Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with early access to this, the first in a new collection.
Our main character has been shuffled off to Coventry in a sideways move after dallying with the wrong man in the Met. Coming from this disadvantaged position, Ed is determined to make her first case go well.
The case focuses on the abduction of young girls. They are kept for a period of days and then returned, unharmed but pregnant. Although we pick up events with the third such abduction, nobody seems to have made the connection. Naturally, Ed and her new team do and the focus is on them trying to discover which of their four suspects it is before the fourth young girl becomes the next victim.
This felt disjointed in parts, and the attempt to get into the mindset of the killer meant we knew more than our narrator and this confused matters somewhat.

The Taken Girls G.D Sanders

I have to say that this book has really torn me.

The story is brilliant, the crime is committed in a way, and for reasons, I have never come across before.

Ten years apart two girls are abducted and held captive by someone for weeks. Then mysteriously they are found apparently unharmed their clothes cleaned and pressed, and saying there captive had treated them well.

When newly promoted DI Edina (Ed) Ogborne is transferred from the Met, under a cloud, to Canterbury she struggles to integrate into the small CID team.

The most recent disappearance is her first case and as she struggles with the case, she also struggles with her team and her social life.

With the investigation going nowhere it’s a frustration when a local journalist gets a break in the case and publishes the story without conferring with the Police, another “X” in the column for Jo from her new boss.

The investigations continue and at least one other girl is taken, but why, and why return them unharmed and in apparent good health.

Canterbury is a small City and everybody seems to know everybody and there business. The investigation has a small town feeling in a small City.

To me this is where there is a problem with the story. There is never any urgency in the investigation. A series of kidnappings of teenage girls and there’s just a team of 4 looking at it almost on a 9-5 basis. With the SIO taking time out to go for meals and fraternise with the locals, something she may come to regret

As much as I liked the story there were too many times when I thought “no, that would never happen”, or “stop faffing about and get on with the investigation”

There are some peripheral characters that take the reader down dead ends, and as entertaining as they are, I struggled to understand why some things happen in the story. Unless this is the building block for a series and the characters are going to reappear.

Would I read them if they did?

Yes, as frustrating as it was in places I actually really enjoyed the story.

Pages: 355
Publisher: Avon
Available now.

First book by this author and I enjoyed it greatly, especially being set in the city where I was born and studied - Canterbury. Not overly sure about the main protagonist as a character, she's not 100% likeable nor indeed does she always behave in a realistic fashion, but she has a good and interesting team around her who all contribute to a bizarre and disturbing investigation. If there are more, I shall be reading.

17 year old girls are being abducted - several years apart - and contrary to what usually happens they are returned to their families within six weeks, apparently unharmed. In fact their abductor treats them well, buys them the clothes that they want, feeds them and promises that they'll be returned to their parents. He wears a voice a changer and a hood so that they can't identify him. DI Ed Ogborne has a number of suspects, but how can she identify the correct person before another girl is taken - and possibly killed.

A good story. Ogborne is interesting and all too human.

I’m afraid I really struggled to read this book. The premise was good, it’s just not my writing style and I found it difficult to get through.

A missing girl turns up following her abduction and pregnant. The detective on the case realises that there have been similar cases in the past. So far, so good, but, I found it a drawn out, repetitive read that was difficult to finish.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the opportunity to preview this book.

End the year with a bang with G D Sanders’ fabulous debut novel, The Taken Girls. Fast-paced, relentlessly suspenseful and wholly mesmerizing, The Taken Girls is a superb crime novel readers will not be able to stop reading!

DI Edina Ogborne is the newest recruit of Canterbury Police and she is certainly feeling the pressure of being the latest arrival. With a very chequered history, a guilty secret from the past that still haunts her and an ex that simply will not let her be, the last thing Ed needs is to have a team that have made it perfectly clear that they don’t want her. Winning them over and making them respect her will not be a walk in the park, but office politics are the very last thing she needs, especially as her first case is a challenging, perplexing and strange one that is going to lead her down plenty of dangerous paths.

A teenage girl has gone missing, however, her return is not the joyous homecoming her friends and family imagined because while she is unharmed, she is also pregnant. Who was behind the girl’s disappearance? What was the reason behind her abduction? And who is the father of her unborn child? Canterbury has already had to deal with this kind of case before and as Ed and her team begin to investigate they find themselves entangled in a web of corruption, deception and skulduggery that could just end up costing them everything!

As the detectives battle through falsified files and missing official records, they are rocked by an accusation leveled at none other than Ed’s current lover…

Time is running out, but will intrepid Ed manage to find the perpetrator behind these vicious crimes? Will she manage to get to the bottom of this case and put the evil criminal behind bars? Or is it already too late?

A very impressive debut featuring an outstanding detective, The Taken Girls is a tightly plotted and densely written police procedural that will keep readers on the edge of their seats. G D Sanders knows how to ramp up the tension, make readers’ heart race and keep them reading way past their bedtime with The Taken Girls and I simply cannot wait to see what else he has in store for us!

With a fantastic detective and plenty of drama, action, menace and suspense to keep crime aficionados glued to the pages of this novel, The Taken Girls is a compulsively readable thriller that ticks all the right boxes.

An average book in a mass of exceptional ones means I can only give it 3 stars! Ed is quite unlikeable and difficult to relate to! I was hoping she was moved to Canterbury because of some miscarriage of justice - but I think she doesn’t ever think before she acts.
Girls go missing, unharmed yet pregnant - who is doing this and why? Well it took long enough to get to the point as it was massively drawn out about halfway through and I just lost interest.
Good debut and I would read others by GD Saunders

Unfortunately this book wasn't really for me. I felt I had read it before with the kidnapped girls and police officer with a past. Thank you to Avon publishers for a copy.

The Taken Girls is a debut novel that I found really creepy. My only criticism is that it's slightly drawn out. I read it in one sitting as it's publication day is today and I would like to thank Avon publishing for giving me the chance to read it.

THE TAKEN GIRLS is the debut book by G.D. Saunders and the first in a series featuring newly promoted DI Edina "Ed" Ogborne. And wow, what a great debut. After a couple of average books I found myself caught up in the storyline very quickly, finding myself unable to put it down.

DI Ogborne has been transferred out of the Met due to an indiscretion with a senior officer and it still being much of an old boys' club, was sent off to a posting with Canterbury CID in Kent...a post sweetened with the deal that it came with a promotion from DS to DI. Upon arrival in Canterbury, Ed soon finds that her transfer may not be as welcome as she first thought. It seems the team were expecting the current DS, who had been groomed to take over the position as DI, was transferring to Maidstone and therefore making way for Ed. It didn't matter that the decision came from the top brass and had nothing to do with Ed, as her new Chief Superintendant was quick to remind her. She had six months to prove herself or she'd be out. Starting with a case that had come in overnight.

Teenager Lucy Naylor is abducted on the short walk home from her best friend's place one night. No one saw anything. No one heard anything. Lucy had disappeared without a trace. Ed, keen to impress, plunges into the case despite having little to go on. Working alongside the current acting DI who seems to smooth her transition into the team, it soon becomes clear that Lucy's disappearance bears many similarities to one four years ago.

Then just a month later Lucy turns up unconscious, unharmed but pregnant. Like the girl in the case four years before. As the team delve further, they shift their focus to any other cases that may have been similar. Then they discover rumours of the possible disappearance of a young girl the same age as both girls, but when she turned up her family went on an extended holiday overseas and upon their return, left Kent altogether. There appeared to be no trace of them at all. The girl's father was a solicitor and an affluent member of Caneterbury. Ed soon tasked her team with finding any trace of the girl and her family.

Then when a fourth girl goes missing, time is running out to find her before the villain/abductor impregnates her.

The villain in this book is somewhat different than you would expect. He is not a sexual sadist, nor has he any sexual interest in his victims. Just an obsession and extreme desire with fathering a child of his own. His method did leave me puzzled to begin with as to how this was possible but we are enlightened along the way. For once, I had no idea who the abductor was until it was revealed, and I must admit I was sadly disappointed - hoping it was one of the others.

The story unfolds mostly from Ed's POV, with the occasional secondary character and then of course the chapters devoted to the villain. I did find some of the story surrounding Ed unnecessary and a tad voyueristic and while it may have had a little do with Ed's backstory I found it a little too descriptive and yes, unnecessary. There were some characters I took a real dislike to, in particular one who found himself in the suspect pool. I would love to have drowned him in it!

I can't say I took to Ed. I don't like her name for a start. Couldn't it be shortened to "Edie"? Not Ed. And not Eddie. But still I wasn't a huge fan of her. She is impulsive with a few too many poor decisions in her personal life, which if that was anything to go by I fail to see her success as a DI! I hope she develops into a more likeable character and makes better decisions in future books. I do look forward to the next book, whose premise sounds exciting.

I would like to thank #GDSanders, #NetGalley and #AvonUK for the opportunity to read an ARC copy of #TheTakenGirls in return for an honest review.

An interesting protagonist and a decent story line, once I had started and gotten into this book, I really enjoyed it. Learning about new characters, getting know what makes them tick, why they act the way they do, is always interesting when starting a new book.
This book certainly makes you think the whole of the way through it. Although it felt a little unusual, it was very enjoyable.
For a debut, I think the author has done exceptionally well and should be very proud of what they have achieved.
Arriving in Canterbury, DI Edina ‘Ed’ Ogborne is a character very different to others, getting to know her was great. Thrown right into a case where a teenage girl is taken, kidnapped yet not harmed in anyway it seems. It also seems very odd that the kidnapper hasn't wanted to harm her. So why has he taken her. Well, all that is revealed from reading the book.
It soon becomes apparent that this is not the first girl he has taken. It's down to Ed and her team to try and figure out what connections these girls have, what or who do they have in common, only then can things move forward and the case move on.
I found this book to have some good twists and turns and seemed to move on at a decent pace, it wasn't to slow, but didn't race on with itself.

Has you thinking all the way through, who is the weirdo who takes these girls? Why is he taking them? The detective is going to get her man! Cleverly written twist and turns makes for a great plot will definitely look out for this author again.

Great book had me hooked from the beginning and the ending didn’t disappoint either! Absolutely brilliant. Thank you for allowing me to read.

An unusual and thoroughly enjoyable police thriller. A set of characters I hope to meet again.The main character is a female detective transferred to a new station who has to find her feet and solve a twisted case.

It took me a while to get into this book, but it was worth persevering - as the pace picked up and the character of Ed grew on me, I felt I had to keep going to find out what happened. I'm still not sure it was clear why there had been a police cover up, but maybe I missed something in my rush to get to the end as the suspense built.

I found this book to be extremely slow until about 2/3 of the way through. I greatly enjoyed everything from Ed's point of view, but found myself having to force through everything from the kidnappers point of view. I didn't feel his view brought anything to the story - just Ed's, or Ed's and the girls, would have been plenty to drive the plot through.

The writing was quality, and there was just enough character development to make you want to come back for more in a second book. I appreciated that, especially as writers often slap their readers with details and development - this was well done in Taken Girls.

Overall I enjoyed the book and would absolutely continue reading a series from it.

This is a debut novel featuring DI Edina Ogborne who is stationed at the Canterbury police force. Ed (Edina) has just been transferred to Canterbury from the Met. She's investigating the abduction of sixth form schoolgirl, Lucy Naylor. As the investigation progresses, they discover links to two other abductions.

I was intrigued straight away when I read the blurb for this book. An "abducted girl" story that looked like it was going to be different to other stories. The first half of the book was good but the second half felt a bit flat. There is more repetition than there is action. The story is drawn out a bit, but then again, authors with many books under their belts are guilty of doing this as well. With a little bit more tension, this would have been a better read. Overall, it's a fairly decent debut novel. I will read more from this author in future.

I would like to thank NetGalley, Avon Books UK and the author G. D. Sanders for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The author wrote a thriller that started with a bang and just kept going! The twists kept coming, so I couldn't put it down. I cannot wait to read more from this author!

There's a refreshing difference to the crimes in The Taken Girls. A teenage girl has been taken but isn't being harmed in any way, except she's pregnant and doesn't know how it can have happened (yes, really!). It turns out that this is not the first time that this has happened and DI Edina Ogborne is the one tasked to lead a team in the search for the perpetrator.

Ed, as she likes to be known, is newly promoted to the DI job and new to the force in Canterbury, after being forced to leave the Met due to some rather dodgy liaisons. I wish I could say that she learned her lesson but I think she's one of those impetuous people who jump in first and consider later. I did find her an intriguing character though and can imagine the author bringing her back in further stories.

The rest of her team were a bit hit and miss for me. They didn't seem to have a great deal to recommend them in many ways although they did all start to work well together as the case progressed.

I'll be honest, this book took me a little bit of getting into but by the half way point I was much more engrossed in the investigation and I particularly enjoyed the details and methodology of how the team got their information.

As I say, I can see this being book one in a series, as all the characters' stories were left sort of open-ended in that something happened in each of their lives that could easily be taken further. I think it would be good to see what happens to them next.

This is a solid crime debut, it's not a thriller in that it's not gory and there's no violence, but it's got an intriguing hook to the story and a promising protagonist in Ed.

This was an intriguing book to read. Full of twists and turns, a lot of detail and well written.

Someone kidnapped a girl on the way home from her friends, not hardly any distance from home? Why would they do that and not ask for a ransom? Then a few weeks later, let her go? Then the poor girl finds out she is pregnant?

Thoroughly enjoyed this book and the plot. The whole story line in the book was good and easy to follow. I found it easy to read so I read it quite quickly. Always a bonus.