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Tkaing Lives

The book Tkaing Lives was made into the movie Taking Lives.

Which one did you like better, the book or the movie?  There are 8 votes for the book, and 4 votes for the movie.

Book details for Tkaing Lives

Tkaing Lives was written by Michael Pye. The book was published in 1999 by Vintage. More information on the book is available on Amazon.com.

 

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Martin Arkenhout, a young student from Holland, is taking a break from his studies to explore the United States and beyond. Tall, skinny, and somewhat unsure of his new surroundings, Arkenhout looks and acts like any other traveler. But this 17-year-old i... Read More
Martin Arkenhout, a young student from Holland, is taking a break from his studies to explore the United States and beyond. Tall, skinny, and somewhat unsure of his new surroundings, Arkenhout looks and acts like any other traveler. But this 17-year-old is no innocent abroad. He takes the concept of enriching one's life through travel to a terrifying new level, and gets his kicks from murdering various strangers along the way. What makes these killings even more grotesque is the fact that Arkenhout steals the identities of his victims in an attempt to displace his own persona. This perversity allows him to "invent himself" whenever the urge strikes. Yet one personality is harder to maintain then all the others--that of Professor Christopher Hart, who was an art teacher with a special affection for Dutch art and, apparently, a love for valuable manuscripts. The theft of one such manuscript gained the special attention of a private investigator, John Costa. Martin Arkenhout must now pay his own price for the professor's purported crime, and is hotly pursued across the globe.

Taking Lives is a bizarre masquerade ball where nothing is as it seems, and every character has a hidden past. The final reprise of this deranged dance reaches a brilliant crescendo, and keeps us hanging on until the very last, and very shocking, note. --Naomi Gesinger

Movie details for Taking Lives

The movie was released in 2004 and directed by D.J. Caruso. More information on the movie is available on Amazon.com and also IMDb.

Actors on this movie include Angelina Jolie, Ethan Hawke, Kiefer Sutherland, Gena Rowlands, Olivier Martinez, Tchéky Karyo, Jean-Hugues Anglade, Paul Dano, Justin Chatwin, André Lacoste, Billy Two Rivers, Richard Lemire, Julien Poulin, Marie-Josée Croze, Christian Tessier, Brigitte Bedard, Dominique Briand, Alex Sol, Shawn Roberts (II) and Martin Brisebois.

 

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While it doesn't rank with such grim classics as The Silence of the Lambs and Seven, D.J. Caruso's Taking Lives offers similarly heavy atmosphere, beginning well before fizzling into absurdity. Freely adapted from the novel by Michael Pye, and set in Mont... Read More
While it doesn't rank with such grim classics as The Silence of the Lambs and Seven, D.J. Caruso's Taking Lives offers similarly heavy atmosphere, beginning well before fizzling into absurdity. Freely adapted from the novel by Michael Pye, and set in Montreal (although it was filmed in Quebec City), the plot trades in several familiar tropes of the serial-killer genre, beginning with the FBI agent (Angelina Jolie) who brings her unique skills (and brooding, low-key demeanor) to the vexing case of a killer who, out of apparent self-loathing, steals the identities of his victims and lives their lives until it's time for the next gruesome murder. Ethan Hawke plays the killer's alleged next victim, and in a film filled with twists that grow increasingly unconvincing, Keifer Sutherland is menacingly cast as a shifty suspect. Caruso's previous film was the creepy drug thriller The Salton Sea, so he's well-qualified to infuse Taking Lives with a darkly stylish sense of dread and at least one good shock to keep your adrenaline flowing. The second half essentially betrays the promise of the first, but there's enough going on to hold your interest to the end. --Jeff Shannon