Taken (Deep Ops, #1.5)

by Rebecca Zanetti

Hunter Holt might be the most stubborn ex-soldier ever born, but when he's called on to help find a lost foster kid, he jumps into action. Even if it means working with the woman who broke his heart five years ago--the woman who still haunts his dreams . . .
 
Faye Smith has spent five long years trying to get her life back on track. She knows she should've turned toward Hunter and not away from him, but they both had too many demons to destroy. Maybe now they'll get another chance--and save someone else's life too . . .
 
But first they'll have to stop arguing long enough to trust the Deep Ops team. Hunter was a lost boy himself once. In fact, he ran away from the exact same man, their monster of a father. Now he and Faye will have to unite to find the brother he never knew--and maybe each other . . .

• ISBN10: 1420152424
• ISBN13: 9781420152425
• Publish Date: 30 April 2019
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Zebra Books
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 155
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/isbn/9781420152425

Reviews

[Linda]

Taken was another strong story in Zanetti's Deep Ops series, and I was delighted reading it. There's a little nod to another of her series, which made me smile so hard!
Faye and Hunter were both strong characters, and they fit in with the other characters from the first story very well. The suspense was intense, and I was at the edge of my seat for most of Taken.

COYER treasure hunt Read a book with One Word Title 2 POINTS.

[kimbacaffeinate]

Zanetti introduces us to Raider’s foster siblings and has us hunting down a kidnapping serial killer.

I was lost for a moment when I met Hunter Holt and Fays Smith, but as soon as Raider and their foster mother became involved I got the connection. Holt, Faye and Raider all spent time in the same Foster home and their momma needs their help. Apparently Holt has a half-brother who is in a heap of trouble.

Raider brings Wolfe with him and gads the man just makes me laugh. I fell in love with Angus Force and his crew of misfits so any page time with them was welcome.

While this is a novella, Zanetti gave us a full story from a second chance romance between Faye and Holt, to a kidnapping serial killer who crossed state lines. We even got to spend time with our high-heel wearing, beer loving pooch!

The romance was sweet, and low on drama. The two have grown and clearly there were reasons it didn’t work the first time. We see closure on the case, and get our HEA.

I enjoyed Taken, but I cannot wait for more of the Deep Ops unit. The next book, Fallen will be a full-length featuring Brigid and Raider. If you haven’t started the series it’s the perfect series to back in your beach tote!

With a mix of suspense, humor and romance Taken offered a nice side trip story with Raider and his family. This review was originally posted at Caffeinated Reviewer

[EBookObsessed]

My favorite part of this series is the fact that the characters are all flawed. They aren’t machines. They don’t just kill enemies and move on unscathed. They have experienced bad things and now have to deal with that and move on. This gives them depth. This makes them human and much more enjoyable characters.

Taken is a novella in the world of the Deep Ops series which features friends of Raider Tanaka, who we met in Book 1 and who is a part of the HDD group. Raider, Hunter and Faye all grew up together in a foster home run by Miss A, after being removed from abusive homes. Their tragic childhoods created a bond between them and made them a family by choice, and when one needs help, they are all ready to step up and help.

In Taken, Hunter finds out he has a half-brother, who is only a teenager and who has been seduced by his married teacher. They are currently on the run and the teacher not only has a thing for young men but she also likes to rob convenience stores. Hunter needs to get to young Jackson before this kid is killed by a trigger-happy sheriff or bounty hunter.

Usually the problem with novellas is that they are trying to give you a romance as well as an exciting story. Here, we already have the romance as Faye and Hunter were each other’s first loves but split five years ago when their own personal traumas became too much and instead of leaning on each other, they ran away. There is no question that there are still strong feelings between them and now that they have had a chance to deal with their own issues, they both realize that they handled their relationship badly. This way we can deal with tracking the missing teen and we are not having insta-love shoved at us.

We do have guest appearance/crossover in this story which was fun, and we get a little more time with both Raider and Wolfe from our original series so we get to know them just a little bit better. But, even if you haven’t read Hidden, you can read and enjoy Taken as just as exciting action story.

Received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

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