The Child Taker

Detective Alec Ramsay Series, Book 1

By: Conrad Jones

Narrated by: Julia Farhat

A stand-alone novel based on high-profile child abductions, which have been followed by millions of concerned parents on the news. Five-year-old twins are abducted from a tent in the Lake District and the hunt for a dangerous paedophile ring begins. Police procedure follows the premise that 60% of abducted children are murdered within the first four hours of being taken. The first hour is called "The golden hour" and the longer a child is missing, the less chance there is of them being recovered unharmed. The Child Taker follows the desperate search for the missing twins.

©2008 Conrad Jones (P)2014 Conrad Jones

Well done British Action Thriller

Child Taker is a British action thriller focusing on the efforts of a grandfather and his pals to recover his kidnapped grandchildren. Five year old fraternal twins Sarah and Zak are abducted from their tent while on a family camping trip. Their mother, Hayley, is understandably distraught and welcomes her father's help in trying to find the children. The Major, a counter terrorism agent, and his elite team pull out all the stops in their search for Sarah and Zak.

When I began listening to and reading The Child Taker, I was leery that a female narrator could pull off a believable action thriller. In spite of my reservations, Julia Farhat does, in fact, do a splendid job with the multitude of characters in the book. The pacing of the novel and the narrative performance kept me so involved I devoured the book in a single day.

Anyone with issues regarding child and sexual abuse should look elsewhere as those themes are integral to this story.

I bought the Kindle book and received the Audible book from the author in exchange for my honest review.

Chilling!

I was hesitant at first when listening to the beginning of the novel and its subject matter, however Conrad Jones really does know how to write a gripping tale that has you asking questions and pointing fingers all the way round.

Thrilling Read

Would you listen to The Child Taker again? Why?

No. Just because there are too many books I still need to read

Who was your favorite character and why?

Tank. He's tough but compassionate for good.

Have you listened to any of Julia Farhat’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

First time listening

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes, but life called so I couldn't. I had responsibilities to fulfill.

Any additional comments?

I don’t often give a book five stars, but I couldn’t give anything less in this gripping, thrilling novel. Conrad Jones weaves a tale so sinister and attention grabbing that it chills me to the bone.
The Child Taker is John, who, as the name implies, takes children to sale them. He’s messed with the wrong crowd, however, when double crosses a ruthless pedophile ring Lord and also when he takes the grandchildren of a powerful military officer.
The story has plenty of villains with a competent staff of heroes to balance them out. My personal favorite is Tank. I hope we see more of him in future stories. You think the story might be predictable, but be prepared for the twist the story takes.
The narrator, Julia Farhat, does an outstanding job and handles the difficult task of capturing the various characters superbly.
My only negative feel thought is that this is supposed to be the Alec Ramsey series, but he was hardly in the story. That confused me.
I do not hesitate to recommend this book. There’s a lot of violence, though, so beware. Also the subject matter of the pedophile ring is a giant tug on the heart.

The Child Taker

Any additional comments?

This is one of the best thrillers audiobook I have lisen to. It's well written, and the characters well developed. It's a real suspense with an unexpected twist to finish. I look forward to listening more of Conrad Jones's work

Not the best narration

At first if was a little slow, and I will admit, the narration was poor, not the worst I have ever listened to but not really good, I will give this book a three star review due to the narration, but probably it would have four stars if I had read it. This is a book with some very emotional content, and there are parts with some graphic details of violence so beware those with a weak stomach. And the ending was a little sudden.

Twists and turns, though went in many directions

Is there anything you would change about this book?

The Child Taker is takes us back to the familiar overused horror story--darling children are taken from the adoring wife and absentee, uncaring father. Along the way we discover a myriad of characters and wonder who the kidnapper is.

What was most disappointing about Conrad Jones’s story?

Once I figured out the connection and significance of the subplot actually involved in the kidnapping, the story got better. But I almost moved on because the relationship subplot was wearing me down with vulgar language and cliches.

Which scene was your favorite?

I liked the ending.

Did The Child Taker inspire you to do anything?

It inspired me to not write subplots with cliched relationships.

Scary, but probably realistic

This book is way outside my comfort zone. Books about children coming to harm make me sad and scared.
While it was hard to listen to at times, the story moves along quickly. I thought I knew how it would end, but was surprised. You will be on the edge of your seat, you will be shocked at points, you will be sad, and you will be disgusted at times.
I really liked that the bad guys didn't always lose. It's unrealistic when the good guy always win.
There are triggers for anyone who has lived through trauma. Rape, child molestation, porn, sex trafficking. Big themes. But unfortunately, these things happen every day.
I was so impressed with the narrator! fantastic!! I would listen to any book she narrates.

I was given a free copy in exchange for my honest review.

The dark side of humanity!

This is not a book for the faint hearted. It takes a hard, ugly look at the sex trade and more specifically, child sex. I personally, cannot fathom that a world like this can exist.

I didn’t give this a 5 star because I really don’t like so much swearing and to be honest, I also don’t like all graphic word pictures of this kind of abuse. I know this book is about exposing this world, so it needed both to hit home. This is just a personal preference for me.