a pace, dragging the reader with it as the various threads are woven together and resolved, culminating in an explosive finale. And given the high melodrama, its breakneck speed, and the mixing of the rich, famous and criminal gangs I can easily envisage Taken being serialised for television. Overall, a searing commentary on the legacy of Celtic Tiger excesses, played out through thrill-bound melodrama.
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10 of 12 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Best crime fiction this year! 25 May 2011
By Vanessa Fox Oloughlin
Format:Paperback
I loved Niamh O'Connor's first novel If I Never See You Again, was left frantically trying to finish it at the heart stopping ending - so I was really looking forward to what happend next to the ballsy DI Jo Birmingham. But I really wasn't expecting the way O'Connor's new novel Taken keeps surprising the reader right to the last page - I couldn't put it down!

Grabbing you in the first page, O'Connor plays on every mother's fears and hooks you into a plot that twists and turns so fast you just have to keep reading to find out what happens next. The sense of confusion at a murder scene where the facts presented and the evidence just don't add up was masterfully executed - it's easy for us readers who watch cop dramas to think that gut instinct and forensics will throw up the killer everytime. As O'Connor knows from her job as True Crime editor of the Sunday World, real life and real policing isn't like that - and you can't trust anything you see.

This is a fabulous read, exposing the tragic dark side of wealth and celebrity, a fast paced thriller that will leave you thinking next time you open Hello! Magazine, and keep you guessing to the end. Couldn't recommended it highly enough.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Irish crime fiction at its best? 3 May 2012
By Sharon TOP 1000 REVIEWER
Format:Paperback
When model Tara pulls into a garage to fill up with petrol she doesn't expect it to turn into a living nightmare, her toddler son is snatched from the car whilst she was inside paying. Although she suspects who is behind the kidnapping she needs help to get her son back so she turns to DI Jo Birmingham for help.

However, Jo soon realises that there is something more sinister at stake than simply the kidnapping of an innocent child, especially when an anonymous DVD is left at the station showing Tara in a horrifying situation. It's soon clear to her that the kidnapping of Presley is someone trying to send Tara a message and investigations soon lead her into the criminal underworld of high-class escorts, human trafficking and drugs.

Tara is terrified and won't help Jo with her investigation so when Tara collapses from an overdose, and several crucial suspects for the kidnapping are found dead, can Jo find Presley before it's too late?

I first heard of Niamh O'Connor when her debut novel, If I Never See You Again, was recommended to me last year by a friend and I wasn't disappointed as it was a book that I couldn't put down. I'd been awaiting the release of this her second novel for a few months since I finished reading the first and overall I wasn't disappointed.

Although it was apparent quite early on who was behind all the events, there was still enough intrigue to keep me gripped and I finished reading the book over a couple of nights. Her next novel, Too Close For Comfort, is due out in trade paperback next month and looks set to be another interesting case for DI Jo Birmingham.
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4.0 out of 5 stars Current Crime versus Celebrity 22 Aug 2012
By Joanne D'Arcy TOP 1000 REVIEWER VINE™ VOICE
Format:Paperback
Jo Birmingham, is the feisty female detective that you first meet in If I Never See You Again. She is a single mother with two boys, one a mere baby, the other a mere teenager. Not only has she to deal with juggling this family life that was not really of her choosing. Her ex also happens to be her boss. Now she has even more to prove.

Jo's choice of career makes all the challenges perhaps even harder - she is a Detective Inspector and in this novel, she goes into some rather dark and seedy places to get a result. Justice.

A child goes missing from the back seat of a car, whilst their mother is in the petrol station. A mother's worst nightmare, you turn your back for two minutes. But this mother is famous in Ireland, she has it all. Beauty, money, an ideal life; on the surface. Underneath it is darker place full of drugs, corruption and sex as a resource. When she wants no publicity for the missing child, there is obviously more to this than a simply case of a child being taken.

It is now up to DI Jo Birmingham to bring the pieces together. And when a video tape is left for her at the police station, does the evidence point to a much bigger case where more people will want to keep their names out of the spotlight? But surely the first most important thing to do is to reunite child with mother? So why is there a reluctance to put the resources onto this case? A question for her ex-husband?

This is a crime novel which from the moment you start reading, draws you right into the plot, the setting and the characters. It is not a nice world that we live in and this book demonstrates that for me quite effectively.... Read more ›
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
2.0 out of 5 stars a mix of improbable coincidence and clichéd circumstance...
Having just finished this, I felt a more objective impression was required for readers who might be drawn in by some of the more ridiculously over-the-top five-star reviews here... Read more
Published 12 months ago by N. Page
4.0 out of 5 stars Great second novel!
In February 2011 I read Niamh O'Connor's debut novel and really enjoyed it. I was looking forward to reading the second instalment. Read more
Published 13 months ago by Best Books To Read
5.0 out of 5 stars Taken
I picked this up from the library not having read anything from this author before, so glad I did, I couldn't put it down and read it in a few days, I really recommend it.
Published 13 months ago by Tracy Scotton
2.0 out of 5 stars Take it away...
Taken is Niamh O'Connor's second fiction novel and also appears to be the second novel to feature DI Jo Birmingham. (I haven't read the first. Read more
Published 19 months ago by Leah Graham
5.0 out of 5 stars Taken to another level
Having read Niamh's first book, If I Never See You Again, I already knew that the main character, Detective Inspector Jo Birmingham, was one tough cookie. Read more
Published 23 months ago by Mel Sherratt
5.0 out of 5 stars Chilling read - kept me up all night!
Tara Parker Trench is a single mother and model in her late 20's. Returning from an overseas job on a dark Sunday night, she stops at a petrol station on the wrong side of Dublin... Read more
Published on 20 Jun 2011 by Mrs. Mary Malone
5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliantly captivating!
Taken is without a doubt my favourite book of the year so far. Having read the author's previous book, If I Never See You Again, I couldn't wait to get my hands on this one. Read more
Published on 26 May 2011 by Maria
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