The newest spine-tingling release from Ted Dekker will delight long-time fans and newcomers to his work alike. It's definitely not for younger readers and, unless I knew the customer well, I wouldn't recommend the book to anyone under 18. The writing itself isn't graphic, but the storyline is and the spiritual issues are tackled in a rather veiled fashion, so a more immature mind might not be able to pick up on what the author was getting at.
The story begins at the newest crime scene left by a serial killer known to the authorities as The Bride Collector. Determined to deliver "God's Favorites" to God as brides without blemish in death, The Collector is on a mission to please his twisted view of God as a way to earn his own salvation. Brad Raines is the lead FBI agent on the case and is haunted by demons of his own from his past. He bears intense guilt over the death of his college girlfriend, whom he'd intended to marry. Despite the fact that she died over ten years earlier, he can't forgive himself and he can't let go. This experience taints every relationship and every experience he has, making his life less than fulfilling and more a quest for personal perfection.
As the Collector's quest continues, Brad, desperate for any hint of a clue that will help him solve the case and catch the killer, turns to a residential facility for the mentally gifted and disturbed, The Center for Wellness and Intelligence. The home is run specifically for those with significantly higher than average mental capability and who suffer from some form of mental disturbance (i.e. bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, etc). Raines presents the information from the case to a group of four of the Center's most gifted individuals in the hopes that they'll be able to find a pattern or clue in the mire of misinformation and lies that he's facing. One of the individuals is a gifted young woman named Paradise, who has various mental abilities, including the ability to "read" the last memories and/or experiences of the dead.
As the killer continues on his sick quest for redemption, Brad and Paradise are drawn inexorably closer to each other and to the killer himself.
The book, as with Dekker's others, is extremely suspenseful. Dekker walks a fine line when describing his killer and the crime scenes, but overall he manages to keep from getting too graphic. The story could be too intense for some though, so I would use caution when recommending it! I enjoyed it immensely though, and managed to get through it in two days. It's a real page-turner!!!
Reviewed by: Gretchen Schmidt