Reviewed by: Rabid Reads 
 Much like the cover, this book is an interesting mix of new and old. I think the black & white artwork with a splash of colour does a good job of summing up this story in a nutshell. Griffin's fifty years dead and Kit is all about the rockabilly (50's lifestyle). In that respect, they compliment each other well. The main plot revolves around a murder investigation which I really enjoyed because it kept me guessing but in the end, I just couldn't get past the 3rd person POV and because of this I never managed to really get into the story. 
 I enjoyed the rockabilly aspect of this novel. It's the first time I've encountered anything of the sort so it really stood out. Having a hobby is one thing but Kit takes her obsession to a whole new level by staying true to her favourite era as much as possible. From watching the news on an old school tube TV (I'd miss my LCD within the hour) to her vintage clothing and hairstyles. Her lifestyle helped with Griffin's transition into the modern day world. Being surrounded by cellphones, computers and the multitude of other 21st century inventions was a little overwhelming so hanging out with miss Craig definitely helped to lessen the blow. 
 The pacing of The Taken is a little on the slow side. I started to get pretty impatient in the beginning waiting for something to finally happen only to have to stick it out until roughly the half-way point. That combined with the 3rd person narration really dampened my reading experience. I had a hard time connecting with either of the main characters because of the POV. The dialogue was also rather stiff. Some witty banter would have gone a long way into livening up the story. I understand that Griffin's not the most outgoing person but his single word replies made it difficult to get a feel for him. That being said, I did like him more than Kit. Her perpetual cheeriness is never fully explained and as a result came off as forced, to the point of being fake. 
 The murder investigation aspect of the story was enjoyable. I thought it was imaginative and downright disturbing in its conclusion which is fine because I love a good jaw dropping ending. Then there's the angel angle. Unfortunately, very little is explained about them so every time a new celestial being popped-up it left me scratching my head. There's also a character named Tony that outright disappears for a while and neither of the two main peeps seem to even notice; he then reappears and no explanation is given. Finally, the whole dead wife murder investigation subplot pretty much goes pouf as well. I found that there were too many holes and lose ends in this story to the point that it felt unfinished. Granted, I'm basing my review on an advanced, unedited proof so perhaps all of my beefs have been resolved in the final version. 
 The Taken is a dark tale modeled off of the butterfly effect and has all of the makings of a great story but unfortunately there were just too many elements that didn't sit right with me. Regardless, I'm interested to see what the next installment has in store because of this book's originality.