Alma Katsu was born in Alaska and raised near Concord, Massachusetts. She has a B.A. in Writing from Brandeis University and an M.A. from the Johns Hopkins Writing Program. She lives with her husband in Virginia. Visit her online at AlmaKatsu.com.
Taker
Taker — (2011-2013) Publisher: True love can last an eternity… but immortality comes at a price… On the midnight shift at a hospital in rural Maine, Dr. Luke Findley is expecting another quiet evening of frostbite and the occasional domestic dispute. But the minute Lanore McIlvrae — Lanny — walks into his ER, she changes his life forever. A mysterious woman with a past and plenty of dark secrets, Lanny is unlike anyone Luke has ever met. He is inexplicably drawn to her… despite the fact that she is a murder suspect with a police escort. And as she begins to tell her story, a story of enduring love and consummate betrayal that transcends time and mortality, Luke finds himself utterly captivated. Her impassioned account begins at the turn of the nineteenth century in the same small town of St. Andrew, Maine, back when it was a Puritan settlement. Consumed as a child by her love for the son of the town’s founder, Lanny will do anything to be with him forever. But the price she pays is steep — an immortal bond that chains her to a terrible fate for all eternity. And now, two centuries later, the key to her healing and her salvation lies with Dr. Luke Findley. Part historical novel, part supernatural page-turner, The Taker is an unforgettable tale about the power of unrequited love not only to elevate and sustain, but also to blind and ultimately destroy, and how each of us is responsible for finding our own path to redemption.
FORMAT/INFO: The Taker is 448 pages long divided over four Parts and fifty chapters. Narration switches between Luke Findley’s third-person POV set in the present day, and Lanore McIlvrae’s first-person story which is set in the past and comprises most of the novel. From chapter nineteen through the end of chapter twenty-four, the book features a third-person narrative from Adair. The Taker is largely self-contained, coming to a satisfying conclusion that wraps up the novel’s major plotlines, but two sequels have been contracted. September 6, 2011 marks the North American Hardcover publication of The Taker via Gallery. The UK edition was published on April 14, 2011 via Read More
The Devil’s Scribe — (2012) Publisher: Fans of the Taker trilogy will love this original eBook novella featuring the series’ immortal heroine, Lanny… and Edgar Allen Poe! In this eShort story, Lanore McIlvrae returns to America for the first time in 20 years — after decades of running from her past — to confront the source of her fear. The year is 1846 and Lanore — Lanny — has just landed in Baltimore after a long transatlantic crossing. That very night, she meets an “unattractive man with a high forehead and sunken eyes, and a tiny, pinched mouth like a parrot’s beak” who claims to write stories so dark and unsettling that he could be the Devil’s Scribe. His name? Edgar Allan Poe. Has Lanny finally met her match in this macabre man… or is it the other way around?
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There's a whole lotta weird stuff going on out there lately! Some of it even has to do with books, lol! Love avocados, btw, we should send a bunch out via lightsail and see what the rest of the galaxy thinks!
I read one of these several years ago in an anthology. I think it was "Buttons," but I'm not sure. Formulaic is right! I enjoyed the set-up but it didn't make me want to seek out more. I agree, too, that she has found a short-fiction template that is successful for her.
Were you already familiar with Grandfather Mushroom, Jana? If so I’m seriously impressed! Arden comments in the glossary at the end of the book that he’s a shout-out to an older Soviet film called Morozko.
Tadiana Jones
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Alma Katsu was born in Alaska and raised near Concord, Massachusetts. She has a B.A. in Writing from Brandeis University and an M.A. from the Johns Hopkins Writing Program. She lives with her husband in Virginia. Visit her online at AlmaKatsu.com. 
