“The novel started well: riveting, edge-of-your-seat. It was tough to put it down, and the story grabbed me. I like true crime stories involving serial killers as long as the violence isn't too graphic. This one was fine in the violence department. The nature of the villain was engaging and absorbing. Pacing was fast, and Dekker certainly knows how to write a thriller.
I do have a few gripes (you knew they were coming). First, his characters don't have the depth they ought to have. Pretty two-dimensional. Second, the notion of Daniel purposely killing himself so he could have a near-death experience and remember what the serial killer looked like was . . . well, absurd. Mainly, it's illegal to use drugs to kill yourself like that (regardless of your motive), and Daniel and his partner have no problem overtly breaking the law several times. The scenario just strained the plot past the point of credulity.
I wasn't surprised when the story took a spiritual turn but very disturbed that Dekker chose to introduce a Catholic priest as the spiritual warrior to somehow cast out a demon. First, a Catholic priest who doesn't believe in the true gospel would be powerless in this scenario. Dekker knows the gospel, so why did he choose a Catholic priest? I'm dumbfounded. This story was a theological mess. He had a golden opportunity to introduce a true believer and talk about faith in Christ. Nope. He missed it. I was also surprised and saddened to see Ted introduce profanity into this novel. I thought it was supposed to be a Christian novel; I think I was mistaken. These gripes aside, the novel is fun to read and engaging, and I'll read Ted again. I'm just not sure where Ted is going these days and where he's taking a large segment of the Christian readership.”
Adam Blumer wrote this review Saturday, January 24 2009.
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