Takeover

Cleveland Forensic Tech Theresa MacLean has been called to the crime scene of a brutal murder. Also on the scene is Theresa's fiancee homicide detective Paul Cleary. The dead man is an examiner for the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland and his wife and son are missing. Paul starts his investigation by going to the Federal Reserve Bank and Theresa goes with the body to the medical examiner's office. A couple of apparently not too bright robbers pull up in front of the Fed, leave their car in front with the keys in it. A security guard drives off with the car and now the robbers are stuck in the Federal Reserve Bank, a bank anybody with half a brain knows is impossible to rob. The bad guys take hostages, Paul is wounded and Theresa offers herself in exchange. Now she's on the inside and she finds that maybe these idiot robbers aren't such idiots after all. Plus they're brutal as all get out, willing to kill without a second thought in this is a tightly paced thriller that is hard to put down. Lisa Black has taken tension to a whole `nother level. Suspense oozes off the pages and keeps increasing the more you turn them.

Lisa Black has written an excellent mystery/thriller in her debut novel Takeover. Takeover is set in Cleveland in the heat of the summer. The story begins with Theresa (medical investigator), Paul, and Frank (police detectives) investigating the scene of a murder. However, to varying degrees, the day goes downhill quickly for these three. As Theresa continues to work the homicide at the medical examiner's office, Paul heads to the Federal Reserve to question the victim's coworkers. It is here that he finds himself a hostage in an attempted bank robbery. The robbers, Bobby and Lucas, create a standoff with three law enforcement agencies as hot shot hostage negotiator, Chris Cavanaugh, arrives to try to right the situation. What follows is a page turner that will keep you interested through the twists and turns until the climax at the end. The story moves at a brisk pace with chapters that average 10-12 pages each. This makes for a book that is easy to read in spurts except that most chapters end like scenes of a TV show going to commercial. I often found myself frustrated that I didn't have time to jump right in to the next chapter to see what happened next. I found myself fully engaged until the very end. Structurally, the book has a good balance between dialog and description. For a first time writer, Black did an outstanding job of finding this balance and keeping it throughout the novel. Finally, objectionable material is kept to a minimum. The "s-word" and "d-word" are sprinkled lightly throughout the book, but not to the point of being a distraction. The violence is not graphic, and it is kept to what is appropriate for the flow of the story. Last of all, there are is no sexual content. Black does a solid job of character development. Theresa is very believable as the central character of the novel. She shows courage in action throughout while she struggles with tough decisions about her own life and the lives of others. Cavanaugh is every bit of calm and cool that you would expect from a negotiator, and Lucas is a chilling sociopath. I found myself being able to hear the inflection of their voices as I read the dialog. Overall, I was very impressed with Takeover, and I hope that Lisa Black is working on her next novel. I would recommend this book to fans of Law & Order, Crossing Jordan, and similar crime dramas. I have enjoyed these kinds of shows for years, and it was a treat to read a book in that genre.

Forensic scientist Theresa MacLean has been called to the scene to investigate the murder of Mark Ludlow, a bank examiner with the Federal Bank. When her fiance Homicide Detective Paul Cleary goes to the bank as part of this case, in the flash of a moment, armed men take him and the entire bank hostage. Top notch hostage negotiator Chris Cavanaugh may brag that he has never lost a hostage yet, but despite his assurances, the robbers do the unexpected at almost every turn. To make matters worse, those surrounding the situation seem more focused on using the case to jockey into a better position in the midst of agency power struggles. Can Theresa stand by as an idle onlooker, trusting others to keep her fiance, the one man she truly loves, safe? When the unexpected happens, Theresa must make personal and professional choices that might change her life forever. Can her expertise and self-knowledge prepare her for the unexpected trail the clues take and the consequences? Was this crime an impulsive act from robbers who had no clue about the nature of the Federal Bank or is there a clever plot behind their bumbling actions? Lisa Black's debut suspense novel TAKEOVER adds new dimensions to the classic hostage scenario with a gripping mysterious motive and a protagonist who gives an emotional, personal insight to the characters on both sides of the hostage negotiations. Although the narration gives the reader insight into motives and thoughts of several characters, the reader experiences the main focus of the drama through Theresa's unique perspective as a police insider, a forensics scientist who has clues into the case of Mark Ludlow's murder and as someone personally involved in the hostage crisis through her relationship with one of the hostages. Against the backdrop of the hostage negotiator, the FBI, the local police and several characters wanting to use this situation to make headway in their careers, Theresa must make decisions to stand up for the human side of the victims. As the minutes count down and the bank robbers are only too willing to kill without a second thought, not responding to the psychological analysis that Cavanaugh expects will tip the scenario to his favor. As clues to the first murder come in, the strange connections to the case magnify rather than defuse until the last thrilling moments. Although development of one red herring might have increased the mystery even more, Lisa Black's TAKEOVER is nail-biting suspense from start to finish. Even when Theresa takes a bold, dramatic step out from behind her safety to the middle of the action, the reactions of the robbers create more questions to the mystery to the motives and personalities behind the heist. Each step forward heightens the drama of the shocking final scenes. TAKEOVER will have readers sitting on pins and needles as each moment magnifies the complexities of the case. Lisa Black's characterization and focused accompanying descriptions intensify the suspenseful te

"Takeover" is a terrific story, with the suspense mounting from start to finish. Forensic scientist Theresa MacLean starts the day with a puzzling murder, but then gets caught up in a bank robbery/hostage situation that is even more puzzling. One of the puzzles is that some of the bank robbers' actions, such as robbing a bank that didn't seem likely to have much money in it in the first place, seem disorganized and impulsive; while other actions seem to indicate a high level of planning. But if there's a plan, what is it? Adding to the suspense is the fact that MacLean's fiancé is one of the hostages. MacLean's fiancé is a homicide detective, and he was at the bank, ironically enough, to follow up on a lead related to the same murder that MacLean started the day with. All of the characters -- MacLean herself, the bank robbers, the hostage negotiator, hostage bank clerks, etc. -- are interesting and believable; and the many twists and turns as MacLean struggles to solve the puzzling murder and resolve the puzzling hostage situation make this a real page-turner.

I was really impressed by this book. It was well-paced and well written. Yes, there were a few phrases I'd have changed had I been the editor, but all in all, there were barely any stopping points. While Ms. Black is an actual CSI, so to speak, she doesn't include a lot of minute, technical details about the job. Maybe not even enough - it's one of the things I enjoy about, say, a Kathy Reichs novel. Still, it's nice to just flow through without having to read a bunch of technical jargon. I stayed up late to finish it - past 1:00 a.m., which is high compliment from this mom of 6 year old twins. I was really impressed with this. Nothing rang false. Nothing tripped me up. Excellent first effort, and I hope there's a sequel to follow.