Book excerpt: From the author of The Hunger—hailed by Stephen King as “deeply, deeply disturbing, hard to put down”—comes a hauntingly atmospheric tale filled with alchemy, lust, and betrayal. 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—enters his ER, she changes his life forever. A mysterious woman with 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. As she begins to tell her story, Luke finds himself utterly captivated. Her impassioned account begins at the turn of the 19th 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 founder’s son, Jonathan, Lanny will do anything to be with him. 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 a “mesmerizing” (Booklist, starred review) story about the power of unrequited love not only to elevate and sustain, but also to blind and ultimately destroy.