Taken

Taken (Knopf, 2007) is a young adult dystopian fiction novel by Edward Bloor. Edward Bloor is a widely regarded and seasoned author of young adult fiction. Born in New Jersey and educated in New York, Bloor worked for Harcourt Publisher in Orlando, Florida while writing his first novel, Tangerine (1997), which deals with the traumatic experience of a handicapped middle school student. Bloor’s next novel, Crusader (1999), follows a teenage girl involved in a violent world of arcade games. Crusader won the New York Public Library’s best book award. In addition to having worked in publishing, Bloor taught middle school language arts—an experience which has allowed him to portray the sometimes riveting, sometimes harrowing, and often confused social experiences of young adults with a special authenticity.

The book’s eleven chapters flow precipitously into one another in a combination of suspense and flashback. The first chapter, “Kidnapped,” begins with the dictum that “once you’ve been taken you usually have twenty-four hours left to live.” The narrator is one Charity Meyers, who is accompanied in her kidnapping by her “vidscreen,” which reports that it is 11:31 on the first of January in the year 2035. On this screen, Charity seems to be able to access readily any file she might need, one of which is a report on the kidnapping industry. This report provides the backdrop for the circumstance in which Charity finds herself.

The thirteen-year-old Charity lives with her father and ex-stepmother, Mickie (from whom her father has recently separated, but who lives in the home) in the wealthy Highlands region of Florida, where the growing divide between rich and poor have cultivated a kidnapping industry. Charity’s father is a doctor, and Mickie has her own television show. Children are kidnapped then ransomed to rich parents in exchange for a tidy sum of money. It is such a frequent occurrence that 85% of children are safely returned to their families by these expert kidnappers. These criminals, having learned to anticipate the vicissitudes of the ransoming business, always include a “Plan B” in their notes stipulating the child’s return.



Charity remembers that her abduction took place by means of an ambulance (a ruse on the part of her kidnappers to evade security in the Highlands). The servants, Albert and Victoria, were present when she was taken by the alleged Dr. Reyes, who seemed suspicious to Charity at their first encounter. Like many wealthy children, Charity is equipped with a global tracking device (GTD), which kidnappers have taken to removing surgically. Charity has also been trained by school counselors so that she can avoid a nervous breakdown by remaining calm and remembering a specific, pleasant memory, and thinking intently about the environment. A dark-skinned, teenage boy joins Charity in the back of the ambulance, where a camera records her activity. He does not speak to her until she tells him that she needs to use the bathroom, at which point he gives her a bedpan.

The boy, Dessi, is a servant of the kidnappers, and he tells her that Victoria and Albert are like slaves to her, which Charity feels that she must defend. Much of the novel comprises a series of flashbacks in which Charity remembers spending holidays with her family, alongside Albert and Victoria, with whom she decorates the house and the town. This sequence of memories, which alternates with the narration of Charity’s presence circumstances, helps keep her distracted during her imprisonment.

Meanwhile, two of Charity’s friends, Patience Patterson and her brother, Hopewell, put up flyers in the working-class town of Mangrove. Charity learns that, in addition to the Dr. Reyes that she remembers from the ambulance, Albert is also complicit in the kidnapping. Charity’s father is making arrangements with the kidnappers to fly a helicopter over a lake where Charity will be exchanged; however, the helicopter, owned and operated by Charity’s father, crashes into the lake and kills him. This leads the kidnappers to execute their Plan B. Charity’s welfare is now in the hands of Charity’s ex-stepmother, Mickie.



As part of this Plan B, Charity is placed in an old house and awaits Mickie’s arrival with the ransom money. Victoria comes in place of Mickie and insists on talking to Dr. Reyes. When she is refused, she drops the money and runs away. Charity understands implicitly that she, too, must run away, encouraged by Victoria. Dessi follows her, at first chasing her, then resolving to escape with her.

They find an abandoned house in which to stay, but are soon found by Dr. Reyes and Albert. Dr. Reyes removes his mask and reveals himself to be Charity’s father. Mr. Meyers insists on explaining his motive to Charity, who is shocked and furious. Mr. Meyers felt trapped in the Highlands and wanted to start a new life without the threat of being subject to Mickie’s television show. To do this, he explains, he needed to invent an elaborate ruse to convince Mickie that they were dead. Mr. Meyers has established himself in a clinic under the name of Dr. Reyes, but was discovered by the butler, Albert, whom Meyers thereafter let in on the plot. Charity’s father gives her a choice to remain in the Highlands, but she chooses to join him in his new life.

Taken is a provocative novel that both explores the depths of human psychology and infers that advanced technology could give rise to grisly crimes against humanity.