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Ted Dekker

The Choosing by Rachelle Dekker

May 19, 2015 by Suzie Waltner 2 Comments

The Choosing Cover

This debut novel from Rachelle Dekker leaves an impression. A good one that leaves the reader wanting more. Yes, she is related to that other best-selling author with the same last name. Rachelle is Ted Dekker’s eldest daughter. After reading several comments on Facebook and Twitter that read something like “If you enjoy Ted Dekker’s work, don’t miss Rachelle Dekker’s debut.” These comments left me wondering what I would be reading. While I enjoy most of Ted’s books, I also know they are intense, dark, mind-boggling, and sometimes downright scary. They take a little more commitment to read than the romance novels I breeze right through. I’m happy to report that Rachelle put just enough of this in her book to make the story move along without bogging the reader down. But more about that later.

Carrington Hale has trained her entire life for one thing. One evening will determine her future. When the evening doesn’t go as planned, and Carrington is not chosen, she is whisked away to a lifetime of service as a Lint. Reeling from the abrupt changes in her life—the loss of her family and the life she’s known, living with a large group of other women, and working—she forms a tentative friendship with another Lint who questions the system. As Carrington struggles with what she’d done wrong, she learns that there is life outside the walls of the city—people who don’t answer to the authorities. Then she is given an unprecedented offer to marry. Her heart is torn between feeling wanted, giving up her friendship with the other Lint, and possibly living in a nightmare. When she discovers the truth about the man she is engaged to marry, Carrington will have to make a choice. Is she enough or does she need someone else to define who she is?

the choosing quote

The Choosing opens at a pivotal point in Carrington’s life and takes off from there. The pace slows slightly in all of the right places in the book and allows the reader to catch their breath after certain realities are reveals. While the book is mostly from Carrington’s point of view, we do also get those of a city guard named Remko, a couple of the authorities, and a man who has taken it upon himself to mete out justice. While the mystery behind who that man is was fairly easy to figure out, it doesn’t detract from the story since the reader is most concerned with Carrington. Since this book is labeled as “A Seer Novel” and there is a little bit of an open end, I’m hoping for at least one more book where I can catch up with Carrington Hale.

Learn more about the author here.

****Tyndale House Publishers and the Tyndale Blog Network provided me with a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest and fair review. All opinions expressed are my own.

Filed Under: Blog Tours, Book Review Tagged With: #IAmChosen, #TheChoosing, Christian Fiction, debut novel, Dystopian fiction, Rachelle Dekker, Ted Dekker, Tyndale House

Skin by Ted Dekker

April 17, 2015 by Suzie Waltner Leave a Comment

skin mass market ted dekker

Choose the person who is the ugliest and kill him. That is the task the five people who remain after three tornadoes hit the small Nevada desert town are given. Or are they the only ones left? Wendy Davidson is on the way to meet her mother when she hits a car in the middle of the road during the storm. Then she finds a brother and sister in need of help. After driving them to the small Nevada desert town of Summerville, they meet up with a police officer. Officer Colt Jackson is chasing down a man who has killed to people and threatens to continue the killing spree. Sterling Red is determined to get revenge on the five people he has brought together in Summerville, but they will play the game according to his rules.

Ted Dekker’s mind always fascinates me. Throughout the entire book I was constantly guessing who Sterling Red might be or what is happening to make the five main characters shift between settings (you’ll understand this more when you read the book). The book shifts between several character points of view—the killer, one of the police officers in the town, Wendy, and Colt—but this is mainly Wendy’s story and perhaps a little bit of Colt’s. While it takes a little while to familiarize yourself with the cast of characters, things really start to move after the tornadoes move through the town. Because I wanted to know who was behind the murders and why, it was hard to put this one down.

If you enjoy suspense thrillers that will bend your mind, this is one to pick up. If you’re easily creeped out, don’t pick this one up before bed. The main theme of the book is that beauty is more than skin deep and everyone has ugliness in them. There is minimal spiritual content in the book (other than the comparison of the killer to Lucifer in a couple of chapters). This is a mass market reissue from a 2007 release.

***Center Street provided me with a free copy of this book (via NetGalley) in exchange for an honest and fair review. All opinions expressed are my own

Filed Under: Book Review Tagged With: Center Street, Netgalley, Suspense Thriller, Ted Dekker

A. D. 30 by Ted Dekker

December 19, 2014 by Suzie Waltner Leave a Comment

Every once in a while it will take me more time than I anticipate to pick up a book I am supposed to review. That’s what happened with me and Ted Dekker’s latest offering, A.D. 30. When I finally started reading the book, my main thought was, “Why did it take me so long to read this?” This book is amazing, emotional, and speaks to the heart of who Jesus was during his ministry on earth.

AD 30

Illegitimate daughter of a Bedouin sheikh, Maviah longs for acceptance from her father. Those who love her are taken away from her and she is left floundering with a desire to be known and loved by others. When her home is attacked, her father charges her to make an alliance with King Herod. As Maviah travels through the desert, certain of failure, to reach the king. Two of her fathers strongest slaves, Saba and Judah, travel with her. Saba is strong and silent while Judah is confident, optimistic, and Maviah’s rock. Judah is also determined to find one man during their travels–Yeshua of Nazareth.

“How they loved him! Because he loved them as himself, as if they were he. What you did not do the the least of these, you did not do for me.
–A. D. 30, Ted Dekker

Wow, what an amazing story. This book is a definite departure from Dekker’s usual thrillers (which I am also a fan of) but it is still engaging. See the healer, the teacher, the savior through the eyes of a Gentile woman who believes she is no worthy of the great calling thrust upon her. Read as she meets Yeshua and he changes her heart, her mind, and even her physical being at times. Dekker states in his prologue (which is as much worth reading as the actual book) that this story is ten year in the making. This is a labor of love for Dekker and it shows.

Earlier this month I mentioned another Ted Dekker book in my ten favorites for the year but this one tops Hacker and would have even topped the list had I read it before creating the list. I am already looking forward to the sequel. So, in conclusion, I leave you with three words: READ THIS BOOK!!!

AD 30 cover Pick up a copy from your local bookstore or order here or here.

****Center Street Publishing and Hachette Book Group provided me a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest and fair review.

Filed Under: Book Review Tagged With: AD 30, book review, CR4U, life of Jesus, Ted Dekker

Hacker by Ted Dekker

May 13, 2014 by Suzie Waltner Leave a Comment

hacker 3

Seventeen-year-old Nyah Parks is a genius, and she is desperate. After a tragedy stole her father and brother, she is willing to do anything to save her mother. She hatches a not-so-brilliant plan that gets her into trouble. Trouble so deep, there is only one person she knows to turn to, another hacker she met while waiting on her mom at doctor’s appointments. Austin Hartt is another genius with a terminal brain tumor.

When Nyah finds Austin, she believes he is bordering on madness. But she’s willing to go there with Austin in hopes that this will be the thing that will help keep her mother with her. As Austin and Nyah try to hack their own brains, they are taken into realities they could never guess existed. There they learn more about life, and what lies beyond life.

I tend to forget how much I enjoy Ted Dekker’s books until I read a new one. His take on science fiction is intriguing and engaging. Hacker (book three in the Outlaw Chronicles) was full of suspense, conflict, and insight that kept intrigued with the story. At times I felt like the BlakBox storyline was a little contrived, put in there just to tie the beginning with what was going on with Nyah and Austin and their hacks, but the overall flow of the story made up for that.

This story pushes the readers outside of what they believe to be true. It is an excellent allegory for faith: believing in something unseen. Of course, Nyah and Austin don’t believe until they see, but once they do, there is no turning back.

hacker cover

Hacker is available June 10, 2014. Pre order from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or CBD.

****Worthy Publishing provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest and fair review.

Filed Under: Book Review Tagged With: Christian Fiction, Hacker, Sci Fi, Ted Dekker

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