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Soul Taker

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No soul is safe…

A vampire from the Grim Sith sept is sucking the souls out of young women from the Boston area, but this sinister crime is far worse than a vampire seeking substance. He’s selling the souls to the highest bidder and it seems business is booming.

A vampire, a werewolf, and a Necromancer are a most unlikely team, but Garran, Harrison, and Isabella plan on putting a kink in the dubbed Soul Taker’s plans. It’s personal now. One of their friends has fallen victim to the Soul Taker’s charms, but to stop him from hurting anyone else, their efforts may involve raising the dead.

297 pages, Paperback

First published March 11, 2013

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About the author

Karen Michelle Nutt

60 books1,038 followers
Karen Michelle Nutt resides in California with her husband. Though her three children are grown and starting their own adventures, she still has a houseful of demanding pets. Jack, her Chorkie, is her writing buddy and sits long hours with her at the computer.

When she's not time traveling, fighting outlaws, or otherworldly creatures, she creates pre-made book covers to order at Gillian's Book Covers, "Judge Your Book By Its Cover".

Whether your reading fancy is paranormal, time travel or contemporary romances, all her stories capture the rich array of emotions that accompany the most fabulous human phenomena—falling in love.

Visit the author at her website: http://www.kmnbooks.com
Blog: http://kmnbooks.blogspot.com

Gillian’s Book Covers, “Judge Your Book By Its Cover”
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5 stars
40 (25%)
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54 (35%)
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45 (29%)
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9 (5%)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews
Profile Image for Ashley Daviau.
1,906 reviews953 followers
April 15, 2019
I wasn’t expecting to enjoy this book as much as I did, it was definitely a very pleasant surprise! I loved the mix of all the supernatural beings, it made for really interesting dynamics that I really enjoyed. I also thought the whole concept was quite interesting, I definitely would have loved to know more details about this world! My only minor complaint is that I didn’t love nor hate any of the characters, I was kind of in the middle with all of them.
Profile Image for ᴥ Irena ᴥ.
1,652 reviews222 followers
August 15, 2020

I love this genre. I love the whole premise for this story: a vampire, a werewolf and a human with extraordinary powers join forces to fight an evil enemy.
The not so good? When we get to it, the romance is a bit cheesy and not well done. It's like the author read this type of stories and thought 'okay, it's easy and I don't even have to try, I'll just copy most of it from elsewhere'. If there ever is a next one in the series, hopefully, it'll be better.
And the bad?
What a hell are 'Scottish-slanted eyes' or 'slanted Scottish eyes' or 'beautiful eyes that had a Highlander slant to them'?!
Profile Image for Melissa Levine.
1,027 reviews42 followers
April 19, 2020
This story was okay. Nothing too exciting though. Here are a few questions/comments I have:

So Sanya has been around since 1481 BUT doesn't know what happens when a vampire is staked? Very hard to believe that one.

Okay so we find out that Salem is about 15 miles away from where everyone else is, Isabella's restaurant and whatnot. When Johanna tells Isabella about buying a flower shop in Salem, why does no one seem to think it strange that she and her boyfriend would be going to Salem in the middle of the night to look at the property? I mean even though it's only 15 miles, I don't know about anything else, but looking at new property is always better at night, right?

If Nicholas didn't want himself or his sister dealing with the supernatural world, why would he have saved his mother’s journal? It's like he was unconsciously waiting for Isabella to find it.

All the times when Johanna was telling Isabella about her wonderful boyfriend, why wasn't Isabella a little more forceful about getting the guy’s name? Johanna was the one that seemed to keep bringing him up but not really tell any details about him besides being wonderful and all. And even when she was thinking how great he was, she couldn't even remember what they did together, it's like 'hello!' How warning bells weren't going off then, I just don't know.

Why did Isabella seem so nonchalant after shooting Garren? You can tell she's scared prior, but afterwards when she's trying to see it, she's like 'stop acting like a baby.' Her mood just seemed to change a little to quickly there.

When Isabella first meets Alexander at the bar, why did she go outside afterwards? I get she was wondering where Harrison and Garren where but still. It's nighttime out, she's by herself and she just met a killer whose been sucking the souls out of young women. Again hello!

Isabella and Garren are talking about vampire facts. She asks why doesn't he turn into a bat but actually needs to be invited in? How do those two things even compare?

What year was this book suppose to be taking place in? Isabella finds out about vampires being real and wants to find more info about them. In books/movies like this, I just find it so funny. It's like vampires have been talked about for years and years. Like with any supernatural being, there seem to find certain facts or traits about them. Like things that are standard, as in, vampires can't go into the light, stake through the heart will kill them and they heal after getting wounded. But then you see/read about characters that seem to not know a single thing about supernatural beings. Like it's something they've never heard of. Okay now I'm just rambling here...

I wanted more information about The Guard of Judgement. It's mentioned a few times but I don't remember the author asking saying anything about them except that Garren was apart of it.

Why does Isabella end up so upset when she realizes that Garren doesn't want to commit? She's a 21 y/o human, he's several hundreds years/o vampire; they have nothing really in common, she'll age and die in a few years and he'll still be the same looking and hanging around....they'll make a perfect couple. She annoys me too much.

Oh man, what about when she's telling Garren how she read about vampires being loners and only caring about themselves. Then seems to suddenly realize that those two things are true when she compares them to Garren. Again, hello! She had to read a book to realize this?

In the end, I felt like the author didn't complete this story. Yeah the whole 'Soul Sucker' part was taken care of. It just seemed like there should have been a part two to this book or something. If there is, I didn't even notice. I would have liked to have known what became of Harrison and Johanna.
Profile Image for Natalie Gibson.
Author 13 books66 followers
June 27, 2013
Soul Taker is a contemporary urban fantasy with flashbacks to 16th century Scottish Highlands. After denying his need for companionship and human blood, the vampire Garran meets his soul mate, Isabella who happens to be a necromancer. She is human and he sees that as vulnerable, especially since there is a bad vampire out there not only killing women but gobbling up their souls. He tries to keep her out of his world but she forces herself in after her best friend is attacked.

Garran doesn't think he's good enough for Isabella, thinks he will hurt or kill her in the attempt to claim her as his mate. He is forced to create a blood bond with her to keep the bad guy out and it becomes very clear that Garran and Isabella are something much more than the normal vampire/human relationship. They begin to see each other's memories.

Isabella wants to help get her best friend's soul, which is fractured, back from the bad guy and also keep him form hurting any more women. She won't stay out of it when her life is clearly in danger. Normally the heroine ditching her security and running right into the arms of the bad guy will earn a writer one less star from me but this time was different. Isabella is actually much more powerful than anyone realizes, including herself. She actually saves the day - twice. Plus, all the souls that are stolen can be helped to the afterlife by a necromancer.

This book is action packed from the very start. The pace was enjoyable with the plot moving the story forward at a steady pace. It has a little bit for everyone who likes action/adventure, mystery/detective, paranormal/vampires, or soul mates/eternal love. The word 'soul' was a bit overused, with the bad guy stealing them and the good guys looking for their mates. In this post Twilight saga world we all live in, there are a lot of vampire books without much blood drinking, violence or sex. Soul Taker was about adults, for adults and I thought it could use a bit more of all three. I hope my review helps the right people find this book. I can see how a lot of people could really love it. It is a great book.
Profile Image for Linda Hamonou.
Author 7 books28 followers
April 9, 2016
This book is about a girl who discovers her powers in a world she has been cut out from after a traumatic event.
It has a feeling that says, you can't escape destiny or more exactly nobody can take your destiny away from you.


It is also a true tale about vampire in the Dracula sense of the word. There are a lot of points that remind of Stoker's Dracula in the bad guy and the way he chooses his victims, as well as in the contrast between Johanna and Isabella which remind of the relationship between Lucy and Mina.

This book contains action, romance, revenge and history. It was a really pleasant read.
Profile Image for Josiane Claremont.
486 reviews50 followers
May 26, 2015
Pretty dang awesome!!! Even though it's "short", it is so awesome that I couldn't put down my book kindle the entire day!

This book will eat at your soul, until you are forced to just freaking read it!! *sigh*

*wishes all vampire books could be this awesome*...

I mean, I have a serious thing for accents. So with all these European accents coming into play, it's pretty dang awesome! You have a couple of Italian Necromancers, a female Spanish vampire, 2 Scottish vampires, an Irish werewolf, and 2 Creole voodoo queens all in 1 book, and my life is complete *^.^*

*I HAVE LIVED*
Profile Image for Nancy.
Author 13 books75 followers
February 8, 2016
I really enjoyed the fact that this was not just another vampire/paranormal story. The way the author wove in traditional elements of the ‘sidhe’ made it a more interesting read, the characters all very likeable (except perhaps Alexander). There’s a good, constant pace throughout and the theme of the soul thief is an interesting one, the characters nicely developed.
Profile Image for Shadow.
8 reviews5 followers
May 13, 2013
loved it. was an easy read too. truly capturing and i loved the take on preternatural being qualities and specifics. could be slightly more unpredictable - you know, who's the Soul Taker and all. but hell, the tension, the passion and action -- it's all there!!
109 reviews1 follower
April 3, 2013
Paranormal investigations, vampires, werewolves, necromancer/witches. All the basics are there, not a bad book and a good setting for future books.
Profile Image for Jessica (Read book. Repeat).
662 reviews15 followers
October 29, 2018
You can find this review and all of my others over at www.readbookrepeat.wordpress.com

I received a copy of this book from the publisher, Twin Star Books, and the author via netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Someone is causing the deaths of women, to the medical examiners involved in the various cases, it looks like heart failure, though they aren't equipped to deal with the real cause of these deaths. Enter Garren, a Scottish vampire sired by a Baobhan Sith, and Harrison, a werewolf. They are trailing the killer, dubbed the Soul Taker by Harrison, when they end up involved with Isabella Lucci. Her mother was a necromancer, but she hasn't had a chance to tap into her abilities and learn what she can REALLY do due to her overprotective brother Nick. Things take a turn for the worse when Isabella's best friend, Johanna, is attacked by the Soul Taker, and left fighting for her life in the hospital. Garren tries his hardest to keep Isabella out of everything preternatural, while trying to ignore his growing feelings for the human, however, he finds it increasingly difficult as she's not one to back down from a fight. Can they save Johanna in time?

So, I'm a big fan of urban fantasy, it was actually the genre that reignited the spark of my love for reading, I haven't read any for a little while as I've been genre hopping, so was excited to get into this one. I found the story enjoyable enough, it was fairly obvious with a few things, like Johanna's secret boyfriend that she wouldn't even tell Isabella his name, the whole soul mate thing with Garren was pretty obvious as well, that's okay though. I found that the story itself was mainly focused on the budding relationships of the characters, rather than the story line of the soul taker, I felt that it took a bit of a back seat to everything else.

I've read a series before that has a character who is a Baobhan Sith, so I already knew what it was of sorts, I did feel that there wasn't much explanation for people who probably haven't come across this term before. I feel like Isabella accepted this creature without actually knowing anything about it.

I found the pacing to be a bit slow at times, according to Goodreads, this book is less that 300 pages long, however, I found that it seemed SO long when reading it. I think this may have been due to slow pacing.

The characters were well written, though I sometimes found the phonetic use of the Scottish accent a little distracting, it worked well enough to give the authentic feel for Garren and Alexander's homeland. Not like other series I've read where the use of accents in the writing makes me cringe with embarrassment. This worked well for the characters.

I was a little annoyed with Johanna, even though she was somewhat of a background character, for being so naive, but I suppose that was the whole thing with her character. She was naive, innocent and shy, that's who the Soul Taker preys on. It does irk me a little bit that Isabella and Johanna kind of ended up being paired off at the same time, even though we didn't see what happened with Harrison and Johanna at the end, it still implies this from something that Garren says. I feel like there needed to be a bit more relationship building before the ACTUAL relationship, if that makes sense.

All in all, it was enjoyable enough, and I am interested to see what happens to the characters and how the evolve from here on out.
Profile Image for Gillian.
35 reviews10 followers
October 4, 2018
I initially had high expectations for this story, the description certainly caught my interest and I was looking forward to reading. However, this to me was a very, very slow story with only a few slightly dramatic events, which didn't build to a peak as I'd hoped and I found myself getting bored.
Too much discussion and not enough action for me unfortunately.
It's such a shame as I feel the actual plot could have lead to a really good story, and the characters certainly could have made this story alot more interesting, if they hadn't been so muted.
I liked the characters, and wanted more for them, they deserved the chance to shine but they weren't given that in my opinion.
The sexual attraction between Garren and Issie was clear and it did build to a certain extent but once again it didn't lead to the conclusion a reader would want. I mean come on, they were both consenting adults with the serious hots for each other and openly admitted they wanted each other but apart from a few kisses, nothing happened. Seriously disappointing and frankly not believable, especially with the added soul mate possibility.
A supposedly evil, bad guy, Alexander, who also failed to live up to his potential, I mean he's sucking souls out of human females, he surely should have been felt as dark/twisted but he was too stilted and he lacked the creeped out feeling I expect to feel from such an evil character. Too much discussion once again without showing us him in action.
This story had so much potential but for me, I was left disappointed and frustrated. It could have been alot darker and then it would have been more believable to me.
I received this ebook in exchange for an honest review, all thoughts and opinions are my own.
#SoulTaker #NetGalley
Profile Image for Sabrina DiRoberto.
65 reviews5 followers
November 12, 2018

3⭐️⭐️⭐️.

I loved it; easy, compelling, soul grabbing book!
Almost right from the start I was captivated with the story. From the Vampires, Witches/necromancers, Werewolfs, and the paranormal aspects of the story this book was phenomenal. The setting was well written. I think if you are looking for a story that could possibly keep you in the edge of your seat this may be it. I truly can not put into words how much I enjoyed this book! Good work to Karen!


I received an E-Arc of this book via Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for a honest review. Thank you to all them and the author.
682 reviews8 followers
June 23, 2021
SOUL TAKER BY KAREN MICHELLE NUTT is a great start to what I hope is a long series!

A vampire, werewolf and a necromancer,sounds like the start of a bad joke,doesnt it, team up to hunt down a soul stealer. The soul taker is, himself a vampire and is getting top dollar for each of the souls he takes. He dates a woman, enchants her and then sucks the soul out of her,leaving nothing.

The story starts out pretty slow but when the gets into gear you cant stop listening. The narrator Guy Veryzer did a pretty good job at the characters which made the story that more interesting

I recieved this audiobook free in exchanged for an honest review
Profile Image for Marcus.
761 reviews4 followers
July 24, 2017
I voluntarily reviewed an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review

This is a book about vampires, but not your common ones. This story conversation the really bad ass vamps that everyone else is scared off. It pitches two cousins against each other and both belong to this group. One of the cousins also has a team consisting of himself, a werewolf, and a necromancer. There is plenty of action, suspense, intrigue, and a simmering love interest to keep you occupied
Profile Image for Donna.
836 reviews4 followers
February 1, 2024
Paranormal Thriller

A fantastic story line with in depth and interesting characters makes this a great read. A well written story with lots of action and some intrigue.
Profile Image for Ashley E.
610 reviews31 followers
June 25, 2013
Soul Taker is an intriguing paranormal suspense with a great plot, but unfortunately, only so-so characters.

The plot itself I found fascinating and well-thought out. It's a suspense much more than a mystery. We know who's causing trouble right from the beginning and the tension is from seeing how they fight to stop Alexander, the "Soul Taker". And it kept me reading to find out how they were going to bring that bastard down and save Johanna.

The characters on the other hand.... They weren't flat, but they didn't really draw me in. I thought that there were times when they were inconsistent, and their motivations seemed unclear. I enjoyed them as characters, but I didn't understand them.

I did really enjoy Nutt's take on soul mates though! A paranormal romance that doesn't have insta-love mates claiming each other on page 20? A rare breed, and I really did like the romance between Isabella and Garran. Whatever their other flaws, their romance did feel very real to me.

So in the end, I really did like this book, but I would have enjoyed it a lot more if I could have related to the characters more.

[I received this book for free through First Reads and was not required to write a positive or any other type of review. All opinions stated herein are solely my own.]
Profile Image for Hywela.
Author 8 books152 followers
June 11, 2014
Although I love fantasy and the paranormal, I'm not normally a great lover of werewolves and vampires as romantic heroes, but occasionally I've come across an author who manages to make her 'otherworldly' protagonist, both sympathetic and likeable, and Karen has done just this with both the heroes in this novel. Harrison who can shape shift into a werewolf is charming and Garran, the vampire, seemingly dour and cold, has a tragic past and reasons for not wanting to get too close to a human woman and as the feisty and likeable heroine Isabella finds out - not all vampires are evil. Garran actually turns out to be quite the hunk, with a caring heart as well as hot looks.

For the most part the book is extremely well written. The writer in me found a few editing errors which pulled me out of the story somewhat - but then most writers find that such errors leap out at them when reading someone else's book while being blind to their own! :)

I enjoyed this book immensely and found it a real page turner. I wanted more and it ended too soon for me, although it was a satisfactory ending. I really hope Karen will write at least a sequel so that we find out if Garran and Isabella and Harrison and Johanna get the H.E.A. with their soulmate that they deserve.
Profile Image for Amy.
18 reviews1 follower
July 15, 2016
It took me a bit to get into this one. There were a lot of terms & names thrown around in the beginning but once I got into the story, I really liked the characters! I was really hoping for more of the story between Garran & Isabella as well as Harrison & Johanna. The story could have been more developed but it was good. I'm definitely still thinking about the characters well after finishing the book. Also, on a side note, I don't ever want to see the term "harrumphed" again.
Profile Image for kitkat.
314 reviews
March 5, 2014
This book stayed barely written on my mothers computer for the longest time. I kept telling her she should finish. And when it finally happened and she gave me a copy to read, I couldn't put it down. The friendship between Garran and Harrison was my favorite thing about this book. I loved my mom's take on the vampire lore, werewolves and necromancer.
Profile Image for Gem Sivad.
Author 31 books140 followers
September 8, 2014
I liked this urban fantasy and thoroughly enjoyed the paranormal world created by author, Karen Michelle Nutt. This is definitely a keeper and I recommend it to anyone who likes shape-shifters, vamps, and unexplained things that go bump in the night.
Profile Image for Dena.
1,232 reviews13 followers
February 10, 2015
It was an overall great story of friendships New and old, the past catching up, hatred, love, New love and a second chance. I'm not a fan of sci do, but really did enjoy this book on so many levels. I wanted more, but I am sure that there is a book two somewhere
Profile Image for Tammy J.
369 reviews4 followers
May 28, 2016
Good read and although it has vampires and werewolves, it's not your same ol predictable take on the supernatural. Good plot and I liked the characters. It's a clean read so even teens could read it. It could have used more details in some areas, but was a decent read.
Profile Image for Patty Beaty.
Author 3 books2 followers
April 28, 2014
fantasy that will leave you with hot fantasys about werewolves and vampires.
Profile Image for Jess.
1,035 reviews15 followers
April 26, 2017
This book was enjoyable but really predicable. I could tell from a mile away who everyone's love interests were, who the secret boyfriend was, who was going to be the one to get hurt. Even though I could predict a lot of it, it was still enjoyable. It's full of tropes but I wasn't bored reading it.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews

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