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BoneMan's Daughters
They call him BoneMan, a serial killer who's abducted six young women. He's the perfect father looking for the perfect daughter, and when his victims fail to meet his lofty expectations, he kills them by breaking their bones and leaving them to die.
Intelligence officer Ryan Evans, on the other hand, has lost all hope of ever being the perfect father. His daughter and wife have written him out of their lives.
Everything changes when BoneMan takes Ryan's estranged daughter, Bethany, as his seventh victim. Ryan goes after BoneMan on his own.
But the FBI sees it differently. New evidence points to the suspicion that Ryan is BoneMan. Now the hunter is the hunted, and in the end, only one father will stand.
Intelligence officer Ryan Evans, on the other hand, has lost all hope of ever being the perfect father. His daughter and wife have written him out of their lives.
Everything changes when BoneMan takes Ryan's estranged daughter, Bethany, as his seventh victim. Ryan goes after BoneMan on his own.
But the FBI sees it differently. New evidence points to the suspicion that Ryan is BoneMan. Now the hunter is the hunted, and in the end, only one father will stand.
404 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published April 1, 2009
416 people are currently reading
6002 people want to read
About the author
Ted Dekker
191 books9,991 followersTed Dekker is known for novels that combine adrenaline-laced stories with unexpected plot twists, unforgettable characters, and incredible confrontations between good and evil. Ted lives in Austin with his wife LeeAnn and their four children.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,220 reviews
April 21, 2023
Oh my. Where do I begin?
When I first came across this book, I read a review on the dust jacket claiming that Ted Dekker is a "true master of thrillers". This is what I needed to have the B-Jesus scared out of me! However, this so-called "thriller" was just wrong on so many levels.
To be fair, the early chapters about Ryan Evans in Iraq piqued my interest (hence, the 1-star rating), but after that, my interest fell apart. The most disturbing aspect of this book was how could a high-level military intelligence officer never be on his guard, especially when he knew the serial killer was nearby, and was a blubbering idiot throughout the story? His monotonous melodramatic ramblings were so annoying! Saying that the serial killer had the voice of an angel? Please!
It's also sad that I had absolutely no sympathy for any of the characters, especially Bethany. She was a spoiled brat!
The constant repetition of various views and phrases (e.g. "battering ram", sitting down and crossing legs, "Ford F-150 pickup truck", description and/or names of the serial killer) drove me crazy!
Also, the bad grammar and various inconsistencies were so frustrating! For example, if Alvin had previously entered Bethany's house secretly to know the layout, why does he have to cut a hole in the window to enter a glass door when he kidnaps her? How could Ryan grab Alvin by the shirt and trousers when Alvin was shirtless? Also, is it physically possible for a weak-from-hunger sixteen-year old girl to swing a sledgehammer overhead while standing on a stool when the fingers of one of her hands were broken?
And the lame ending and the references to the serial killer constantly applying lotion? Come on! The book is so not even close to the The Silence of the Lambs!
So NOT recommending this book! And I'm definitely not reading any more Ted Dekker books!
When I first came across this book, I read a review on the dust jacket claiming that Ted Dekker is a "true master of thrillers". This is what I needed to have the B-Jesus scared out of me! However, this so-called "thriller" was just wrong on so many levels.
To be fair, the early chapters about Ryan Evans in Iraq piqued my interest (hence, the 1-star rating), but after that, my interest fell apart. The most disturbing aspect of this book was how could a high-level military intelligence officer never be on his guard, especially when he knew the serial killer was nearby, and was a blubbering idiot throughout the story? His monotonous melodramatic ramblings were so annoying! Saying that the serial killer had the voice of an angel? Please!
It's also sad that I had absolutely no sympathy for any of the characters, especially Bethany. She was a spoiled brat!
The constant repetition of various views and phrases (e.g. "battering ram", sitting down and crossing legs, "Ford F-150 pickup truck", description and/or names of the serial killer) drove me crazy!
Also, the bad grammar and various inconsistencies were so frustrating! For example, if Alvin had previously entered Bethany's house secretly to know the layout, why does he have to cut a hole in the window to enter a glass door when he kidnaps her? How could Ryan grab Alvin by the shirt and trousers when Alvin was shirtless? Also, is it physically possible for a weak-from-hunger sixteen-year old girl to swing a sledgehammer overhead while standing on a stool when the fingers of one of her hands were broken?
And the lame ending and the references to the serial killer constantly applying lotion? Come on! The book is so not even close to the The Silence of the Lambs!
So NOT recommending this book! And I'm definitely not reading any more Ted Dekker books!
April 13, 2013
All I can say is WOW! I knew when I decided to read this book, that I would be hooked, that the story would be intense and unforgettable. And reading it proved those theories to be correct.
I did not want the book to end, but at the same time I wanted justice to be served. I felt as though I could not turn the pages fast enough. A psychological thriller that definitely keeps the heart pumping with some pretty vivid scenes not to be easily forgotten.
Even though I am a Mom and not a Dad, I could feel what the main character was feeling as a father. Perhaps I could feel it through the eyes of my own father, or simply because I am a parent. I feel like Ryan is one of Dekker's best developed characters. You could feel yourself easily become him, filled with such raw emotion whether you are male or female. You can feel all the torment this man felt through the course of the story. And at the same time many lessons can also be learned in our own lives.
Any Dekker fan can appreciate this story. It is an amazing tale of strength, grace, forgiveness and above all else love and acceptance. If you are already a father, then you can also appreciate the lengths that a father would go through to save their child. This story is so very deserving of the 5 stars I am giving it. I highly recommend this story to anyone.
I did not want the book to end, but at the same time I wanted justice to be served. I felt as though I could not turn the pages fast enough. A psychological thriller that definitely keeps the heart pumping with some pretty vivid scenes not to be easily forgotten.
Even though I am a Mom and not a Dad, I could feel what the main character was feeling as a father. Perhaps I could feel it through the eyes of my own father, or simply because I am a parent. I feel like Ryan is one of Dekker's best developed characters. You could feel yourself easily become him, filled with such raw emotion whether you are male or female. You can feel all the torment this man felt through the course of the story. And at the same time many lessons can also be learned in our own lives.
Any Dekker fan can appreciate this story. It is an amazing tale of strength, grace, forgiveness and above all else love and acceptance. If you are already a father, then you can also appreciate the lengths that a father would go through to save their child. This story is so very deserving of the 5 stars I am giving it. I highly recommend this story to anyone.
May 31, 2010
There were two things that frustrated me about this book- nay three things which tortured me through all 400 pages. The first was a weak story line, which, although at first was intriguing with the Navy Intel officer protagonist, fell short with cliche attempts at suspense and suffocated the reader with soap-operatic drama of disfunctional family dynamics. The second was a constant sense of wanting more... more suspense, more mystery, and of course more thrills from an antagonist who Dekker never allowed to reach his potential. The third was the fact that I was not able to put the book down, in desperate hope (much like that which was nobly maintained by Captain Ryan) that my first two complaints would be resolved somewhere within the next few pages.
It was my first Dekker, and I must say that I expected more from this sultan of supermarket paperbacks. Sloppy writing with gaps galore. At the very beginning: was it Commander Ryan (as he was introduced) or Captain Ryan (as he was later addressed)? The reader is forced to assume that Ryan was given a promotion after his abduction, imprisonment, and rescue, but only that tiny fraction of his audience with a decent understanding of military rank structure would get this. At the very end, was Alvin indeed shirtless (as described... having recently applied lotion)? If so, how did Ryan grab him by his trousers and shirt to slam him against the wall? The middle was riddled with plenty of other such inconsistencies indicative of poor editing and careless rush to print.
The reader clearly sees Dekker's desire to autograph his novels with his own family experiences and emotion, but in doing so he effectively takes the thrills out of the thriller and turns it into a somewhat spooky, not too suspenseful, quirky melodrama.
It was my first Dekker, and I must say that I expected more from this sultan of supermarket paperbacks. Sloppy writing with gaps galore. At the very beginning: was it Commander Ryan (as he was introduced) or Captain Ryan (as he was later addressed)? The reader is forced to assume that Ryan was given a promotion after his abduction, imprisonment, and rescue, but only that tiny fraction of his audience with a decent understanding of military rank structure would get this. At the very end, was Alvin indeed shirtless (as described... having recently applied lotion)? If so, how did Ryan grab him by his trousers and shirt to slam him against the wall? The middle was riddled with plenty of other such inconsistencies indicative of poor editing and careless rush to print.
The reader clearly sees Dekker's desire to autograph his novels with his own family experiences and emotion, but in doing so he effectively takes the thrills out of the thriller and turns it into a somewhat spooky, not too suspenseful, quirky melodrama.
October 28, 2010
30 minutes after putting this book down, half-way through, I'm still annoyed. Badly written books don't bother me as much as well-written books that have preposterous plots, sloppy characters, and predictable or illogical plot devices. IMO, this book suffered from all of these flaws.
I enjoyed the chapters that took place in Iraq. The quality of the writing was readily evident and I felt the horror of the situation. I'll admit the end game of the torture seemed illogical to me, but what do I know about interrogations, intelligence, or torture?
However, the book took a nose-dive when the action returned to Texas. The serial killer is a caricature (who actually "puts the lotion on the skin"), the arrogant DA struts like a peacock, the bitchy mom is too whorish and self-centered, the daughter too "angsty," the Intelligence agent is shockingly stupid at times (no Jason Bourne that one). The most subtly drawn character was left behind in Iraq.
The other problem is the entire legal framework for the Boneman case. Convicted murderers are not exonerated because a judge on appeal had second thoughts about a single piece of evidence. Hell, even an inmate in Texas whose DNA doesn't match a rape kit, i.e. was conclusively excluded as a suspect through DNA testing, can struggle for years to be released from prison. And don't even get me started on the silliness surrounding an ex parte restraining order signed by a DA, who is personally involved, that somehow legally bars a man from having any contact with his teenage daughter, for months apparently. Being an attorney in Texas, this I know. Was Mr. Dekker under a deadline, was his editor locked up somewhere in the mountains Misery style, or did he simply not give a squat? Who knows? Maybe the guy in Iraq?
After the "frame-up" that anyone can see coming from a mile away (and the busted voice recorder, convenient trip to San Antonio that deprives the main character of any alibi, blah, blah, blah), I called "uncle" and hit delete on my e-reader.
I gave the book 2 stars rather than 1 star because maybe the ending redeemed the sorry excuse for a plot. I couldn't stick it out. It was like someone was breaking my bones with a sledge-hammer.
I enjoyed the chapters that took place in Iraq. The quality of the writing was readily evident and I felt the horror of the situation. I'll admit the end game of the torture seemed illogical to me, but what do I know about interrogations, intelligence, or torture?
However, the book took a nose-dive when the action returned to Texas. The serial killer is a caricature (who actually "puts the lotion on the skin"), the arrogant DA struts like a peacock, the bitchy mom is too whorish and self-centered, the daughter too "angsty," the Intelligence agent is shockingly stupid at times (no Jason Bourne that one). The most subtly drawn character was left behind in Iraq.
The other problem is the entire legal framework for the Boneman case. Convicted murderers are not exonerated because a judge on appeal had second thoughts about a single piece of evidence. Hell, even an inmate in Texas whose DNA doesn't match a rape kit, i.e. was conclusively excluded as a suspect through DNA testing, can struggle for years to be released from prison. And don't even get me started on the silliness surrounding an ex parte restraining order signed by a DA, who is personally involved, that somehow legally bars a man from having any contact with his teenage daughter, for months apparently. Being an attorney in Texas, this I know. Was Mr. Dekker under a deadline, was his editor locked up somewhere in the mountains Misery style, or did he simply not give a squat? Who knows? Maybe the guy in Iraq?
After the "frame-up" that anyone can see coming from a mile away (and the busted voice recorder, convenient trip to San Antonio that deprives the main character of any alibi, blah, blah, blah), I called "uncle" and hit delete on my e-reader.
I gave the book 2 stars rather than 1 star because maybe the ending redeemed the sorry excuse for a plot. I couldn't stick it out. It was like someone was breaking my bones with a sledge-hammer.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 8, 2024
Ted Dekker has apparently made a name for himself in the suspense thriller genre, but "BoneMan's Daughters" is the first one I have ever read.
Dekker started his writing career by writing Christian horror fiction (an honest-to-goodness genre, I swear) and, while his more recent novels as exemplified by this one have toned down somewhat on the proselytizing, there are still very strong Christian and faith-based themes running throughout.
"BoneMan's Daughters" is about a man named Ryan Evans, a Marine and a bad father. While on a tour in Iraq, Evans is abducted by insurgents and is forced to watch acts of atrocity against children. He escapes, but the experience has understandably left him traumatized.
He is sent home, only to find that his wife has left him for another man, and his daughter could care less about him. Meanwhile, a serial killer named BoneMan has decided to come out of a 2-year silence (the same amount of time that another man whom the FBI thought was BoneMan has been serving in federal prison), which has created a nightmare fiasco for the agents, district attorney, and judge who put the wrong man away.
Strangely enough, new evidence seems to point directly to Evans. When the real BoneMan kidnaps Evans's daughter, his love is put to the test: how far is he, as a father, willing to go to save his child? Is he willing to commit evil himself?
Very fascinating moral dilemmas in this book, and Dekker does an excellent job of building suspense and terror without being extremely graphic. (I personally wouldn't have minded more blood and guts myself, but that's just me...)
Dekker's writing is in the same camp as Dean Koontz, Nelson Demille, or James Patterson (if Patterson was actually a somewhat decent writer and actually wrote his novels rather than having a bunch of ghostwriters stick his name on their books).
Dekker started his writing career by writing Christian horror fiction (an honest-to-goodness genre, I swear) and, while his more recent novels as exemplified by this one have toned down somewhat on the proselytizing, there are still very strong Christian and faith-based themes running throughout.
"BoneMan's Daughters" is about a man named Ryan Evans, a Marine and a bad father. While on a tour in Iraq, Evans is abducted by insurgents and is forced to watch acts of atrocity against children. He escapes, but the experience has understandably left him traumatized.
He is sent home, only to find that his wife has left him for another man, and his daughter could care less about him. Meanwhile, a serial killer named BoneMan has decided to come out of a 2-year silence (the same amount of time that another man whom the FBI thought was BoneMan has been serving in federal prison), which has created a nightmare fiasco for the agents, district attorney, and judge who put the wrong man away.
Strangely enough, new evidence seems to point directly to Evans. When the real BoneMan kidnaps Evans's daughter, his love is put to the test: how far is he, as a father, willing to go to save his child? Is he willing to commit evil himself?
Very fascinating moral dilemmas in this book, and Dekker does an excellent job of building suspense and terror without being extremely graphic. (I personally wouldn't have minded more blood and guts myself, but that's just me...)
Dekker's writing is in the same camp as Dean Koontz, Nelson Demille, or James Patterson (if Patterson was actually a somewhat decent writer and actually wrote his novels rather than having a bunch of ghostwriters stick his name on their books).
April 25, 2011
Original post at One More Page
He is called BoneMan and he is a father in search for a perfect daughter. He takes innocent teen girls and tries to make them love him and when they fail to be the daughter he wants, he breaks their bones without breaking their skin. On the other side of the world, Ryan Evans thinks of himself as a failure of a father -- after an especially harrowing abduction in the Middle East, Ryan comes home only to find that his wife and daughter had written him out of their lives. Then the BoneMan abducts his daughter, Bethany, and Ryan goes after him. Instead of helping him, though, the FBI finds evidence that points to Ryan as the BoneMan, and he becomes a hunted man. Desperate, Ryan Evans set out to go through hell just to save his daughter.
I've been a fan of Ted Dekker since I read Thr3e , which I think is also one of the first books I reviewed on my old blog. I liked the fact that he wrote Christian suspense and back then, I was having a hard time looking for books with the same themes. I meant to read more of his books but he writes and comes out with new books faster than I can get my hands on them and read them. I've had BoneMan's Daughters for a while now but I never got around to reading it. I'm not sure why, maybe it's because I was concentrating more on YA and chick lit instead of suspense. I did kind of look forward to reading this, thinking that it would be nice to go back to Dekker's world.
True to form, BoneMan's Daughters has everything that Dekker offers in his other books. Not that it's repetitive, but it's exactly what you'd expect in a Dekker book. There's the psycho serial killer whose point of view we get a glimpse of every now and then, the father who would do everything to save his daughter, and the police who are willing to help but don't really know what to do. In a way, it's almost like reading a CSI episode -- I can easily imagine Mac Taylor/Gary Sinise as Ryan Evans. Dekker is also still very descriptive, but not too much that it gets gross -- just a tad disturbing, enough to make you look over your shoulder or wonder at the things that bump at night, or develop an aversion to Noxzema, in the case of BoneMan's Daughters . It's still very well-written and you know in the end that the good guys will still prevail.
That being said, however, I felt that this wasn't really at par with the other Dekker novels I've read. I thought some parts were a bit repetitive and I wanted to skim some parts that felt a little unimportant to me. The ending wasn't as satisfying as I thought it would be, either -- and I felt that there wasn't much change in the characters as there should be. The Christian concept wasn't fully explored, too, IMHO, and you'd need to read the author's afterword to know why he wrote the novel (that story, I loved). As good as the details were done in the emotional and brutal scenes, the overall story kind of lacked. In the end, I was just happy I finished reading it, not because it was such a good story.
I'm kind of sad that this latest Dekker read is kind of disappointing compared to his other books that I really liked. I will still read his other books, of course, and I'm hoping one of them will be as good (or even better) as Thr3e or the Circle series.
He is called BoneMan and he is a father in search for a perfect daughter. He takes innocent teen girls and tries to make them love him and when they fail to be the daughter he wants, he breaks their bones without breaking their skin. On the other side of the world, Ryan Evans thinks of himself as a failure of a father -- after an especially harrowing abduction in the Middle East, Ryan comes home only to find that his wife and daughter had written him out of their lives. Then the BoneMan abducts his daughter, Bethany, and Ryan goes after him. Instead of helping him, though, the FBI finds evidence that points to Ryan as the BoneMan, and he becomes a hunted man. Desperate, Ryan Evans set out to go through hell just to save his daughter.
I've been a fan of Ted Dekker since I read Thr3e , which I think is also one of the first books I reviewed on my old blog. I liked the fact that he wrote Christian suspense and back then, I was having a hard time looking for books with the same themes. I meant to read more of his books but he writes and comes out with new books faster than I can get my hands on them and read them. I've had BoneMan's Daughters for a while now but I never got around to reading it. I'm not sure why, maybe it's because I was concentrating more on YA and chick lit instead of suspense. I did kind of look forward to reading this, thinking that it would be nice to go back to Dekker's world.
True to form, BoneMan's Daughters has everything that Dekker offers in his other books. Not that it's repetitive, but it's exactly what you'd expect in a Dekker book. There's the psycho serial killer whose point of view we get a glimpse of every now and then, the father who would do everything to save his daughter, and the police who are willing to help but don't really know what to do. In a way, it's almost like reading a CSI episode -- I can easily imagine Mac Taylor/Gary Sinise as Ryan Evans. Dekker is also still very descriptive, but not too much that it gets gross -- just a tad disturbing, enough to make you look over your shoulder or wonder at the things that bump at night, or develop an aversion to Noxzema, in the case of BoneMan's Daughters . It's still very well-written and you know in the end that the good guys will still prevail.
That being said, however, I felt that this wasn't really at par with the other Dekker novels I've read. I thought some parts were a bit repetitive and I wanted to skim some parts that felt a little unimportant to me. The ending wasn't as satisfying as I thought it would be, either -- and I felt that there wasn't much change in the characters as there should be. The Christian concept wasn't fully explored, too, IMHO, and you'd need to read the author's afterword to know why he wrote the novel (that story, I loved). As good as the details were done in the emotional and brutal scenes, the overall story kind of lacked. In the end, I was just happy I finished reading it, not because it was such a good story.
I'm kind of sad that this latest Dekker read is kind of disappointing compared to his other books that I really liked. I will still read his other books, of course, and I'm hoping one of them will be as good (or even better) as Thr3e or the Circle series.
December 7, 2009
It is possible that I am disappointed in it because of the genre confusion. It is, as it turns out, more of a crime/detective novel… something like Coben, but not nearly as good. There is nothing like wetting your whistle for a tall glass of icy sweet tea, only to guzzle down lukewarm pickle juice instead. So the fact I was geared up for some Clive and got Coben-knock-off didn’t help. But… that wasn’t all.
As I read along, there were ways that Dekker wrote than just annoyed me. Choices in words and phrases, as well as the way he stretched credulity beyond its snapping point. By the end of the novel, I honestly didn’t know if the bad guy was going to win, not because his snazzy and clever writing, but because “Hell, at this point, anything’s possible.” Honestly. The Iraqi boneman takes Ryan, then the Texas BoneMan takes his daughter… and then that final connection between the serial killer and Ryan’s daughter was too much. It made my “willing suspension of disbelief” impossible to maintain.
Add to that the complete lack of character development, or believable motives, or any reason I’d feel any sympathy for any of them. By the end of the book I was hoping BoneMan would kill Ryan, the detectives, the publisher, me… Dekker, even. Just get it over with! End my misery! Kill me now so I don’t have to finish!
As I read along, there were ways that Dekker wrote than just annoyed me. Choices in words and phrases, as well as the way he stretched credulity beyond its snapping point. By the end of the novel, I honestly didn’t know if the bad guy was going to win, not because his snazzy and clever writing, but because “Hell, at this point, anything’s possible.” Honestly. The Iraqi boneman takes Ryan, then the Texas BoneMan takes his daughter… and then that final connection between the serial killer and Ryan’s daughter was too much. It made my “willing suspension of disbelief” impossible to maintain.
Add to that the complete lack of character development, or believable motives, or any reason I’d feel any sympathy for any of them. By the end of the book I was hoping BoneMan would kill Ryan, the detectives, the publisher, me… Dekker, even. Just get it over with! End my misery! Kill me now so I don’t have to finish!
July 16, 2015
Because ... apparently I'm in the mood to scare myself sleepless for a week.
Why not?
Why not?
January 31, 2013
This book is far removed from being even average 'serial killer' fayre and it is a mystery as to what the author's motives were in writing it - over and above, of course, making a few bob. It begins interestingly enough with a naval intelligence officer on a routine mission in, supposedly, Iraq, being kidnapped by terrorists. He then has to watch innocent children having every bone in their bodies broken in revenge for the deaths of the innocent Iraqi children caught up in the conflict. It's all downhill from that point on.
Much is made of the cool calculating, highly trained Commander Evan's experience and skills and we are given a brief biography in which we learn that his service to his country has left him distanced from a wife and daughter making lives from themslves back home: lives that include, in the mother's case, sleeping with the local DA and, in the daughter's, beginning a modelling career. His traumatic experience causes him to reassess his life and Evans returns home with the intention of being reunited with his family and making up for all of the lost time. However, both his wife and daughter have other ideas and the gradual realization that he may have lost them, together with his recent experience in the Iraqi desert cause Evans to suffer an emotional breakdown.
Coincidentally, a serial killer christened the 'Boneman' by the press, who has been released due to a technicality concerning evidence presented at his trial, resumes his killing spree in Austin, Texas, home of Ryan's estranged family! I won't spell it out but you can probably guess what happens next! Okay, realistically, Evan's breakdown is understandable and we can accept that. What is not acceptable - it is fiction and supposed to be entertainment after all - is that this supposed cool, highly trained and skilled military man turns out to be a complete bumbling incompetent in the face of real and present danger.
Ultimately, the interweaving of the lives of each of the characters is carried out so mechanically and the characters drawn with such a lack of skill that the reader is without anyone with whom to empathize and this reader, at least, was hoping for the killer to succeed in polishing them all off in order to put them and me out of our misery!
When, mercifully, I came to the end I could barely restrain the urge to physically destroy the book but reasoned that, at least, the local charity shop might benefit from this utter garbage.
Much is made of the cool calculating, highly trained Commander Evan's experience and skills and we are given a brief biography in which we learn that his service to his country has left him distanced from a wife and daughter making lives from themslves back home: lives that include, in the mother's case, sleeping with the local DA and, in the daughter's, beginning a modelling career. His traumatic experience causes him to reassess his life and Evans returns home with the intention of being reunited with his family and making up for all of the lost time. However, both his wife and daughter have other ideas and the gradual realization that he may have lost them, together with his recent experience in the Iraqi desert cause Evans to suffer an emotional breakdown.
Coincidentally, a serial killer christened the 'Boneman' by the press, who has been released due to a technicality concerning evidence presented at his trial, resumes his killing spree in Austin, Texas, home of Ryan's estranged family! I won't spell it out but you can probably guess what happens next! Okay, realistically, Evan's breakdown is understandable and we can accept that. What is not acceptable - it is fiction and supposed to be entertainment after all - is that this supposed cool, highly trained and skilled military man turns out to be a complete bumbling incompetent in the face of real and present danger.
Ultimately, the interweaving of the lives of each of the characters is carried out so mechanically and the characters drawn with such a lack of skill that the reader is without anyone with whom to empathize and this reader, at least, was hoping for the killer to succeed in polishing them all off in order to put them and me out of our misery!
When, mercifully, I came to the end I could barely restrain the urge to physically destroy the book but reasoned that, at least, the local charity shop might benefit from this utter garbage.
June 23, 2009
This book was classified mystery, but after reading it, I think it should definitely be in Christian Fiction. I felt as that the story had very little merit on its own. If you took out the excessive religious posturing and the anti-war propoganda, the story itself of BoneMan wouldn't have legs to stand on. The story was very weak.
I've heard really good things about Ted Dekker, but this book just fell flat on all points. Our hero isn't really a hero. He's a father that wanted nothing to do with his family until he was taken in the desert. He lives by the belief that one is automatically forgiven when an apology is given. When that turned out not to be true, he sulked and he cried a lot.
Bethany's turnaround in the end just came out of nowhere. Until that very moment, she hated him, now it's "I love you, I love you, I love you." The realism in her story was lost. She was abandoned by her father and left to be raised by a selfish woman filled with hatred for her father. Yes, she's going to hate him because that's what she was taught to do. That doesn't just disappear, especially when she's not aware at that time that her mother is dead. Also, the music that she listened to was a big jumbled mess. One chapter she's singing along to a song about making love all night, the next she's listening to Christian rock? And, a reader should not have to Google every single band that's brought up. I still don't know who Brianna is because when I put the lyrics in Google, I couldn't find that song, and when I put Brianna in, I mostly came up with a pre-teen girl that I don't buy Bethany would listen to.
I felt cheated by the escape scene and most of the torture scenes. I like books that show, not tell, and with everything, I was told and not shown. The torture and the escape would have had more bite if Dekker had actually shown it. Experiencing all of this with Ryan would have made it easier for me to accept and understand the massive amount of crying that he did. With being told what happened, I found myself often rolling my eyes and muttering, "Again? You're crying again, really?"
BoneMan was just filled with problems. First of all, a little consistency would have been nice. Is it BoneMan? Is it The BoneMan? Pick one. Second, his motives as a serial killer clashed with the religious platform of the book. We were put into BoneMan's head. We were shown what he thinks and why he's done the things that he's done. The only reference to religion was his insistence that he was Satan. He never actually gave us a reason why this was all some kind of big religious thing as opposed to just being your run of the mill serial killer. The religious reasons were speculated on by Hortense, but other than that... Nope. He just hated his mother and he wanted a daughter. That leads us to another problem, though. He only found out that Bethany was really his daughter a month before he took her, so WHY did he want a daughter? Why did he want a daughter so badly that he killed those other girls before he even knew that he'd actually had a daughter before? And how did he even know, from the picture and the words on the back of it, that Bethany was his daughter? BoneMan was a horribly weak villain. And the repetition! There were two things, nay three. I got really tired of reading that.
This book was just one big ball of jumbled mess. There was rarely any flow. The antagonists were over the top in their malevolence, and a lot of the story just didn't make any sense. I felt like I was reading a book by someone who didn't care anymore, like I was reading someone who was now writing for the paycheck, or because he had to, instead of because he wanted to. I felt like he had no emotional connection with the story and he was just putting words to paper. If I pick up another Dekker book, it would definitely be one of his older ones. It would be interesting to see how his writing and passion for the art has changed over the years.
I've heard really good things about Ted Dekker, but this book just fell flat on all points. Our hero isn't really a hero. He's a father that wanted nothing to do with his family until he was taken in the desert. He lives by the belief that one is automatically forgiven when an apology is given. When that turned out not to be true, he sulked and he cried a lot.
Bethany's turnaround in the end just came out of nowhere. Until that very moment, she hated him, now it's "I love you, I love you, I love you." The realism in her story was lost. She was abandoned by her father and left to be raised by a selfish woman filled with hatred for her father. Yes, she's going to hate him because that's what she was taught to do. That doesn't just disappear, especially when she's not aware at that time that her mother is dead. Also, the music that she listened to was a big jumbled mess. One chapter she's singing along to a song about making love all night, the next she's listening to Christian rock? And, a reader should not have to Google every single band that's brought up. I still don't know who Brianna is because when I put the lyrics in Google, I couldn't find that song, and when I put Brianna in, I mostly came up with a pre-teen girl that I don't buy Bethany would listen to.
I felt cheated by the escape scene and most of the torture scenes. I like books that show, not tell, and with everything, I was told and not shown. The torture and the escape would have had more bite if Dekker had actually shown it. Experiencing all of this with Ryan would have made it easier for me to accept and understand the massive amount of crying that he did. With being told what happened, I found myself often rolling my eyes and muttering, "Again? You're crying again, really?"
BoneMan was just filled with problems. First of all, a little consistency would have been nice. Is it BoneMan? Is it The BoneMan? Pick one. Second, his motives as a serial killer clashed with the religious platform of the book. We were put into BoneMan's head. We were shown what he thinks and why he's done the things that he's done. The only reference to religion was his insistence that he was Satan. He never actually gave us a reason why this was all some kind of big religious thing as opposed to just being your run of the mill serial killer. The religious reasons were speculated on by Hortense, but other than that... Nope. He just hated his mother and he wanted a daughter. That leads us to another problem, though. He only found out that Bethany was really his daughter a month before he took her, so WHY did he want a daughter? Why did he want a daughter so badly that he killed those other girls before he even knew that he'd actually had a daughter before? And how did he even know, from the picture and the words on the back of it, that Bethany was his daughter? BoneMan was a horribly weak villain. And the repetition! There were two things, nay three. I got really tired of reading that.
This book was just one big ball of jumbled mess. There was rarely any flow. The antagonists were over the top in their malevolence, and a lot of the story just didn't make any sense. I felt like I was reading a book by someone who didn't care anymore, like I was reading someone who was now writing for the paycheck, or because he had to, instead of because he wanted to. I felt like he had no emotional connection with the story and he was just putting words to paper. If I pick up another Dekker book, it would definitely be one of his older ones. It would be interesting to see how his writing and passion for the art has changed over the years.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 11, 2009
I had never read a Ted Dekker book before - I picked this one up off of the "hot list" stack at the library. Sorry to say it, but I most likely won't be picking up another.
The book has what should be a very captivating beginning - torpedoes being launched at Humvees, a solider being captured by a terrorist. But it just wasn't all that interesting in the way it was written. Scenes went by too quickly - you felt that the author was in a hurry to get to something else but had to explain the background so he dumped this in.
On to the middle of the book. Long story short, the main character was the soldier captured by the terrorist, and while in captivity he realizes he hasn't been a very good father or husband, and is determined to do better - however he is not welcomed back with open arms. This leads to a mind-blowing number of words dedicated to expressing the father's grief at losing what he really never had - his daughter's love. And the sudden switch from calm, cool analyst to weepy, emotionally overdone flake of a man is just too much for me. He seems like a crazy person, and if I were his daughter, I wouldn't want him back, either.
Then you come to the end. It's abrupt, like a fragmented sentence. And what should have been the escalation to the end is just plain creepy and confusing.
Some of the writing was actually good, and kept my attention, but more often that not sections of it felt rushed to me. Hopefully Dekker can up his game to win more readership, but it would take some awfully good reviews for me to pick up another of his books.
The book has what should be a very captivating beginning - torpedoes being launched at Humvees, a solider being captured by a terrorist. But it just wasn't all that interesting in the way it was written. Scenes went by too quickly - you felt that the author was in a hurry to get to something else but had to explain the background so he dumped this in.
On to the middle of the book. Long story short, the main character was the soldier captured by the terrorist, and while in captivity he realizes he hasn't been a very good father or husband, and is determined to do better - however he is not welcomed back with open arms. This leads to a mind-blowing number of words dedicated to expressing the father's grief at losing what he really never had - his daughter's love. And the sudden switch from calm, cool analyst to weepy, emotionally overdone flake of a man is just too much for me. He seems like a crazy person, and if I were his daughter, I wouldn't want him back, either.
Then you come to the end. It's abrupt, like a fragmented sentence. And what should have been the escalation to the end is just plain creepy and confusing.
Some of the writing was actually good, and kept my attention, but more often that not sections of it felt rushed to me. Hopefully Dekker can up his game to win more readership, but it would take some awfully good reviews for me to pick up another of his books.
October 9, 2024
This book was written really well and kept me guessing a lot. It is my first time reading a Ted Dekker book and I am pleased by the experience. I picked this for a spooky season read not really knowing what it was about but it wasn’t scary, it was more of a psychological thriller I guess. No matter really. I enjoyed it.
June 14, 2015
Picked this up on a whim because I was in the mood for an intense thriller. I got that in spades in "BoneMan's Daughters." There is quite a bit of backstory building, but all of it became important, like piecing a puzzle together. Most of the story is set in and around Austin, Texas (2009/10); although, the beginning is in Iraq. How what happened in Iraq fell into place with what happened in the Austin, Texas area was great story weaving, imo.
The main character is Captain Ryan Evans, a Naval Intelligence officer, and while his role as hero and broken soldier-father-human went all over the emotional spectrum I couldn't help but feel his pain. I felt there was an underlying theme in the telling: family comes first.
Having said that, at times I grew so annoyed with Ryan's character. I expected (hoped!) things would have turned out "differently" leaving me feeling good having read the book, but that was not the case. I was glued to the book, but grew frustrated numerous times with how the tale spun.
Ryan didn't like his wife, Celine, so he devoted himself to his career spending long periods of time away from home. They'd grown apart. Celine and their daughter, Bethany, hated him for his abandonment. What caused him to retreat home was horrendous, but he was a fool to think after 16 years of aloofness and utter disregard, they would actually welcome him with open arms because he was ready and "realized" his mistake. Grrr
The BoneMan character was horrific. Gruesome scenes, including rather detailed info on how to break all/most bones in a human without tearing the skin. The author never told how BoneMan came about this knowledge, so that remained a mystery.
About halfway through the book, the author began recapping earlier events and I find that very annoying having just read those pages. Perhaps that is useful for some who read a book over an extended period of time....
4 1/2 stars
The main character is Captain Ryan Evans, a Naval Intelligence officer, and while his role as hero and broken soldier-father-human went all over the emotional spectrum I couldn't help but feel his pain. I felt there was an underlying theme in the telling: family comes first.
Having said that, at times I grew so annoyed with Ryan's character. I expected (hoped!) things would have turned out "differently" leaving me feeling good having read the book, but that was not the case. I was glued to the book, but grew frustrated numerous times with how the tale spun.
Ryan didn't like his wife, Celine, so he devoted himself to his career spending long periods of time away from home. They'd grown apart. Celine and their daughter, Bethany, hated him for his abandonment. What caused him to retreat home was horrendous, but he was a fool to think after 16 years of aloofness and utter disregard, they would actually welcome him with open arms because he was ready and "realized" his mistake. Grrr
The BoneMan character was horrific. Gruesome scenes, including rather detailed info on how to break all/most bones in a human without tearing the skin. The author never told how BoneMan came about this knowledge, so that remained a mystery.
About halfway through the book, the author began recapping earlier events and I find that very annoying having just read those pages. Perhaps that is useful for some who read a book over an extended period of time....
4 1/2 stars
June 15, 2009
This book just really seemed to go all over the place, with no real direction.
** Major spoilers **
I see that he was trying to show a hardened military-type guy who had 'broken' and was no longer able to keep up that persona. But all the crying was really annoying. The 'Kahlid' Boneman thing seemed sort-of tacked on, not realistic at all.
Bethany was a spoiled brat, and all Ryan talked about was spoiling her more..giving her anything she wanted.
The serial killer was bland. I also didn't understand why Celine kept saying that Ryan broke her finger, when apparently it was the Boneman, and that was never really discussed after the fact. Ryan was never like, "What are you talking about? I didn't break your finger? Are you insane?" which is the reasonable response. Yes, he did deny time and again that he wasn't the boneman...but still.
Maybe I'm missing something, but the whole Boneman is Bethany's real dad just doesn't add up at all. Major plot holes there... LIke, how would he KNOW where she was 16 years later?? maybe I skipped that paragraph.
Dekker is amazingly popular, and I like that his books are so "Bang, The Story Starts From The Moment You Start Reading."
** Major spoilers **
I see that he was trying to show a hardened military-type guy who had 'broken' and was no longer able to keep up that persona. But all the crying was really annoying. The 'Kahlid' Boneman thing seemed sort-of tacked on, not realistic at all.
Bethany was a spoiled brat, and all Ryan talked about was spoiling her more..giving her anything she wanted.
The serial killer was bland. I also didn't understand why Celine kept saying that Ryan broke her finger, when apparently it was the Boneman, and that was never really discussed after the fact. Ryan was never like, "What are you talking about? I didn't break your finger? Are you insane?" which is the reasonable response. Yes, he did deny time and again that he wasn't the boneman...but still.
Maybe I'm missing something, but the whole Boneman is Bethany's real dad just doesn't add up at all. Major plot holes there... LIke, how would he KNOW where she was 16 years later?? maybe I skipped that paragraph.
Dekker is amazingly popular, and I like that his books are so "Bang, The Story Starts From The Moment You Start Reading."
April 13, 2020
I might lean towards 3.5 stars on this. This book is exactly what it claims to be by reading the back cover. Creepy serial killer, flawed hero, surprise twist at the end...
You’ve probably read books similar to this. This one is slightly better than ok. My issues with it were that all of the characters are unlikable for one. I usually like to be rooting for at least one of the characters but I didn’t like any of them. Also (and without giving away spoilers) I didn’t like the way the author handled some of the characters. Example...and again this isn’t giving away too much...but suddenly we find out a character is dead and we get no insight on what exactly happened. The author could have given us a chapter long scene devoted to the death which would have added depth and thrills to the story in my opinion.
I did like how the book started off (the opening scene with the main character was intense) and I was mad at myself for not predicting the twist at the end so for that I liked it too.
Overall this is a decent read but you could do better in the same genre.
You’ve probably read books similar to this. This one is slightly better than ok. My issues with it were that all of the characters are unlikable for one. I usually like to be rooting for at least one of the characters but I didn’t like any of them. Also (and without giving away spoilers) I didn’t like the way the author handled some of the characters. Example...and again this isn’t giving away too much...but suddenly we find out a character is dead and we get no insight on what exactly happened. The author could have given us a chapter long scene devoted to the death which would have added depth and thrills to the story in my opinion.
I did like how the book started off (the opening scene with the main character was intense) and I was mad at myself for not predicting the twist at the end so for that I liked it too.
Overall this is a decent read but you could do better in the same genre.
October 9, 2025
Terrible plot. Terribly drawn characters. REPETITIOUS—GET AN EDITOR. Contrived with far too many “coincidences”. Terrible ending.
An absolute disaster of a book. I give it two stars only because I finished it, thinking it HAD to get better. spoiler alert: it didn’t.
An absolute disaster of a book. I give it two stars only because I finished it, thinking it HAD to get better. spoiler alert: it didn’t.
January 15, 2013
I use to be a huge fan of Ted Dekker and collected many of his books, but this author started to get increasingly worse in his writings. I was buying his books as soon as they came out, and likewise I got my hands on this one once it came out. This book was the final straw for me, and after reading this book, I no longer read from Dekker and got rid of all his books I had collected.
This book in particular I remember giving me nightmares, and I trembled in fear after reading about the antagonist. Someone who is a Christian author should never get into the mind set of such a nightmarish character in my opinion. He made the same mistake C.S. Lewis discovered he had made after he wrote the Screwtape Letters. Although it's one of the books Lewis is most well-known for, he realized after he had wrote the Screwtape Letters that he should not have tried thinking like a demon, and neither should any other Christian. In the same way, no Christian should try to think like these maniacs that Dekker has created in his fiction books. I have read many secular fiction books that are much cleaner than his books, and more worth the read and even more beneficial.
Dekker seems to try to target both Christian and non-Christians in his writings. He creates a secular sort of plot, and gives an underlying Christian message in each of them, most likely in order to bring non-Christians to salvation through its message if they happen to read it. This is like trying to mix in a little sugar with a bunch of vinegar-- it doesn't make the vinegar any more palatable. In the same manner, if you try to mix in the gospel with a bunch of worldliness, it will not make the gospel message any more palatable to non-Christians.
I gave away all his books I collected to a garage sale, and as I brought all those books there, I found someone else had done the same with all of their Dekker books.
This book in particular I remember giving me nightmares, and I trembled in fear after reading about the antagonist. Someone who is a Christian author should never get into the mind set of such a nightmarish character in my opinion. He made the same mistake C.S. Lewis discovered he had made after he wrote the Screwtape Letters. Although it's one of the books Lewis is most well-known for, he realized after he had wrote the Screwtape Letters that he should not have tried thinking like a demon, and neither should any other Christian. In the same way, no Christian should try to think like these maniacs that Dekker has created in his fiction books. I have read many secular fiction books that are much cleaner than his books, and more worth the read and even more beneficial.
Dekker seems to try to target both Christian and non-Christians in his writings. He creates a secular sort of plot, and gives an underlying Christian message in each of them, most likely in order to bring non-Christians to salvation through its message if they happen to read it. This is like trying to mix in a little sugar with a bunch of vinegar-- it doesn't make the vinegar any more palatable. In the same manner, if you try to mix in the gospel with a bunch of worldliness, it will not make the gospel message any more palatable to non-Christians.
I gave away all his books I collected to a garage sale, and as I brought all those books there, I found someone else had done the same with all of their Dekker books.
March 30, 2009
I have long been a Dekker devotee. Ever since I got the Circle Trilogy for Christmas back in '04, I have had a lasting obsession with the works of this man. I have read all but a few of his books—many more than once—and have seen his writing mature from Blessed Child back in 2000 through the massive Books of History Chronicles until now. BoneMan's Daughters is by far the most developed, intricate, gripping story I have ever read.
A good book is one that when you set it down, you cannot tell if you are still in the story or back in real life. I had that struggle many times while readingBoneMan's Daughters. Dekker has written a passionate tale of a father's love for his daughter and the impossible lengths he goes by which to save her. I am not yet a father or a husband, but the emotion he puts into the characters brought tears to my eyes and a pang in my heart. I could feel Ryan's despair as he realizes there his no hope for Bethany at the hands of the monstrous killer.
Dekker has an impeccable way of writing books for everyone. While never abandoning his Christian roots, his works are all-inclusive, stories that dig deeper than any religion, into the heart of all humanity. BoneMan's Daughters is a perfect example of this, because anyone can understand (hopefully not through experience) the passionate love of a father for his daughter.
I was a Dekker fan long before reading this book, and when I finally set it down, I was reminded exactly why I love his writing so much.
A good book is one that when you set it down, you cannot tell if you are still in the story or back in real life. I had that struggle many times while readingBoneMan's Daughters. Dekker has written a passionate tale of a father's love for his daughter and the impossible lengths he goes by which to save her. I am not yet a father or a husband, but the emotion he puts into the characters brought tears to my eyes and a pang in my heart. I could feel Ryan's despair as he realizes there his no hope for Bethany at the hands of the monstrous killer.
Dekker has an impeccable way of writing books for everyone. While never abandoning his Christian roots, his works are all-inclusive, stories that dig deeper than any religion, into the heart of all humanity. BoneMan's Daughters is a perfect example of this, because anyone can understand (hopefully not through experience) the passionate love of a father for his daughter.
I was a Dekker fan long before reading this book, and when I finally set it down, I was reminded exactly why I love his writing so much.
August 18, 2022
Just wow! This book had me so twisted I wasn’t sure if there was two killers or just one really twisted person. The way the killer is wound into the story and his twisted mind of why he breaks all the bones will have you haunted at night. While this is a Christian based thriller book do not let that lead you to believe that it is not as twisted as non Christian books. Graphic is still there. Just not the over use of curse words. I have always loved this author from the first book I’ve read of his. This book will keep you flipping pages and question your own sanity. Still surprised by the ending as I sat here five minutes after I closed the book.
September 11, 2025
wow....this was....terrible .... God the last time I read Ted Dekker I was like 12 and Jesus does his writing style and level of skill not good up. there is literally zero motivation for any characters changes of heart or dialogue and the dialogue reads like a 15 year old wrote it during study hour. not to mention the weird overarching fathers are responsible for the protection and purity of their angelic daughters and all daughters are just little girls desperately wanting their dads that was the underlying theme of most of the book that felt so early 2000s purity ball to me
February 11, 2019
Goodness gracious, Ted Dekker! At first, I was really considering giving this novel only two stars because it was messy, nothing made sense. It went from Ryan serving in the navy to him getting attacked, to him being in the therapists office, but it never talked about how he got there. Then, throughout the book, I believed that three different characters were ‘Boneman’ because Dekker dropped hints that portrayed them too be. It wasn’t really until the last chapter when everything made sense, with one simple sentence:”Bethany was Alvin Finch’s daughter by birth.” (392) That one line pieced everything together. The book ended up being really good, and sometimes I would fear that I’d see BoneMan in my dreams and wake up with an ache of some sort. I didn’t like it at the beginning, but I’m glad I’m finished reading it because it didn’t disappoint me towards the end.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 10, 2022
Idk how this is classified as Christian fiction when the first 100 pages are of a child being tortured. I read this book years ago and I still remember that scene. The story was also all over the place and once the child was killed, the story moved at a very slow pace. Would not recommend
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 26, 2020
One of my favorites from Ted.
April 14, 2009
Intelligence officer Ryan Evans has never been much of a husband to Celine or a father to his daughter, Bethany. In fact to avoid having to deal with Celine, Ryan volunteers for dangerous missions in far away counties. His latest mission has him gathering data in the Middle East. Ryan had called it a day and was travelling back to camp when the Humvee that he was riding in was attacked. Ryan gets knocked out. When Ryan awakes, he is in a room with a man by the name of Kahlid, who interrogates him. Kahlid teaches Ryan the value of life. He also shows Evans that you can break someone's bones without damaging the skin. Just when Ryan taught the end was near, he is able to escape and be rescued. Ryan is ready to put this whole ordeal behind him but the nightmare is just beginning.
A serial killer by the name of Boneman has abducted Bethany. The Boneman received his name because he would take girls, break their bones and leave them for dead. Boneman only broke their bones because he was trying to be the perfect father to the perfect daughter and none of the girls were it but maybe Bethany will be that daughter. Ryan gets accused of being Boneman. So Ryan decides to take matters into his own hands.
Boneman's Daughter is the first novel that I have read by Mr. Dekker. I have seen his books all over and even own one of his other prior works but never got the chance to try them out till now. After completing this story, I plan to check out more of Ted Dekker's books, starting with the one I currently own. The story moves very fast and there are a lot of characters and movements going on that I thought I would have a hard time following along but this book was so well put together that you will lose yourself in it. Ryan is a very likable character. I felt myself pulling for him. Though I knew who Boneman was, I did not expect the twist near the end of the book. I highly recommend picking up a copy of Boneman's Daughter today.
A serial killer by the name of Boneman has abducted Bethany. The Boneman received his name because he would take girls, break their bones and leave them for dead. Boneman only broke their bones because he was trying to be the perfect father to the perfect daughter and none of the girls were it but maybe Bethany will be that daughter. Ryan gets accused of being Boneman. So Ryan decides to take matters into his own hands.
Boneman's Daughter is the first novel that I have read by Mr. Dekker. I have seen his books all over and even own one of his other prior works but never got the chance to try them out till now. After completing this story, I plan to check out more of Ted Dekker's books, starting with the one I currently own. The story moves very fast and there are a lot of characters and movements going on that I thought I would have a hard time following along but this book was so well put together that you will lose yourself in it. Ryan is a very likable character. I felt myself pulling for him. Though I knew who Boneman was, I did not expect the twist near the end of the book. I highly recommend picking up a copy of Boneman's Daughter today.
January 5, 2011
This book was pain to read. I was waiting for something to happen but the plot line was set from the beginning the serial killer who was as psycho as the main hero and his family and people around. There were lot of emotions, which were pushed beyond bearable horizont of hysterical emotions.
Lets get to the business. There was a little nutty serial killer who has father and daughter issue and nasty hobby to pick teenage girls in order to make perfect daughters from them, which they failed and hit the victim list in horrid manner of having their bones broken without broken skin. Well that was bad bad utterly mad man. There was another man who pushed his military career until something bad happened. He was captured by big bad men and held in the Iraqi bunker and persuaded to talk by witnessing murders of several children yes they broke their bones. At this point it was starting to be disgusting and pushy on reader. Our brave soldier had trauma from this, who would not ? He returned to his pretty dysfunctional family - wife who had already another and adopted daughter who almost forgot who he was. Yelling some crazy talks and when author was too bored with the family drama the boneman walked in and kidnapped poor brat who had more brains in her pretty head then rest of the character. The roller coaster of imbecility and too clear detective drama started. Our soldier was challenged by nut case of serial killer who had his daughter. Soldier decided to act on his own, which brought him only to suspicion that he was nut-case, which he was but he was not a killer. When author was on the verge of what the hell i want to put there he killed of wife, her lover and put the religious theme of crucification and Satan. well thus connection to the bones. The adopted brat showed to be daughter of serial killer and realized that her soldier daddy was the best. The end. Run from the book as far as you can.
Lets get to the business. There was a little nutty serial killer who has father and daughter issue and nasty hobby to pick teenage girls in order to make perfect daughters from them, which they failed and hit the victim list in horrid manner of having their bones broken without broken skin. Well that was bad bad utterly mad man. There was another man who pushed his military career until something bad happened. He was captured by big bad men and held in the Iraqi bunker and persuaded to talk by witnessing murders of several children yes they broke their bones. At this point it was starting to be disgusting and pushy on reader. Our brave soldier had trauma from this, who would not ? He returned to his pretty dysfunctional family - wife who had already another and adopted daughter who almost forgot who he was. Yelling some crazy talks and when author was too bored with the family drama the boneman walked in and kidnapped poor brat who had more brains in her pretty head then rest of the character. The roller coaster of imbecility and too clear detective drama started. Our soldier was challenged by nut case of serial killer who had his daughter. Soldier decided to act on his own, which brought him only to suspicion that he was nut-case, which he was but he was not a killer. When author was on the verge of what the hell i want to put there he killed of wife, her lover and put the religious theme of crucification and Satan. well thus connection to the bones. The adopted brat showed to be daughter of serial killer and realized that her soldier daddy was the best. The end. Run from the book as far as you can.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 27, 2009
I kinda had a love/hate relationship with this book.
I thought the beginning was really disturbing but it got my attention.
The story idea was good but the characters kept irratating me.
Boneman was a pretty good role for a sicko serial killer.
Bethany was kinda spoiled brat that hates her dad because he "abandoned" her and was in war for two years, but he provides for them, does she not even relieze how many fathers don't even care enough to see or send any money to their children??? But, she became a stronger character, for a while there try to survive the best way she knew how. Then again started to piss me off.
Ryan, her father, is suspected of being the Boneman and he is constantly saying things and doing things that makes him even more suspisious.
The mother was just off the handle accusing her husband of doing all this, now if your husband had been Boneman for 10 years wouldn't you have felt something was not right?
Then, little details were very sloppy, like he entered the room without his shirt, then Ryan grabbed him by his shirt and threw him. That happened a lot during the book, sloppy details.
I was very mad that the second Boneman brought Ryan to his daughter he didn't just attack the man, then and there. I honestly thought it was the perfect time. Boneman wasn't really anything without his sedative and Hammer and he didn't have it at the time.
During the book Ryan and Bethany just kept getting these surges of creepiness and then they were fine, then they just did things and I shout out,"C'mon!Really?!" I was very dissappointed with them.
Sorry Jenn, this book just wasn't for me!
I thought the beginning was really disturbing but it got my attention.
The story idea was good but the characters kept irratating me.
Boneman was a pretty good role for a sicko serial killer.
Bethany was kinda spoiled brat that hates her dad because he "abandoned" her and was in war for two years, but he provides for them, does she not even relieze how many fathers don't even care enough to see or send any money to their children??? But, she became a stronger character, for a while there try to survive the best way she knew how. Then again started to piss me off.
Ryan, her father, is suspected of being the Boneman and he is constantly saying things and doing things that makes him even more suspisious.
The mother was just off the handle accusing her husband of doing all this, now if your husband had been Boneman for 10 years wouldn't you have felt something was not right?
Then, little details were very sloppy, like he entered the room without his shirt, then Ryan grabbed him by his shirt and threw him. That happened a lot during the book, sloppy details.
I was very mad that the second Boneman brought Ryan to his daughter he didn't just attack the man, then and there. I honestly thought it was the perfect time. Boneman wasn't really anything without his sedative and Hammer and he didn't have it at the time.
During the book Ryan and Bethany just kept getting these surges of creepiness and then they were fine, then they just did things and I shout out,"C'mon!Really?!" I was very dissappointed with them.
Sorry Jenn, this book just wasn't for me!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 16, 2014
My rating is 2-1/2. I really wanted to like this book more than I did. Several times I had to force myself to pick it up. I found the beginning of the book different than what I expected but at the same time I also enjoyed the war aspect. The BoneMan's point of view was an interesting addition to the story too. Overall, I found the dialogue repetitive and the story moved slowly for me. I also felt no connection with any of the characters, except for Ryan.
The story also "jumped" ahead a few times. I was really into the part of the story about Ryan's interrogation and torture by Khalid when the next chapter abruptly shifted to Ryan being interrogated by psychologists. I had to re-read in case I missed something but then through the psychologist's questioning we find out what had happened with Ryan and Khalid. This type of story backtracking happened a couple more times during the novel. For example Bethany's trip to New York and Celine's divorce. These story aspects I thought should have been told in some detail were glossed over rather quickly.
The second half of the story, to me, got tiresome. The BoneMan and his lotion obsession, Bethany's uncertainty of whether she loves her dad or not, the constant mention of bones breaking. In my opinion the book could have been condensed a little here.
The story also "jumped" ahead a few times. I was really into the part of the story about Ryan's interrogation and torture by Khalid when the next chapter abruptly shifted to Ryan being interrogated by psychologists. I had to re-read in case I missed something but then through the psychologist's questioning we find out what had happened with Ryan and Khalid. This type of story backtracking happened a couple more times during the novel. For example Bethany's trip to New York and Celine's divorce. These story aspects I thought should have been told in some detail were glossed over rather quickly.
The second half of the story, to me, got tiresome. The BoneMan and his lotion obsession, Bethany's uncertainty of whether she loves her dad or not, the constant mention of bones breaking. In my opinion the book could have been condensed a little here.
February 15, 2014
BoneMan’s Daughters by Ted Dekker is a crime thriller that is hard to put down. Commander Ryan Evans, who was captured by the enemy in Afghanistan and psychologically tortured before he escaped, returns home to reconcile with his wife and daughter. Unfortunately he finds himself caught in a desperate struggle to protect his family from “The BoneMan,” a serial killer who murders women by breaking their bones without breaking their skin until they die. However, Ryan Evans may not be the heroic man that is suggested by his military accomplishments. This book captures the reader and propels her/him through shockingly brutal violence, which places the protagonist in hopeless situations. However, Dekker does not ignore character development. He also reveals much about the fascinating characters including their intelligence, tenderness, cruelty, and insanity. I have known that Ted Dekker is a very popular and prolific author, but I had never read any of his work until now. After being awestruck by BoneMan’s Daughter, I realize that I should have begun reading his novels a long time ago, and I plan to read more of them in the future. However, this is probably not for squeamish readers.
September 11, 2012
Great book. My mother was attacked by a serial killer when I was 7 and I am the father of two girls. So, I felt this one in the gut. The plot was excellent. The characters were fleshed out well, including the Boneman. Very well done!
November 14, 2017
The Perfect Father... or the Perfect Terror Ryans life is semi-perfect. Husband, father, Naval officer, and adventures, it is what every person dreams of. But under the idyllic look, the cracks appear. His wife has never been faithful, his daughter loathes him, and when he is captured in the desert of Iraq, the remnants of his family fall apart.Told he is not wanted, and a divorce pending, Ryan is adrift. But when his daughter is kidnapped by the serial killer known as the BoneMan, his entire world is turned upside down.All he wants is for his daughter to survive, and he will do whatever it takes to ensure her safety. Hunted by the FBI and the District Attorney of Dallas, Ryan flees, making contact with the BoneMan to try and get his daughter back. What he gets is an angry DA and arrested. He is being held as the prime suspect in the murders of all the young women the BoneMan has claimed. But when the DA is murdered while Ryan is in custody, one FBI agent shares her doubts that Ryan is actually the BoneMan. Everyone else seems content to let the evidence fit, no matter who it is. But when Ryan escapes custody and is again captured by the BoneMan, there is only one father that will walk out of that basement alive....This was a really good read! I LOVED this book! I have been meaning to read it for the past five years, but finally got around to picking it up! Oh my goodness! This is a book that will keep you on your seat! While the unfaithful wife bothered me (honestly, I wanted to slap the wife silly), as it plays to often into the scenarios that many military members face, reading and understanding the character of Ryan helped put into reality why it can happen, and of course, how you could avoid it. BUT, aside from that this was a fantastic and enjoyable read! Definitely one that I could see being read again in the future!
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