Takeover by Lisa Black

Copy Right: 2008

Publisher: William Morrow

Genre: Mystery

Pages: 337

New-to-me author? Yup

 

Simple description:

I took the following from the author's website:

Takeover is the first in a series from William Morrow.  Forensic Scientist Theresa MacLean is investigating an early-morning murder when she gets word that her fiancé has been taken hostage with seven others in a bank robbery at Cleveland's Federal Reserve. The city's best negotiator, high-profile Chris Cavanaugh, hasn't lost a victim yet, but Theresa wonders if he might be too arrogant to save the day this time around. Once she gets inside the bank, Theresa must use all her smarts, experience, and forensic skills to get control of the crisis

Why did I read this book?

I love mysteries and this one sounded good. It's the first in a new series, so the perfect time to start.

About the book:

The entire book pretty much takes place in one day. Theresa MacLean is called to the site of a murder. Her fiancé and his partner, her cousin, are working the case. While they are working this murder, they get notified that there is an attempted bank robbery at the federal reserve bank, where there murdered man worked. The robbers are still inside, with hostages. One of the hostages happens to be her fiancé. The famous police negotiator, Chris Cavanaugh, is called in. The problem is that while he expects all negotiations to be different, this one isn't going as expected. The robbers are either very dumb, or very smart. When Theresa's fiancé is shot in the leg, she recognizes it as being a wound that could be fatal if left alone. She ends bringing the robbers their car back and exchanging herself and the car, for her fiancé. Things go from bad to worse and Theresa isn't sure any of them will get out alive.

What I liked most:

I actually liked that the entire story was one day. It was different from what I usually read, from most mysteries actually. At least, that's this reviewer's opinion. So I liked that it was different. I thought Theresa was a very brave and smart woman. I really like her character and I'm hoping that she is the main character for the rest of the series. I liked being so involved with a hostage negotiation. In this book you get to be on both sides, you are outside with Chris as he tries to learn about the robbers and use this info to get the robbers to give up the hostages. You also get to be inside the bank with the robbers to see how they react to everything and everyone.

 

Was there something I didn't like?

Unfortunately, there was. I think if somebody had warned me about this, it would have been better. So I'm going to warn all of you. One of the cops is Officer Frank Patrick. Now, I don't know if that was mentioned in the beginning or not. If it was, I totally missed it. At first this cop is referred to as Frank. Then suddenly somebody named Patrick is in the story and I had no idea where that person came from. Then I realized that it sounds like Patrick is supposed to be Frank. Then it was finally there was a part where the character was referred to as Officer Patrick, and Frank answered. That's when I realized that Patrick was Frank's last name. So I was rather confused and thought it was a typo for awhile. I thought the author changed the character's name and it was never corrected in every spot. I'm glad to know that wasn't the case. So…you've been warned. When you read this book, if somebody is referred to as Patrick or Frank..it's the same person.

Do I recommend the book?

Definitely! I thought this was a great book and it really held my interest. I can think of several bloggers that I think would enjoy this book. One being Heidi's Books.

 

Have you reviewed this book on your blog? If so let me know and I'll link it below.

Sorry, no linked reviews yet

 

Happy Reading…and thanks for stopping by! Kris