Water Walker, by Ted Dekker, is the sequel to Eyes Wide Open in the Outlaw Chronicles. Like Eyes Wide Open, Water Walker was released episodically in four parts before the paperback became available. Since I knew I was going to own the book anyway, I waited to read it. Technically, you can read the book by itself, but if you want to read everything that relates to it, you have to go all the way back to books like Showdown and Black. And you'll want to take a look at Outlaw, another "stand-alone" book that sort of kick-started the Outlaw Chronicles. As usual, everything in the Dekker-verse connects. Having read Dekker's other books, it's so interesting to see all the connections, to know Alice's history even though she doesn't. But it doesn't really affect this book at all because Alice narrates most of the book, and what she doesn't know doesn't matter to the story. One thing that differentiates the Outlaw Chronicles from the majority of Dekker's books is that they are targeted to the young adult audience, but aside from teenage protagonists, Dekker's style remains pretty much the same, which is to say highly readable, suspenseful, emotionally engaging, and thought-provoking.
In Water Walker, Alice begins as a thirteen-year-old who remembers only the past six months of her life when she is kidnapped by a man who says he knows her real mother. It might be spoiling to say any more, but I feel like I have to dangle another little tidbit out there. (You've been warned.) Alice soon finds herself immersed in a world of rules and religion, essentially what we might view as a cult, though Alice is too unfamiliar with the world as a whole to recognize it as such. And Alice soon becomes Eden. There's a lot more there, but it would be spoiling to say more.
All the Outlaw Chronicles books have a lot to do with identity. This one links identity with forgiveness, and the message is mind-shattering, though it's not the first time we've seen it in Dekker's books. Outlaw, particularly, goes into a lot of detail on this. One of the things said in Water Walker that especially strikes me and fills me with wonder is that true forgiveness believes there is no offense. Nothing wrong has been done; therefore, there is nothing to take offense at. It's both complicated and simple. It's so hard to grasp in practice, but the idea itself is so elegantly simple. Dekker explains it beautifully and clearly in a way I can't. For instance, one character says, "You will live in terrible suffering, all because you can't bring yourself to let go of your offense." It has a lot to do with water walking, with letting go and trusting in something beyond what our human minds can understand. And this message is so powerful because it is true.
Though part suspenseful thriller (less so than Dekker's hardcore thrillers), much of the journey is spiritual, obviously. The physical circumstances are impossible to overcome until the spiritual ones have been dealt with, and even then, the physical isn't resolved in a matter that one would expect. I love how originally Dekker's books illustrate that "God's ways are not our ways." I guess you could say that these young adult books are tamer than Dekker's usual thrillers in that he doesn't explore pure evil to the same extent (there's evil, yes, but the face of it is not quite as stark). On the other hand, I think these books go deeper thematically. You never forget that there's a purpose behind the story. So, does that lessen the impact of the storytelling, to be a step removed from the action? Is it less entertaining and immersive? It kind of depends on your viewpoint. I'll admit, some of Dekker's books have been more exciting to me, harder to put down. But I'm not sure I got as much out of those books as I do out of these. And really, either way, Dekker doesn't write a boring story. After reading so many of his mainstream, almost "secular" novels, I appreciate the turn his writing and ideas have taken now. For sure, he isn't in a rut, and he always has something new to offer.
I'm excited to read a book of his coming out in October, the story of Jesus from the perspective of a woman of that time. But before A.D. 30 takes us into the life of Jesus, the third book in the Outlaw Chronicles, Hacker, is available June 10.
Showing posts with label psychological thriller. Show all posts
Showing posts with label psychological thriller. Show all posts
Friday, May 2, 2014
Friday, February 28, 2014
Eyes Wide Open
Ted Dekker has a seemingly endless stash of ideas. In Eyes Wide Open, he tried something a little different, releasing the book in four parts, like TV episodes. That's how I got ahold of the first part called Identity as an ebook a while back. Then, at the time, the second part, Mirrors, was going for only a dollar, so I paid to read a little more of the story. After that, I didn't really want to pay to get the other parts on ebook when I knew I would eventually want to own a physical copy of the book itself. There are very few Ted Dekker books I don't have paper copies of! So, I waited for the paperback to be released, and finally, I got a chance to read the whole thing. It had been awhile since I'd read the first two parts, but I found I only had to skim a little to remember most of it. There are also very few Dekker books that aren't uniquely memorable.
In Eyes Wide Open, seventeen-year-old Christy finds herself in bizarre circumstances when she goes searching for an empty locket that holds sentimental value for her. Unsure of who she really is, with no memory of her parents or the first thirteen years of her life, she's suddenly thrust into a situation where everything she's ever known is called into question. Is the little she thinks she knows about herself even true?
Austin, also seventeen, is brilliant. He relies on his mind for everything, but now it appears something might be wrong. Headaches plague him. Still, his mind is strong. He can reason through anything...except perhaps the fix he and Christy have found themselves in. When they accidentally trap themselves in a mental health institution and are mistaken for delusional patients, Austin and Christy's options quickly narrow until the most important question becomes: Who am I?
As usual, Dekker delivers a thrilling, suspenseful, twisty mind trip, but also packs in a message of Truth, narrowly focused on a single idea. This one is clearly about identity and what makes us who we are. Is it what we do, how we grew up, what we think? (Minor SPOILERS follow.) I don't think I'm spoiling too much to say that Austin's mind isn't going to be enough, but just in case, I did warn you. Interestingly, shortly after finishing the book, I came across a verse in my Bible that meshed really well with this novel. The verse talks about Jesus' "love that surpasses knowledge" (Ephesians 3:19). That might give you a glimpse of where this book ends up thematically (and we're not talking about romantic love, by the way), but there's so much more to it. And I didn't think this would happen, since the book is part of a new series, but as usual in the Dekker-verse, this book relates to some of Dekker's older novels. It's also connected to the separate stand-alone novel, Outlaw, but that shouldn't come as too much of a surprise, considering the title.
Eyes Wide Open is part of a series called The Outlaw Chronicles. Water Walker, the second installment, is partially available now (the first two parts have been released in ebook form), and the paperback will be released in March. I already have my copy on order. Four stars.
In Eyes Wide Open, seventeen-year-old Christy finds herself in bizarre circumstances when she goes searching for an empty locket that holds sentimental value for her. Unsure of who she really is, with no memory of her parents or the first thirteen years of her life, she's suddenly thrust into a situation where everything she's ever known is called into question. Is the little she thinks she knows about herself even true?
Austin, also seventeen, is brilliant. He relies on his mind for everything, but now it appears something might be wrong. Headaches plague him. Still, his mind is strong. He can reason through anything...except perhaps the fix he and Christy have found themselves in. When they accidentally trap themselves in a mental health institution and are mistaken for delusional patients, Austin and Christy's options quickly narrow until the most important question becomes: Who am I?
As usual, Dekker delivers a thrilling, suspenseful, twisty mind trip, but also packs in a message of Truth, narrowly focused on a single idea. This one is clearly about identity and what makes us who we are. Is it what we do, how we grew up, what we think? (Minor SPOILERS follow.) I don't think I'm spoiling too much to say that Austin's mind isn't going to be enough, but just in case, I did warn you. Interestingly, shortly after finishing the book, I came across a verse in my Bible that meshed really well with this novel. The verse talks about Jesus' "love that surpasses knowledge" (Ephesians 3:19). That might give you a glimpse of where this book ends up thematically (and we're not talking about romantic love, by the way), but there's so much more to it. And I didn't think this would happen, since the book is part of a new series, but as usual in the Dekker-verse, this book relates to some of Dekker's older novels. It's also connected to the separate stand-alone novel, Outlaw, but that shouldn't come as too much of a surprise, considering the title.
Eyes Wide Open is part of a series called The Outlaw Chronicles. Water Walker, the second installment, is partially available now (the first two parts have been released in ebook form), and the paperback will be released in March. I already have my copy on order. Four stars.
Saturday, April 13, 2013
Mind Games
I liked the premise of Kiersten White's young adult novel Mind Games. You don't see a lot of novels that focus on sisterly relationships, and while an almost-love-triangle exists in this book, it's not the primary emphasis. In fact, though there's room for romance to develop in future books, you could really say this book isn't a romance at all. It's more of a science fiction thriller and character study at the same time. Though one genre seems fast-paced and the other slow, they meld together pretty well.
Both Fia and Annie narrate the story, but the book is more about Fia, the girl with instincts so good she can almost never choose wrong, the girl who could be a weapon in the wrong hands. And, man, is Fia ever in the wrong hands. Her handler is a boy who she knows is bad and dangerous but who she wants to fall in love with anyway. He, in turn, is the son of an even more dangerous and mysterious man who collects women like Fia and Annie in order to control and use their special mind powers. Most of these women are Seers, seeing the future (like Annie), or Readers, reading minds, or Feelers, feeling emotions. Fia is none of that. She calls herself the hands. With special training and perfect instincts, she is the most dangerous of them all, a killer. And she has to remain a killer if she wants her sister to live.
The dynamics of the relationship between Fia and Annie are what this book is all about, but personally, I didn't really take to Annie. I can't say I loved Fia either, with her obsessive, angry thoughts and stream-of-consciousness narration, but she is clearly the character the author wants you to care most about...not that the reader isn't supposed to care about Annie. The reader is supposed to care about what Fia thinks of Annie, and Fia will do anything to protect her older, blind sister.
The book took longer than some young adult fiction takes me to get through, probably due to switching narrators but also due to flashbacks. That's why I said the story was part character study. We get a lot of background on Fia and Annie leading up to the present. It's an interesting way to tell a story. We get thrown right into the action, and then slowly, the specifics unwind. Interesting, yes, but I didn't love the way the story was told.
Still, having said that, what I really did enjoy was the concept of an unwilling human weapon. My husband can tell you that I love stories with powerful female protagonists. Under very different circumstances, I could have been a feminist, I'm sure. I love to see girls kick butt, and I'm a second degree black belt myself. But I also find it intriguing when a girl is powerful yet doesn't want to be. It provides for fascinating internal struggle, and in this case, it raises a lot of moral questions, too. How do you do detestable things to protect a loved one and still save your own soul? I wish there was a little more about that particular question in the book, but Fia is beyond believing she has a soul to save. Her hopelessness is understandable in light of the story, but it gets a little depressing. I do, however, like the way this first book of the series resolves itself, and I hope there is some interesting moral exploration in the books to come; the set-up is certainly perfect for it.
Three stars.
Both Fia and Annie narrate the story, but the book is more about Fia, the girl with instincts so good she can almost never choose wrong, the girl who could be a weapon in the wrong hands. And, man, is Fia ever in the wrong hands. Her handler is a boy who she knows is bad and dangerous but who she wants to fall in love with anyway. He, in turn, is the son of an even more dangerous and mysterious man who collects women like Fia and Annie in order to control and use their special mind powers. Most of these women are Seers, seeing the future (like Annie), or Readers, reading minds, or Feelers, feeling emotions. Fia is none of that. She calls herself the hands. With special training and perfect instincts, she is the most dangerous of them all, a killer. And she has to remain a killer if she wants her sister to live.
The dynamics of the relationship between Fia and Annie are what this book is all about, but personally, I didn't really take to Annie. I can't say I loved Fia either, with her obsessive, angry thoughts and stream-of-consciousness narration, but she is clearly the character the author wants you to care most about...not that the reader isn't supposed to care about Annie. The reader is supposed to care about what Fia thinks of Annie, and Fia will do anything to protect her older, blind sister.
The book took longer than some young adult fiction takes me to get through, probably due to switching narrators but also due to flashbacks. That's why I said the story was part character study. We get a lot of background on Fia and Annie leading up to the present. It's an interesting way to tell a story. We get thrown right into the action, and then slowly, the specifics unwind. Interesting, yes, but I didn't love the way the story was told.
Still, having said that, what I really did enjoy was the concept of an unwilling human weapon. My husband can tell you that I love stories with powerful female protagonists. Under very different circumstances, I could have been a feminist, I'm sure. I love to see girls kick butt, and I'm a second degree black belt myself. But I also find it intriguing when a girl is powerful yet doesn't want to be. It provides for fascinating internal struggle, and in this case, it raises a lot of moral questions, too. How do you do detestable things to protect a loved one and still save your own soul? I wish there was a little more about that particular question in the book, but Fia is beyond believing she has a soul to save. Her hopelessness is understandable in light of the story, but it gets a little depressing. I do, however, like the way this first book of the series resolves itself, and I hope there is some interesting moral exploration in the books to come; the set-up is certainly perfect for it.
Three stars.
Sunday, December 30, 2012
The Sanctuary
Ted Dekker strikes again! The Santuary is a stand-alone thriller (not young adult, I should clarify, since most of the other stuff I read is), but readers will recognize its two main characters from The Priest's Graveyard. The Sanctuary doesn't have to be read as a sequel, but it does pick up where the other book left off, in a way. If you haven't read The Priest's Graveyard and want to, this review may contain unwanted SPOILERS. Thematically, the books are related, but the emphasis is different, and the two stories are separate and self-contained. I guess, however, that you could say the themes from The Sanctuary are a natural progression of the thoughts from The Priest's Graveyard. Although you wouldn't have to read both, I would recommend reading them together and in order.
Danny Hansen confessed to two murders he didn't commit in order to spare his wife a prison sentence, but Danny is by no means innocent. In his old life, he was a priest who took the law into his own hands. Now, Danny willingly pays the price, knowing he's become the very monster he tried to keep off the streets, but someone from his past doesn't think Danny and Renee have suffered enough, and the villain has concocted a game to get his revenge and expose Danny for the monster he is. Danny, however, has taken a vow of nonviolence. How hard will his enemy have to push him to break him? And can Renee rescue him before it's too late for both of them?
As usual, this latest Dekker thriller is hardcore and not for the faint of heart. Dekker is a Christian, but I think a lot of Christians would have a hard time reconciling his worldview with their own. As my husband puts it, Dekker likes to make Christianity "visceral." He uses extreme imagery to get across simple but deep truths about what it means to follow God. His thrillers may be fit for the secular market, but they are anything but cheap, shallow entertainment. Yeah, there's a lot of shock value, but it's there to shock us awake, which has to be a good thing.
In The Sanctuary, the main issue is violence. Is it wrong? What if the person you love more than life itself needs your protection? How do you stand up for the weak when the world is full of violent predators? What kind of justice does a murderer deserve? What does it mean to be human? What is grace? These are all questions that are tackled in a plot that delves right into the middle of some of the worst kind of violence. Murder, rape, torture; it's all in there, handled carefully but not lightly. Dekker likes to open up the black holes of the world and blast a floodlight on them. You've been warned. But time and again, the trip has certainly been worth it for me.
I have a shelf full of Dekker books, most in hard cover. My favorites among them I've rated five stars. The Sanctuary read quickly but didn't have quite the same impact as some for me, falling at about a three-star rating. Still good. And it delivered one of Dekker's famous end twists, which I really didn't see coming and which made me kind of want to go back and see how the book might read differently had I known what was really going on.
Danny Hansen confessed to two murders he didn't commit in order to spare his wife a prison sentence, but Danny is by no means innocent. In his old life, he was a priest who took the law into his own hands. Now, Danny willingly pays the price, knowing he's become the very monster he tried to keep off the streets, but someone from his past doesn't think Danny and Renee have suffered enough, and the villain has concocted a game to get his revenge and expose Danny for the monster he is. Danny, however, has taken a vow of nonviolence. How hard will his enemy have to push him to break him? And can Renee rescue him before it's too late for both of them?
As usual, this latest Dekker thriller is hardcore and not for the faint of heart. Dekker is a Christian, but I think a lot of Christians would have a hard time reconciling his worldview with their own. As my husband puts it, Dekker likes to make Christianity "visceral." He uses extreme imagery to get across simple but deep truths about what it means to follow God. His thrillers may be fit for the secular market, but they are anything but cheap, shallow entertainment. Yeah, there's a lot of shock value, but it's there to shock us awake, which has to be a good thing.
In The Sanctuary, the main issue is violence. Is it wrong? What if the person you love more than life itself needs your protection? How do you stand up for the weak when the world is full of violent predators? What kind of justice does a murderer deserve? What does it mean to be human? What is grace? These are all questions that are tackled in a plot that delves right into the middle of some of the worst kind of violence. Murder, rape, torture; it's all in there, handled carefully but not lightly. Dekker likes to open up the black holes of the world and blast a floodlight on them. You've been warned. But time and again, the trip has certainly been worth it for me.
I have a shelf full of Dekker books, most in hard cover. My favorites among them I've rated five stars. The Sanctuary read quickly but didn't have quite the same impact as some for me, falling at about a three-star rating. Still good. And it delivered one of Dekker's famous end twists, which I really didn't see coming and which made me kind of want to go back and see how the book might read differently had I known what was really going on.
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Before I Go To Sleep
This book has been out for a little while already. It's regular fiction, not a young adult novel, but the premise intrigued me as usually only young adult fiction does. In Before I Go To Sleep, by S. J. Watson, Christine forgets the last 20 years or more of her life every time she falls asleep. She remembers being young and wakes up to find herself in a differently proportioned body lying next to a stranger. As her day progresses, she discovers pieces of her world: the husband she married, the doctor she's seeing secretly (who has to call her and convince her he's who he says he is), the accident that caused her amnesia.
Her husband, Ben, says he loves her, but Christine doesn't know how to love him in return. She has no memories of him. When Dr. Nash asks her to keep a journal (and calls her daily to tell her of its existence and where to find it), she slowly begins to rebuild her world. And as she writes more and more, she begins to remember a little here and there. But details are off. Informed that she used to be paranoid in the early stages of her condition, she isn't sure what's real and what's fabricated. When her memories don't match up with what she's being told, she discovers that, indeed, her husband has been keeping the whole truth from her. It makes sense that he wouldn't daily reveal details that are greatly upsetting, but Christine wishes he would just be honest with her. As she grows to understand and love her husband more through her own written words, Christine knows that she will eventually have to trust him with her journal. But sometimes things don't feel right, and Christine can't figure out how much of that is cause for concern and how much is just the imaginings of a damaged mind. Everyone seems to be lying to her. And can she trust her own journal?
One day, she wakes up in bed with a stranger as always, gets a call from a Dr. Nash she's supposed to know but doesn't, and receives a journal already full of her words, including an addition at the front, which says, "Don't trust Ben." And she begins to read about the person she's become.
For the reader (and for Christine, really), the story starts there. As you can imagine, it gets a little repetitive. Every morning, Christine discovers that she's married, that she sees a doctor secretly, and that she has a secret journal. But considering the difficulty of presenting her story realistically without boring the reader, I think the author does a pretty decent job. The idea reminded me of the movie 50 First Dates, except that this story is not comedy or romance. It's more of a psychological thriller. As we read Christine's journal and crawl into her mind, we find ourselves at as much of a loss as she is. We wonder, along with her, if she's crazy. We wonder why things don't feel right but have no proof that anything's wrong. As more details come together, things start to make sense from a certain point of view. You want her to tell Ben about the journal. And when she doesn't, you wonder if Christine will sabotage herself with her doubts or if there is real reason for her to be careful. You'll be guessing until the end.
Because this is adult fiction, there is adult content, nothing terribly graphic, more factual than anything. The author could have left it more to the imagination, but I can see why she wanted to explore it. It is an interesting moral dilemma: if you're married, sex is totally okay, more than okay, but what if only one of two partners remembers the past 20 years? What if the other knows only today? For one, sex is almost mundane, part of being married to a person so long. For the other, sex is the furthest thing from the mind, coming right after catching up on 20 years of life. The idea wasn't a bad one to address, I suppose, and it makes sense in the context of the story. But it's a little crude at times. Just a warning. Enough said.
I don't want to influence what you think happens in this book in case you want to read it yourself, but I think I was influenced just by reading the book cover. It influences you even just to hear that it's a thriller. Honestly, most of the book doesn't feel like a thriller. There's some mystery, but just that of a woman trying to piece together her life, nothing remarkable: does she have kids, friends, accomplishments? The fact that it was said to be a thriller clued me in that there was more beneath the surface of this story. But whether it's paranoia or something else, I'll leave for you to discover.
I was mostly satisfied but not as surprised as I wanted to be by the end. I think the book was too built up by its own cover. It spoiled itself. Weird to say, but true, for me.
Three stars. Hard to put down sometimes, but might leave you asking, "Was it worth the time?"
Her husband, Ben, says he loves her, but Christine doesn't know how to love him in return. She has no memories of him. When Dr. Nash asks her to keep a journal (and calls her daily to tell her of its existence and where to find it), she slowly begins to rebuild her world. And as she writes more and more, she begins to remember a little here and there. But details are off. Informed that she used to be paranoid in the early stages of her condition, she isn't sure what's real and what's fabricated. When her memories don't match up with what she's being told, she discovers that, indeed, her husband has been keeping the whole truth from her. It makes sense that he wouldn't daily reveal details that are greatly upsetting, but Christine wishes he would just be honest with her. As she grows to understand and love her husband more through her own written words, Christine knows that she will eventually have to trust him with her journal. But sometimes things don't feel right, and Christine can't figure out how much of that is cause for concern and how much is just the imaginings of a damaged mind. Everyone seems to be lying to her. And can she trust her own journal?
One day, she wakes up in bed with a stranger as always, gets a call from a Dr. Nash she's supposed to know but doesn't, and receives a journal already full of her words, including an addition at the front, which says, "Don't trust Ben." And she begins to read about the person she's become.
For the reader (and for Christine, really), the story starts there. As you can imagine, it gets a little repetitive. Every morning, Christine discovers that she's married, that she sees a doctor secretly, and that she has a secret journal. But considering the difficulty of presenting her story realistically without boring the reader, I think the author does a pretty decent job. The idea reminded me of the movie 50 First Dates, except that this story is not comedy or romance. It's more of a psychological thriller. As we read Christine's journal and crawl into her mind, we find ourselves at as much of a loss as she is. We wonder, along with her, if she's crazy. We wonder why things don't feel right but have no proof that anything's wrong. As more details come together, things start to make sense from a certain point of view. You want her to tell Ben about the journal. And when she doesn't, you wonder if Christine will sabotage herself with her doubts or if there is real reason for her to be careful. You'll be guessing until the end.
Because this is adult fiction, there is adult content, nothing terribly graphic, more factual than anything. The author could have left it more to the imagination, but I can see why she wanted to explore it. It is an interesting moral dilemma: if you're married, sex is totally okay, more than okay, but what if only one of two partners remembers the past 20 years? What if the other knows only today? For one, sex is almost mundane, part of being married to a person so long. For the other, sex is the furthest thing from the mind, coming right after catching up on 20 years of life. The idea wasn't a bad one to address, I suppose, and it makes sense in the context of the story. But it's a little crude at times. Just a warning. Enough said.
I don't want to influence what you think happens in this book in case you want to read it yourself, but I think I was influenced just by reading the book cover. It influences you even just to hear that it's a thriller. Honestly, most of the book doesn't feel like a thriller. There's some mystery, but just that of a woman trying to piece together her life, nothing remarkable: does she have kids, friends, accomplishments? The fact that it was said to be a thriller clued me in that there was more beneath the surface of this story. But whether it's paranoia or something else, I'll leave for you to discover.
I was mostly satisfied but not as surprised as I wanted to be by the end. I think the book was too built up by its own cover. It spoiled itself. Weird to say, but true, for me.
Three stars. Hard to put down sometimes, but might leave you asking, "Was it worth the time?"
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