Thr3e

by Ted Dekker

Thr3e

by
Ted Dekker

book data

2,242 ratings, 4.03 average rating, 356 reviews (more data...)

rating	frequency	%
5		38%
4		33%
3		20%
2		5%
1		1%

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published

August 2007 by Francke-Buchhandlung (first published 2003)

details

Broschiert, 416 pages

isbn

386122934X (isbn13: 9783861229346)

description

The award-winning, best-selling suspense masterwork, now a major motion picture event.

Enter a world where nothing is what it seems. Where your closes

…more

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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 3,003)

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Aug 24, 2007

Jessica rated it:

(review of isbn 1595543414)

Read in December, 2003

I really enjoyed this book. It was the first book that I read of Ted Dekker's, and I was so impressed with his knowledge and writing techniques. The story is thrilling and was a perfect page turner for my husband (who isn't an avid reader) and me. And I LOVE the ending...big twist.

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Jul 04, 2008

Robert Beveridge rated it:

(review of isbn 1595543414)

bookshelves: 2008-goal-list, cuy-co-pub-lib, finished

Read in August, 2008

Ted Dekker, Thr3e (Thomas Nelson, 2003)

Going into this book and knowing it was “Christian fiction”, I really have to admit I didn't expect a great deal (read: anything) from it. There are really, really good Christian writers, but in general, they are writers who happen to be Christian (Madeleine L'Engle is an obvious example, as is Francois Mauriac); as with every other type of message, the really good ones just kind of let the message come through subconsciously and don't beat ...more Ted Dekker, Thr3e (Thomas Nelson, 2003)

Going into this book and knowing it was “Christian fiction”, I really have to admit I didn't expect a great deal (read: anything) from it. There are really, really good Christian writers, but in general, they are writers who happen to be Christian (Madeleine L'Engle is an obvious example, as is Francois Mauriac); as with every other type of message, the really good ones just kind of let the message come through subconsciously and don't beat the reader over the head with it. I haven't encountered someone who does that consistently, and well, in quite a while, and so I wasn't expecting much from Ted Dekker.

More fool me, because no matter how awful its film adaptation may have been (as, unfortunately, all adaptations of Dekker novels seem to be), but as a thriller, Thr3e is the real deal.

Kevin Parson is a seminary student who's on his way home from class one day when he gets a call on his new cell phone from someone who calls himself Slater. Slater tells him he has three minutes to confess his sin to the world or his car will explode. He doesn't. It does. Kevin, who was smart enough to get out of the car before it blew, has to both figure out who Slater is and what the sin is that he's supposed to confess. Assuming the sin is from his childhood and he's somehow vlocked the memory of it, he calls his childhood friend Samantha Sheer, who comes to town to help him. Also aiding him is FBI agent Jennifer Peters, whose brother may have been Slater's last victim-- all the signs from slater's call and Kevin's car bomb point to this being the work of the same maniac. The question is, can the three of them solve the puzzle before Slater kills Kevin-- or all three of them?

Once the situation is laid out, you should have the Big Reveal in the back of your mind, and when Dekker goes exactly that way, there's probably going to be a bit of disappointment along with the self-satisfaction you'll feel for figuring it out early, but don't get too complacent-- Dekker still has some traps to spring, and the last few pages of the book blindsided me. I was very impressed at how well Dekker had set things up here, and as I intimated at the beginning of this review, the spiritual aspects of the work are there, but they're never jumping up and down on your spleen screaming “RECOGNIZE ME!”. Which, of course, always makes for a more pleasant reading experience. Dekker's characters are well-thought-out and well-presented, and the plotting here is pretty durned close to genius (I'm always reminded of the test mine two of the trainees put together in Robb White's Up Periscope that nails the sergeant when I come across plotting like this). What a pleasant surprise Thr3e was, and I'm looking forward to reading more of Mr. Dekker's work. ****
(less)

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Mar 06, 2009

Katie Herrin rated it:

(review of isbn 1595543414)

Read in September, 2008

This book was full of twist, turns, and plotting! Very entertaining and I wish Dr. Nate would hurry up and read it because i'm going to need it back by the end of this month!

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Nov 24, 2007

Sarah rated it:

(review of isbn 0849943728)

bookshelves: christian, fiction, mystery-suspense

Read in December, 2003

recommended to Sarah by: members of Mom's book club

Based on reading Thr3e, I'd say that Ted Dekker is an excellent storyteller, but not the greatest writer.

I couldn't put the book down when I was reading it because the story was so intense and gripping. I had to know what happened next... and "what happened next" totally blind-sided me. I never saw it coming. If you're looking for a great suspense/mystery/thriller story that's clean but not preachy, this one does it for the Christian and non-Christian alike.

How...more

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Sep 21, 2007

Jessica rated it:

(review of isbn 0849945127)

bookshelves: christianfiction, favorites, sci-fi

recommends it for: 16 And Up

READ THIS BOOK!!!
It was thrilling, amazing, edge-of-your-seat thriller!!!! I couldn't put it down, I read it till late at night, and then had trouble sleeping! :D
I can't tell much of the plot, for that would give the story away, but here's a brief bit from christianbook.com:

Imagine answering your cell phone to hear a stranger's voice issuing a chilling threat: You have three minutes to confess your sin, or he'll blow your car to smithereens. You pull over and flee just i...more

Like this review? yes (1 person liked it)

1 comment

Oct 13, 2007

Becky rated it:

(review of isbn 1595541837)

bookshelves: fiction-christian, my-favorites, mystery, to-read-again

Read in October, 2007

recommends it for: everyone (especially Christians) who like a real thriller

This is the scarriest, most suspenseful book I have EVER read! The author has a way of pulling you into the story, so you feel almost a part of it, and you simply can't put the book down! Not only is this an exremely exciting story (with the biggest surprise ending ever!), but it's also an excellent "commentary" on human nature. Granted, there are worldviews that most Reformed Christians won't agree with, and the story isn't entirely realistic, but other than that, it's an exremely goo...more

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Sep 30, 2007

Jesse Harris rated it:

(review of isbn 1595543414)

bookshelves: favorites

Read in January, 2005

I picked this book up because I liked the cover (at the time it was just white with the word Thr3e on it). (Yeah, I judged....) but as soon as I started reading it I was instantly hooked. It was incredibly suspenseful, but not scary. I was on a hunt after I finished for more by him, he is an AMAZING author. I found out later he was actually deemed a Christian book author, and yet I would have never known based on the books. They are not preachy or faith oriented at all, which is a good thing. Gi...more

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Feb 28, 2010

Matt Barker rated it:

(review of isbn 0849945127)

Read in May, 2007

This book was a great read that really keeps you guessing from the beginning right up to the end. Unfortunately (at least for me), I had a hard time believing the conclusion. Because of that, I give it a 7/10. Don't let that keep you from reading it, though, because you may like the ending.

Publisher's Summary

Imagine answering your cell phone one day to a male voice that gives you three minutes to confess your sin. If you don't, the madman, Slater, will blow your car to smithereens. You barely...more

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Dec 29, 2009

Shyla rated it:

(review of isbn 1595543414)

Read in January, 2008

This book was lent to me by a distant aquaintance and I had never read anything by this author and had no idea what to expect. I was pleastantly suprised to find that I really enjoyed this book from begininng to end. It begins with Kevin Pearson, a likable young man who becomes the target of a deadly game. He gets a phone call from a sinister stranger demanding to know what his sin is, when Kevin cannot recall what this person may percieve as his sin the stranger warns him his car will blow up i...more

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Oct 18, 2009

Colleen rated it:

(review of isbn 1595543414)

Read in October, 2009

I think it is almost funny that I am posting this book as my 2nd read book as it is not a "Colleen" book at all!!! A friend of mine gave me this book to read. She loved it. It took be awhile to get into it because it was scaring me a lot at the beginning as the main character was being stalked. I have this real problem with stalking. By the end, I was fine reading this book alone. I think as it went on it truly lost the fright factor.

I struggled with giving this book ...more

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Jul 16, 2009

Jeanette Cameron rated it:

(review of isbn 1595543414)

Read in July, 2009

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

Wow. What can I say? This book had me riveted. The storytelling was amazing, compelling. The characters were well fleshed out. The action was nonstop. I was imagining a movie playing out the entire time.

Basically, the story is about a man named Kevin Parsons who becomes the target of a demented, riddling tormenter--Slater. In all of the twists and turns, all law enforcement agencies are called into action.

Although I kept guessing what the next twist would be, I read too ...more

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May 05, 2009

Spenser rated it:

(review of isbn 1595543414)

Read in April, 2009

recommended to Spenser by: My friend, Dimitri Dhembe
recommends it for: Likers of Stephen King, Dean Koontz, James Patterson

Ted Dekker's Thr3e (Three) and honest review

If you have seen the movie Knowing and liked it, chances are you are going to like Ted Dekker's novel, Thr3e. Thr3e is about a man named Kevin Parson who seems to have somewhat of a twisted life. One day while driving home from college his phone starts to ring. "You have three minutes to confess your sin to the world" a voice says. (Note that the book was not named for the time Kevin had to confess his sin, it was named for a thin...more

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Mar 07, 2010

Laurie Armstrong rated it:

(review of isbn 0849943728)

bookshelves: suspense

Read in March, 2010

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Dec 18, 2008

Renita rated it:

(review of isbn 1595543414)

Read in December, 2008

This was my first time reading a Ted Dekker book. The only thing that I knew about Dekker was that he was a Christian Fiction author. However, once I started reading the book, I did feel that this book should have been in that genre. It seemed that Dekker just threw in some scriptures and put a school in there to make it seem like a christain fiction book. Another thing was this book was classified as a mystery but it should have been a thiller. However, the book started with a seminary stu...more

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Nov 25, 2008

Adele rated it:

(review of isbn 1595543414)

bookshelves: favorite, q22008

Read in December, 2008

This book is amasing. My boyfriend told me to read it along time ago and I finally picked it up over Thanksgiving break. I loved it. I read it in the car on our way to see family and tried to finish it as fast as I could just so i could talk to him about it and also so i could find out how it ended. Kevin Parson is a seminary student and the main character of the story. He recives a strange phone call, telling him that if he dosent tell his sin to the whole world then the car that he is driving...more

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Jan 12, 2010

Jose... rated it:

(review of isbn 1595543414)

Read in January, 2010

This is a great book about the life struggle between good and evil. Kevin Parson is a good stident in an university where the professor has a conversation with him of the good, bad and what is in between of both on a person. After leaving class, late at night, the lonely Kevin recieves a misterious ultimatum from an anonymous person calling himself Slater. The whole book is the telling of his life from his hidden past to his miracolous future. This book is a great suspence and scary book by Ted ...more

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Mar 01, 2009

Duckett rated it:

(review of isbn 1595543414)

Ted Dekker is an author I have loved to read in the past. However, his more recent works have left much to be desired. But in the case of Thr3e, I must say that this is one good book. One regrettable thing about Dekker is his characters are usually someone two-dimensional, and predictable. But let me tell you that (perhaps due to my own naivety) I did not see the end of this book coming. It deserves it's four stars, and stands alone as probably Dekker's best work to date. (The Circle Trilogy wou...more

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May 31, 2009

Heather Palmer added it (review of isbn 1595543414)

Read in May, 2007

A powerful novel of good, bad, and all that lies in between.

Imagine answering your cell phone to a mysterious voice that gives you three minutes to confess your sin. If you don't, he'll blow the car you're driving to bits and pieces.So begins a nightmare that grows with progressively higher stakes. There's another phone call, another riddle, another three minutes to confess your sin. The cycle will not stop until the world discovers the secret of your sin. You have one huge problem: ...more

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Dec 23, 2008

Samantha rated it:

(review of isbn 1595543414)

bookshelves: books-read-in-2008

Read in October, 2008

Enter a world where nothing is what it seems. Where your closest friend could be your greatest enemy. A powerful story of good, evil and all that lies between. This is like no other book I've ever read! While it wasn't as thrilling or interesting as BLINK, I still had a little trouble putting it down; mostly because I wanted to find out what was wrong with the main chracter ;) *A Thrilling Suspense* I did like this book but am only giving it 3.5 stars because it was also a little "wierd"...more

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Dec 13, 2009

Timothy rated it:

(review of isbn 1595543414)

bookshelves: my-library, read-reviewed-in-2009

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

Three, by Ted Dekker is a twisted roller coaster of a ride. This was my first experience with Dekker, and can I say that it was exhilarating. The book starts out with a young seminary student receiving a cell phone call telling him to confess his sins in three minutes, or the car that he is driving will blow up. This sets off a chain-reaction of events that lead to a surprising conclusion.

The book has strong points and weak points. The weak points are that the truth is a bit too obvi...more Three, by Ted Dekker is a twisted roller coaster of a ride. This was my first experience with Dekker, and can I say that it was exhilarating. The book starts out with a young seminary student receiving a cell phone call telling him to confess his sins in three minutes, or the car that he is driving will blow up. This sets off a chain-reaction of events that lead to a surprising conclusion.

The book has strong points and weak points. The weak points are that the truth is a bit too obvious from early on if the reader pays attention. Having the audience figure out the truth is great for a mystery novel, but not so much for a suspense novel that is supposed to expound deep theological concepts. The other weakness is that the plot does not flow well. The plot stalls in places, and picks up in others. At the end of the book, the plot goes into full "hyperdrive", as it were, to the story's resolution. Part of this can be justified by the necessities of the plot itself, but part of it really can not. If the pacing throughout the novel had been better, then the end would not have appeared to be so jarring.

But the strengths of the novel far outweigh it's weaknesses. The plot is interesting, and the novel pulls the reader into the world of the characters. The overall plot is good enough to make up for the poor pacing of the novel. The characters themselves are superbly written. Too many authors sacrifice characters for plot, or plot for characters. Dekker properly balances both. You are right there feeling what the protagonists and antagonists are feeling. Dekker makes the fear, joy, happiness, sorrow, and other emotions so real.

Another strength is the theological concepts discussed in the book. Few authors have the talent of a CS Lewis or JRR Tolkien to expound on theological truths within in a work and have this complement the work. While I would question whether anyone should put Mr. Dekker up there with these great men, he is one of the few modern authors that can accomplish this difficult blending of theology and good, fun story telling.

A brief warning that there are concepts of hatred, violence, murder, terrorism, child abuse, and psychological problems, in this book. This book should not be read by anyone who is not high school aged or older.

In the end, this book has some problems in predictability once you figure out the plot (early on in my case), and some issues with pacing. That would cause me to rate it 3 stars, but the rest of the plot manages to draw you in despite these issues, and the characterizations, and excellent combination of theology and good story telling more than make up for this. I look forward to reading more of Mr. Dekker's works, and I highly recommend this book.(less)

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