Reading Over the Weekend: ALL THAT WAS TAKEN by Lisette Brodey

Welcome to Reading Over the Weekend with Lisette Brodey’s All That Was Taken, a psychological suspense novel where love and healing emerge from the shadows of loss, secrets, and danger.

Some books ask to be analysed. Others ask to be noticed. And then there are those that make you pause halfway through a page and say, I want to remember that.

Ahead of each weekend I will share books that have caught my attention: what I enjoyed about them, what surprised me, and occasionally the memories or questions they stirred.

Reading Over the Weekend: ALL THAT WAS TAKEN by Lisette Brodey

All That Was Taken takes us to the quiet coastal world of Teal Beach, California, where appearances can be deceiving and the past is never quite as far away as it seems.

John Hennessey has spent eight years living almost in solitude on Catalina Island, keeping his life deliberately small after suffering devastating losses. Hoping for a quieter future, he moves toward the sleepy town of Teal Beach, where he stays at the Teal Beach Sundial Inn while waiting for his cottage to be ready.

There he meets Sunny Harrison, the inn’s owner. Something passes between them almost immediately—a connection neither expected and perhaps neither is quite ready to trust. Both carry painful histories, and both have learned that opening the door to another person also means risking further loss.

But the quiet does not last.

Threatening phone calls begin. John receives disturbing communications of his own. Guests arrive at the inn whose motives seem increasingly suspicious, and beneath the ordinary rhythms of the seaside town lies something darker. As John and Sunny draw closer, so too does the danger surrounding them.

What begins as a story of two wounded people finding an unexpected connection gradually becomes something far more unsettling—a psychological suspense novel filled with secrets, hidden agendas, emotional wounds, and the ominous feeling that someone is watching from the shadows.

Why I enjoyed ALL THAT WAS TAKEN by Lisette Brodey

What I particularly enjoyed about All That Was Taken is the way Lisette Brodey allows the suspense to build rather than rush. The story takes its time introducing John and Sunny, allowing us to understand the losses they carry and why trust does not come easily to either of them. That measured pace gives the characters room to breathe, while the small details and carefully crafted dialogue quietly plant the seeds of unease.

I also enjoyed the contrast between the seemingly peaceful coastal setting and the darkness gradually gathering around the characters. There is something especially effective about danger intruding upon an ordinary, quiet life. The secrets, unexpected turns, and sense of foreboding kept me wondering what was really happening—and who could be trusted.

Most of all, this is not suspense for suspense’s sake. Beneath the danger is a deeply human story about love, loss, trust, and the possibility of healing after everything you once held dear has been taken away.

All That Was Taken – Recommended to…

• Readers who enjoy psychological suspense with an emotional heart.
• Fans of slow-burning suspense where tension builds gradually.
• Readers who love complex, wounded characters carrying secrets and painful histories.
• Book-lovers who enjoy mysteries involving hidden motives and unexpected twists.
• Readers looking for a story where romance and danger become increasingly intertwined.
• Fans of atmospheric coastal settings where tranquillity can conceal something much darker.
• Readers who enjoy stories about healing, second chances, and learning to trust again.

All That Was Taken is the kind of book that reminds us that sometimes the greatest danger is hidden behind the most ordinary doors—and that even after profound loss, the possibility of love and healing can still find us. If you are looking for a thoughtful, emotionally charged suspense novel for your weekend reading, this one deserves a place on your list.

Discover more books by Lisette Brodey on Goodreads or visit Lisette Brodey’s author website and blog.

Read on my blog: my review of Too Far Standing Still by Lisette Brodey, my thoughts on her What The Years Remember as well as on Twice a Broken Breath. 🙂

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Reading Over the Weekend is a blog series celebrating the joy of reading. Not every book I read will be new. Not every book will belong to the same genre. Some may be historical fiction, others memoir, crime, biography, or something completely unexpected. What they will have in common is that they have stayed with me after I closed the book. Perhaps they taught me something. They made me laugh. They opened a door into a world I had never known. Or perhaps, like a forgotten scent, they brought back something I thought I had lost.

I believe that reading is a form of travelling. We can cross centuries without leaving our chair, visit countries we might never see otherwise, inhabit lives entirely different from our, and sometimes return to our own childhood through somebody else’s memories.