It is a story that spans two hundred years and many lifetimes of bitter sweet emotion. This is remarkable but it is her story, how she came to be a blood-soaked murderess wandering down a country road, which captures Luke’s imagination. She demonstrates her immortality by stabbing herself so Luke can see her heal. Luke is left to look after the girl and it isn’t long before he realises that there is something very unusual about her.

The police have picked up a young girl for murder but she needs medical attention before she can be charged. Events start when Luke, an emotionally tired small town doctor, clocks in for his night shift at the local hospital. The Taker is a story that spans from the backwoods of early 19th century Maine to the big cities of the present day. Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles were books such as these and Alma Katsu’s The Taker stakes its claim on the same ground – a historical thriller enhanced, but not driven by, its fictional fantasy device. Mostly because there are so few serious fictional novels written on such an epic scale that manage to encompass the supernatural without ending up delegated to SF/F shelves of the bookstore. Still, comparisons to Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles seem inevitable, even though The Taker has no vampires. The fantasy elements are very low-key and while Lanny, the story’s main protagonist, is an immortal – she certainly isn’t a vampire. To be perfectly honest the story is more historical novel than fantasy.

The Taker is the remarkable first novel in a historical fantasy trilogy dealing with love, desire, eternal life and obsession. Her two hundred years on this earth have seen her seduced by both decadence and brutality – but through it all she has stayed true to the love of her life. Hers is a story of love and betrayal that defies time and transcends mortality – and cannot end until Lanny’s demons are finally out to rest. Lanny McIlvrae is unlike anyone Luke has ever met. But instead, Lanore McIlvrae walks into his life – and changes it forever. When Dr Luke Finley turns up to his hospital shift in the small town of St Andrews, Maine, he’s expecting just another evening of minor injuries and domestic disputes. Published 2011 436 pages Summary (from the book jacket)

Alma katsu the taker trilogy