Release Day Review of The Reckoning (The Taker, #2) by Alma Katsu

• Title: The Reckoning (The Taker Trilogy)
• Classification: Adult Fiction
• Genre: Paranormal
• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: Gallery Books (June 19, 2012)
• ISBN-10: 1451651805
• ISBN-13: 978-1451651805

Author's Website: http://www.almakatsu.com/
Notes: Contains rape and murder, but is slightly less dark than the first one.


It had been three months since Lanny ended the life of Jonathan, the love of her life, per his request. She and Luke have become close since then, and she'd promised to never leave him. That she'd spend the rest of his life with him. For the first time in Lanny's life she was with someone who took care of her and cherished her. It endeared Luke all the more to her. The relationship had changed her, grounded her and she was content.

She'd always known someday she'd have to once again face her maker.The one who'd made her immortal. She shouldn't have made a promise to Luke she might not be able to keep because now, after hundreds of years of feeling nothing of Adair's presence, she began to feel a slight humming. At first she didn't recognize it or understand what she was feeling, but soon enough she understood it for what it was--the presence of the one man she never wished to cross paths with ever again, Adair.

For two hundred years he's been imprisoned in a space no larger than a closet with no food and no contact with the outside world or another individual. He's had two hundred years to plot and scheme about how he'd get his revenge on the two individuals who had entombed him within the walls of his own home. Two hundred years to think about all that he's done and wishes to do. Two hundred years of solitude are about to come to an end.

__________________ 

This is the second book of The Taker series. In the first book, Lanny was introduced to Adair's dark world when she'd been sent off by her parents to a convent in Boston to have the baby she and Jonathan had conceived. She'd never made it to her final destination. She'd gullibly accepted a ride with a couple who said they'd take her to where she needed to go. That had sealed her fate and that of the unborn child she'd never give birth to. She'd been inducted into a world of sin and indulgence where nothing was sexually unacceptable and refusal was not an option. When Lanore comes down with a fatal illness, Adair shed his own type of mercy on her and made her immortal.

At first she was seduced by Adair's world of over indulgence, lack of morality, and what most would see as sexually deviant behavior. Lanny, however, was not like the others although she didn't know it. You see, she did have a conscience, and she fell out of favor, or so she thought, with Adair when she attempted to save an underage girl from Adair's world and her ultimate death. Adair's punishment was designed to humilate and make the bearer afraid to ever again deviate from his wishes. Then she'd found out about his plot to switch souls with Jonathan, and that was when she decided to find a way to stop him, and when she saw a means to do so she took it. That had been two hundred years ago. Now she was fleeing for her life. From what she knew of Adair there would be no mercy.

In The Reckoning, we learn more about Adair. We find out how he became immortal and some of the things which molded him into the man he became. When faced with everlasting immortality one can see one's self as Godlike. Adair has no conscience, no one to account to for his actions. Being locked up for two centuries had done a number on him, but he was determined to get back to where he wants to be. He'll need to relearn how the world works because so much has changed. He'll also need to get back on his feet because all his possessions and money are gone. He'll not only attempt to track down Lanny, but also all his old converts who are still beholden to him and owe him their allegiance.

We also get to get a glimpse of the life that Lanny and Jonathan led after they first fled Adair. Ms. Katsu incorporates a touch of history, which centers around Lord Byron, into the mix. We learn more about Luke and the family he left behind. So if you read the last book, it was written similarly to this one where Ms. Katsu changes points of view to let you know what all the crucial players are thinking.

When Lanny feels Adair's presence she knows she needs help. She seeks out some of Adair's former prodigies hoping for their assistance. What she hadn't counted on was that not everyone resented Adair. She'll need to be careful in order to stay one step ahead of him.

There are a couple of quotes I'm going to list from The Taker that I feel are crucial to this book. The first is, 'I couldn't say, even to Jonathan, the heart of my secret fear--that my happiness mattered to know one, not even to my father or mother.' This is the key to understanding what makes Lanny tick. She wants to be loved. It also, I feel, answers the off handed question that Adair indirectly posed about Lanny, "I sense something about you...you're a kindred spirit in some way that I haven't figured out yet. But, I will." He has also never felt loved, but once upon a time sensed it in Lanny before he did the unthinkable to her.

Overall I gave this one 4 1/2 out of 5 roses. I'm loving the series, but I'm not sure what I think about Adair in this one. His character at one point seemingly does a total 180 and it just seems a little out of character. This could be a brilliant move setting up for the next book or it could be showing a weakness much larger than an Achilles' heel. That's the reason I'm torn between a 4 and a 5 rose rating. I can't wait to find out in the next book. By the way, Adair's change of character brought to mind a quote by Mae West that I felt catches Adair's essence in this one, "When I'm good, I'm very good. But when I'm bad, I'm better." lol While I don't necessarily like Adair at his worst, I think that some of that badness could never permanently disappear. It'll be fun to see what Ms. Katsu has planned for the next book. I just wish we didn't have to wait.

Order of the series:

Also, three is a novella (short story) you may that can be read in between The Taker and The Reckoning: