This book is my first Tony Parsons novel and it’s left me wishing I had started with the first in the series 
However I will definitely be reading the rest of the series 
The characters were believable and likeable and the story has twists and turns to the end

Another fabulous read from Tony Parsons.
Gripping and gritty, with well rounded characters. 
I would highly recommend.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my ARC, in exchange for an honest review.

A first read of this author, I read the blurb and was intrigued to read more. While I enjoyed this book, I felt it got lost in backstories and the characters rather weak.

The idea of this story was great, but there was no bang. It is difficult to explain this without giving spoilers but I felt the outcomes very soft and simple, no suspense or angst. I didn’t like a lot of the characters and often found myself lost within the story, feeling like a lot of the story were just page fillers.

Will I read a book from this author again? Yes I will, for it was not a terrible book. For the most part, I did enjoy it.

This was an arc version from Netgalley in exchange of an honest review. I thank the publishers and Netgalley for allowing me to express my honest opinion.

This is the third Tony Parsons book I've read and the third Detective Max Wolfe. Whilst I've read them in order, I've skipped over a few. I'm totally hooked on this author. He delivers. He's an excellent crime writer, but at the same time, his characters' relationships are credible and well observed.

This time, DCI Wolfe is hunting down kidnappers, who have taken a young mother. But they've got the wrong woman. Of course, our hardy Max has to wade through vile criminals, vile crimes and a whole heap of immorality to try to find her before the kidnappers carry out the inevitable. 

As always, there are twists and turns, nail-biting scenes and just general excellent page-turning stuff. Parsons has a wonderful way of explaining police procedures in a gentle, clear and concise way and unpatronisingly. The only thing that irritated me…again, but more this time…was the obsession with Max's BMX X5. The constant reference to make and model has now got tiresome. It's a car. Just a car. It hasn't put me off this brilliant author's work, of course, but, please, stop.

No sooner finished, than I'm hunting around for the next Parsons read!

A really good read, and I'm looking forward to the next Tony Parsons' book. However...  whilst I was impressed with a lot of the detail and settings, I became very irritated by repeated descriptions of the Met police SCO19 'shots', their equipment (Sig carbines etc), and their HQ (Leman Street). The insider knowledge was impressive the first time I read it - after the n th time I found it irritating. (Sorry Tony). The same is true to a lesser extent about Max's car, a BMW X5. Once it has been introduced, it doesn't have to be spelt out in full each time it appears!

It's still a good story but maybe the editing wasn't up to scratch.

My first Max Wolfe book but that didn’t stop me enjoying this rollercoaster of a read.  As other reviewers have mentioned the story starts with the usual violent act against a woman but the various twists and turns after that makes it an enjoyable read.
Max’s relationship with his daughter is touching and heartfelt and the difficulties he experiences with his ex-wife give the book more depth than just a macho guns, cars and heist read – although it is that as well!  
A great escapist, easy, police procedural read for these challenging times when reading anything serious seems impossible for me!
Thanks to Netgalley and Penguin for my copy in exchange for a fair review.

A good thriller set in London, interesting themes and angles which the book leads you down. Not as good as some of his other books but I enjoyed it.
Thank you for allowing me to review this book.

I've never read a Max Wolfe book before having heard about it for years ... impressive! Very violent and tough story (usual opening with violence to a female of course)...who is kidnapped and it's a case the team with Whitehouse, an eccentric effective partner, know immediately is mistaken identity.  Complication is she's daughter of a retired, seasoned and now bitter man.  Children and an infant are involved.. it leads to fierce psychopath who is big drug dealer. ..which brings us to Wolfe's own 8 year old when she's threatened by a goon; and to his estranged indifferent ex .. all great seeds for great plot driving forward, and gripping even warm crime novel.  Many twists and weird characters.  . . I'll find more ..

My first in the Max Wolfe series and I think I need to revisit the earlier stories. 
An interesting read which covers abduction,  prostitution,  drugs,  jealousies and so many twists that you never know what to expect next. 
I found this an easy read which kept my interest and although some of it was predictable, certainly not all.

I thoroughly enjoyed this crime novel by the eternally hip and clever Mr Tony Parsons.  #Taken had me on the edge of my seat and I was totally gripped from start to finish. Loved it. 

Many thanks to Penguin, to Mr Parsons and to NetGalley for allowing me to read and review this great book.

When I started this book I did not realise it was the eighth in a series. I am normally quite strict at reading my books or watching films in the right order!! I thought I would just give it one chapter and I was so hooked that I didn’t want to  stop reading it!!

Jessica Lyle a young mother has been kidnapped, taken from her car leaving her baby on the back seat. Jessica is a dancer sharing an apartment with Snezia an exotic dancer who is seeing Harry Flowers one of London’s most famous gangsters. Jessica has borrowed Snezia’s brand new car. Was the wrong woman taken for revenge on Harry?

I really liked Max Wolfe’s character and the way he was portrayed as a single father bringing up his daughter Scout.

There are lots of twists and surprises along the way and I will definitely be reading the other book’s in this series.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy in exchange for a review.

An above average cop thriller, #taken is a book in Parsons' Max Wolfe series. 

When a woman is mistaken for the mistress of a notorious gangster, Wolfe has to find her before something terrible happens to the wrong woman.

In among the race against time to track down the woman, we also see more of Wolfe's home life and how he looks after his daughter in comparison to his more self-centered ex wife. The need to balance the two worlds is what elevates this above a typical cop story. 

This is a standalone novel but it's also the sixth in a series, so you may want to read the others first before getting to this one - I know I wish I had.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC without obligation.

Max Wolfe is back and on the case of a missing person.  Jessica Lyle is the beautiful flatmate of a gangster's mistress and the daughter of an ex policeman - she may have been taken by mistake but nobody's letting that go quietly.  Harry Flowers is the gangster in question and agrees to help Max and his colleagues look for Jess.  Is Harry the sort of person you really want on your side?

Tony Parsons' Max Wolfe stories are predictable but that doesn't make them any less fun to read.  They are clearly written from a male perspective - lots of detail about guns, cars and men who look after their children but there's nothing wrong with that if it's part of the story (which this is) and is written with clear enthusiasm (which it always is).

There's nothing to tax your brain here or make you think, but it's a great read if you like police thrillers (which I do).  You can read these books out of sequence if you want to - they're generally just a perfect book to pick up and enjoy.  Definitely recommended!

Above average police/crime thriller. Unusual storyline with a few twists and turns to keep the reader interested and involved. It does presume that the reader has read previous books so a little insight into what has gone before would be helpful but I did enjoy the story and the characters.

When a young mother, Jessica Lyle, is kidnapped by unknown assailants, Detective Max Wolfe realises he has a dangerous job on his hands. At the time of the kidnapping, Jessica was driving her friend Snezia's BMW so were the abductors really after Snezia, thereby hoping to blackmail her gangster boyfriend Harry Flowers? The investigation takes Detective Max Wolfe and his boss, DCI Pat Whitestone, from elitist homes in London and the suburbs, to strip clubs, scrapyards, and more.

Tony Parsons will always be special after Man and Boy written years ago. He excels in writing about relationships; the dynamics of family life, passion, sadness, love and hate. When I eventually realised the author was writing a detective series, I was curious to see if he could bring the same benevolence to his characters in a completely different scenario, and I was definitely not dissatisfied.

DI Max Wolfe is a single parent living in central London. He has daughter Scout, Stan the dog and irascible Mrs Murphy who sees herself as the guardian of his family. Ex-wife Anne is incredibly self-centred, a mother too concerned with her own circumstances to be bothered about her daughter. But this helps the author's portrayal of Wolfe's character, enabling his warmth to shine and he is unquestionably loved by Scout and Stan. Relationships are the foundation of Tony Parsons' writing, ably depicted against a criminal background. He manages to create characters that I either want to meet in real life or avoid at all cost... this book has oodles of both. With its engaging, direct prose and the narrative of Wolfe with his sharp insight and finely honed honesty, the story has plenty of realistic appeal. It certainly held my interest more than enough, allowing me to care about the current case and his domestic life.

This is the 6th in the series and although this reads fine as a stand-alone, you are missing the delights of the other books, as I currently am.

I received a complimentary digital copy of this novel at my request from Random House UK, Cornerstone/ Century via NetGalley and this review is my unbiased opinion.

I do not usually read books out of sequence as I love a good series but having received this book via Netgalley I thought I would give it a go especially as a detective story.  I am so pleased I did.  Even though it mentioned through the book some things that had happened earlier in the previous books it did not spoil the story at all but it has made me want to read more of the series.  Max Wolfe strikes me as a fab character. Sound like a good dad and his dog plays an important part.  The story is about a girl called Jessica who is kidnapped and the police have to decide whether she was taken on purpose or by mistake.  This leads to her flatmate and then to the flatmate’s (Snezia) sugar daddy!  Jessica’s father is an ex policeman and gets involved which does not help the investigation.  The book is so busy and jumps from one thing to another and I loved it.  Max Wolfe’s personal life is a little difficult and he tries to get his ex wife to take some interest in their daughter, Scout.  This causes him frustration but he comes to terms with this drama in his life.  Really enjoyed this book and thank you Netgalley etc for the opportunity to read this. Everyone should read this

I enjoyed this story immensely. The characters were great and well presented and the story line twisted every now and again to keep you wanting to go back for more. 
I read it over a few evenings (late into the night) and couldn’t wait to pick it up again. 
There were a few slow bits but there was always a good reason. 
Loved the twist at the end
I was given this book through Netgalley for an honest review.

Thanks to Netgalley and Random House UK for providing this arc in exchange for an honest review.

Jessica, a young mother, is kidnapped one night. Her father, a retired cop is demanding answers. Max leads the investigation and quickly uncovers that Jessica’s roommate is the mistress of an former big time drug dealer and they start to think the roommate is the one who should have been taken.

This was a good detective novel with a lot going on. Maybe it had a bit too much going on and that is why it was a 4 star rather than a 5. Occasionally I found myself trying to remember who was who. Also, this is the 6th book in a series and while it can definitely be read as a stand-alone, I felt like I had missed a lot in terms of where Max was in his personal life and how he had gotten there. That said, I liked the Max character and would probably read more in this series.

Max Wolfe is back with another crime to solve, this time the kidnapping of Jessica Lyle, daughter of a retired policeman and young mother to baby Michael.
In the course of the investigation Max gets involved with gangster, Harry Flowers who now claims to be a legitimate businessman and is somehow mixed up in this complicated story.
Is Jessica’s disappearance a case of mistaken identity or was she truly targeted by the kidnappers?
This is a fast moving thriller which offers the reader a lot of twists and turns before the perpetrators are finally revealed.
Scout, Max’s young daughter seems old beyond her years and continues to offer Max a lot of sound advice and insight. Max’s nasty ex makes a few appearances but it seems that she is loathe to commit herself to being part of her daughter’s life.
This is an enjoyable and intriguing read which had me gripped from page one when Jessica is kidnapped. I am now eagerly awaiting the next book in this series as I would like to find out what is next for Max and young Scout.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for my arc in exchange for an honest review.

Another great Max Wolfe story.
These seem to get better all the time.
Tony Parson’s writing draws the reader into the heart of the story, making them live it with the characters.
Wolfe is investigating the kidnapping of a young mother Jessica and draws him into the world of Harry Flowers, supposedly  criminal turned into an honest businessman.
I loved the pace of this book, the characters and descriptions. 
The relationships between the police team add a depth to the story, particularly Max’s boss DCI Whitestone and a new recruit Joy Adams.
Very enjoyable detective story with some London history thrown in.