Listen free for 30 days

Listen with offer

  • The Child Taker

  • Detective Alec Ramsay Series, Book 1
  • By: Conrad Jones
  • Narrated by: Julia Farhat
  • Length: 9 hrs and 3 mins
  • 4.1 out of 5 stars (49 ratings)
Offer ends May 1st, 2024 11:59PM GMT. Terms and conditions apply.
£7.99/month after 3 months. Renews automatically.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
The Child Taker cover art

The Child Taker

By: Conrad Jones
Narrated by: Julia Farhat
Get this deal Try for £0.00

Pay £99p/month. After 3 months pay £7.99/month. Renews automatically. See terms for eligibility.

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £13.99

Buy Now for £13.99

Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.

Listeners also enjoyed...

The Anglesey Murders: Unholy Island cover art
The Bonnie Dead cover art
A Child for the Devil cover art
A Disturbing Thing Happened Today cover art
Brick cover art
False Start cover art
The Engine House: A Black Beacons Murder Mystery cover art
A Litter of Bones: A Scottish Crime Thriller cover art
DCI Yorke Boxset cover art
Psycho Alley cover art
Broadland cover art
The Body in the Marsh cover art
Water's Edge cover art
Dead Wrong cover art
Crimson Shore cover art
She Said, Three Said cover art

Summary

A stand-alone novel based on high-profile child abductions, which have been followed by millions of concerned parents on the news. Five-year-old twins are abducted from a tent in the Lake District and the hunt for a dangerous paedophile ring begins. Police procedure follows the premise that 60% of abducted children are murdered within the first four hours of being taken. The first hour is called "The golden hour" and the longer a child is missing, the less chance there is of them being recovered unharmed. The Child Taker follows the desperate search for the missing twins.

©2008 Conrad Jones (P)2014 Conrad Jones

What listeners say about The Child Taker

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    24
  • 4 Stars
    13
  • 3 Stars
    7
  • 2 Stars
    3
  • 1 Stars
    2
Performance
  • 3.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    19
  • 4 Stars
    8
  • 3 Stars
    6
  • 2 Stars
    5
  • 1 Stars
    7
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    25
  • 4 Stars
    12
  • 3 Stars
    4
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    2

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Dreadful narration.

What disappointed you about The Child Taker?

Didn't get more than 2 minutes into the book before turning it off. Can't comment on the story!

Would you ever listen to anything by Conrad Jones again?

Don't know.

Would you be willing to try another one of Julia Farhat’s performances?

Definitely not.

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

Annoyance.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Disappointing

A very strange combination - a powerful disturbing story subject unfortunately written and narrated as if aimed at a audience of 10 year olds!

Overall very disappointing

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Stick with it - its a twister

Would you listen to The Child Taker again? Why?

one half of me says yes, because i feel i missed a few points as the narrator doing different voices and accents got a little confusing at first.
the other half of me says no i wouldn't, because it was rather slow moving - but only at the start.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Child Taker?

the most memorable part HAS to be when the children are abducted at the start
that was quite nailbiting

What does Julia Farhat bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

I am not sure she brought anything to be honest.

Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

A few of the descriptions of the child takers customers and what they DID made me absolutely CRINGE and RECOIL but it was not anything that would make someone cry thankfully.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

The Pinnacle of Excellence

I first read this book over 2 and half years ago and it was my first date with Conrad Jones. What a first date it was - Love Island producers could take a lesson from Mr Jones. The tale twists and turns and takes your emotions through all kinds or exercises. This is not a book for the faint hearted or easily shocked. The sad thing is, the kind of organisation Mr Jones describes is far too credible. There are also moments of great tenderness. Hayley's reaction to the arrival of her father was beautiful, as was the connection between the twins. These loving touches stop the book from being too bleak. There are a lot of these special interludes, (eg; Jack's back story) which take this tale from a voyeuristic account of evil to an engrossing, captivating, action packed adventure. Over two years ago I was totally smitten by Conrad Jones' mastery with a pen and my admiration has not dimmed. When you find an author of this calibre, I definitely recommend 'double-dipping'; reading the book and listening to the audio version. Even though I knew what was going to happen, the sheer brilliance of the story managed to enthral and bewitch me all over again, (especially John Tankersley). A superb book from an accomplished author, which I am thrilled and privileged to recommend. You can thank me later.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent

A fast paced crime story that kept me gripped from start to finish. I nearly didn't buy this having read the reviews about the narration. I'm glad I did. The narration is quite slow so just adjust the speed to about 1.20 and its great. Well written and Im definitely getting the next in the series.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great storyline but ruined by the narration.

This storyline is gripping and kept me interested all the way through. However the Narrator made me switch from listening to this at work (hgv driver) to reading it in my spare time. The use of an American reading a story set in the Liverpool area is absolutely absurd. Now the narrators in the Braddick series are worth a listen.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Fantastic book ruined

Hideous narration spoiling a truly fantastic book. So disappointed hopefully the rest of the series is not by this narrator

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars
  • JD
  • 13-01-24

Couldn’t listen to this book past chapter 3

The narrator didn’t manage convey any interest in what she was reading so I lost interest

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Terrific story, terrible narration

So disappointed with this. The story is excellent, brutal at times but needed for the tone of the story. The narrator is, unfortunately, completely unsuitable for this book in my honest opinion. Her attempts at accents are, in the main, woeful. If you’ve read the book there’s no way you would envisage a female narrating it - sorry!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

another great audio book

fantastic story with lots of twists and turns, fantastically delivered by Julia . Great work can't wait to listen to the next one on my commute to Liverpool each day

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!