Taken was published by Putnam in 2012. The novel inverts the series’ usual structure: Cole is the one in danger, and Pike must save him. Cole is investigating the disappearance of a young woman who went to a cantina near the border and vanished. His investigation leads him into the world of human trafficking and “bajadores” — bandits who prey on other criminals, robbing drug runners and kidnapping undocumented immigrants for ransom.
Cole is taken by a crew of bajadores and held in a series of safe houses, moved constantly, surrounded by other kidnapping victims. Without weapons, without communication, he must survive on his wits alone. Meanwhile, Pike — realizing Cole has disappeared — begins his own investigation, systematically dismantling the criminal network from the outside in.
The dual perspective (Cole trapped and helpless, Pike hunting) creates a tension the series hadn’t previously achieved: Cole is genuinely vulnerable, stripped of his customary agency, and the reader cannot be certain he will survive. Crais uses the situation to examine what Cole is without his jokes, his office, his gun — just a man with intelligence and stubbornness.
Collecting Taken
First edition (Putnam, New York, 2012): Boards with dust jacket.
Market values:
- First edition, fine in jacket: $10–$20
- Signed first: $25–$50