Book Review - BoneMan's Daughters by Ted Dekker

Well here it is, my first book review, and as I said in my introductory post, I would like to put a little different spin on it. So the first order of business is to not tell you what the book is about. Quite honestly, I don't really care for the reviews that do that. I want to know what someone thought about a book, not read about their own version of the plot. The author got paid quite well to write the book himself, he doesn't need my help. That being said, if you would like to take a quick look at the synopsis of the book (and I recommend you do) as well as check out what other critics and readers had to say, click here before reading on.

As for what I thought of the book, let me first say that I am a huge Ted Dekker fan. I've referenced and mentioned his works multiple times in my other posts and I always eagerly anticipate his next books. I own and have read all 27 of his books so far, some more than once. I could probably get a bit carried away writing about his other books and his life and career as a whole, but his Wikipedia entry sums it all up pretty well if you want to check it out. Now, enough with all of that, on to the book.

BoneMan's Daughters is Dekker's first major novel not published by Thomas Nelson, that bastion of Christian publishing; his first "mainstream" release if you will. But that's not to say that it is a mainstream novel. This book is every bit Ted Dekker. Is it violent? Yes, it is. Is it dark? Of course it is. Are there a couple instances of very mildly offensive language? Definitely. But that's the whole point, and it's something I'll explain in greater detail in my next post.

What I've noticed in reading other reviews is that most people just don't get this book. Either they're uber-religious and condemn it outright for it's violence and crudeness, or they're mainstream readers used to reading Koontz and King and they blast it for it's unoriginal theme. Then there's the more moderate views. The Christian who gets that there is a theme to it and understands the use of violence, but ultimately still misses the true point, or the mainstream reader who just thinks it's a genuinely good thriller.

Let me be very clear here, this is a love story. A very intense love story. A very violent love story. It's a love story about a man willing to do anything up to and including sacrificing his own life if necessary in order to save his child from an unimaginable evil. Sound familiar? Exactly my point. And the best part is that the love in the story is as intense and beautiful as it is because of the violent nature of the evil that is portrayed. I love that Dekker continually plays on that in his books rather than shying away from it as so many others do. After all, quite possibly the greatest example of selfless love ever shown was Christ's death on the cross for us, and you certainly can't say that wasn't violent.

As for the literary elements of the book, I personally thought it was one of his best written since his earlier works. Maybe it had something to do with this quote from his blog about the book:

"Not since writing When Heaven Weeps following the death of my brother many years ago have I written such a personal story as BoneMan’s Daughters. I’ve dedicated it to Rachelle, but this love story is for you. For every daughter, every son, every father, every mother."

It's funny he says that, because as I got into the book I even thought to myself that he had not written a book with this sort of intensity since he penned the Martyr's Song series, which included When Heaven Weeps (a very gut wrenching read by the way). In general, I found all of the characters to be reasonably well developed and believable. The dialogue was for the most part smooth, and the book moved at a pretty steady clip.

For those hoping for one of Ted's shocking twist endings, you may be a little disappointed. There's a minor "a-ha" moment towards the end, but nothing like his previous books Skin and Adam. But that's OK. This book didn't need that and personally, I rather enjoyed the ending.
There are a handful of scenes that are not for the faint of heart, but generally if you enjoy a good thriller then I think this is well worth the read. Sure the whole serial killer preying on young girls theme has been done and done again, but Dekker does a nice job of adding his own personal style to it. It certainly stands alone as a quality mainstream thriller. But if you're willing to look just a Little deeper and see the love story that resides within the evil confines, well, you're in for a real treat. You'll be thinking about this book long after the cover is closed.

Coming soon - Book Reviews

Just wanted to alert you to some new content coming soon to the site. Yeah I know, everyone's a critic. But don't worry, I hope to put a less annoying spin on it than most. Basically, if you read this at all then you know I love to read. In fact, I'm currently reading three books. And I figured that as long as I'm taking the time to read them I might as well throw in my two cents on them. Maybe it'll encourage you to read one, maybe it won't. Whatever. But if nothing else it'll help keep me focused on both reading and writing more. Hopefully I'll have the first couple up this weekend. I just finished some pretty good books and I'm looking forward to posting them. Till then...

Moving, Old Furniture, and St. Francis

OK, I know it's been a few weeks, and for those few souls who indulge me by reading this, I apologize. But I have a good excuse, really. I moved. Yeah, that's what I thought, no more explanation needed.

I hate moving. Even for as relatively few times as I've done it in my life, I just don't like it. Don't get me wrong, this particular move was very necessary and long overdue, and I could not be happier with the new place. It's the first one that my wife and I have picked out together and it just feels more like home than the old house did. But I hate the physical process of moving. The sorting, trashing, packing, lifting, moving, unpacking, rearranging physical part of moving. But we're all done now, and except for a little decorating, we're quite settled in.

So, now I can finally get back to the task at hand; writing more. I've been keeping notes these last few weeks on some topics that have danced in my brain a little, and I hope to materialize them shortly, but I first want to share something that sprang from the weekend that we moved.

If you've ever moved, especially as an adult, you know that it's rather amazing how much stuff can gather in the darkest reaches of basements, closets, sheds and garages over time. I really had no idea just how much junk I had. And isn't it funny that no matter how much time has elapsed since you last laid eyes on something or even remembered it's existence, once you find it again you just can't imagine how you ever lived without it? Fortunately, I knew that our storage space would be a bit more limited at the new place, so I was forced to get rid of quite a bit. But I did come across a lot of old memories in the process.

Something of particular interest was a folder from about twelve or so years ago, right before I moved out of my parent’s house. It was a collection of papers that I used to have hanging on the wall of a basement office we had there. Some were quotes, some were bible verses, and most were pretty cheesy as I look back on it now. But one that I came across stuck with me and ended up tying in nicely with not only my last post, but also with something that happened later that weekend.

The paper was a quote commonly attributed to St. Francis of Assisi, a thirteenth century friar and the founder of what we commonly refer to as the Franciscans. While the wording of the quote varies slightly depending on the source and it's never been directly found in any of Francis' writings, the idea is commonly thought to be his. In chapter XVII of his rule of 1221, Francis said, "Let all the brothers, however, preach by their deeds." This statement has been commonly reinvented to read something like what I had on my wall, "Go out and preach the Gospel, and if you must, use words." I have always loved that quote, but as time has gone on and I've given more thought to it, I've come to think it rather incomplete.

Before I tell you why though, let me share something else that happened that weekend. Prior to moving, my wife and I had decided to use our tax return this year to stimulate the economy a bit and get some new furniture and house wares. Basically, after a couple years of making do with all of my leftover junk we just wanted a clean start. But we also knew that what we wanted to replace, while old and a bit rundown to us, may be far and away better than what someone else may have. So, we contacted the men's group at our church and they gladly hauled away a mattress set, couch, stove and refrigerator, all to be cleaned up and donated to people who needed them.

Honestly, I had assumed it would be days or even a couple weeks before they could ready everything to be given away. But the very next day at church, one of the men from the group made it a point to track me down and let me know what had happened to our old items. At first, I admit I was a bit uncomfortable. You see, I didn't donate them so I could pat myself on the back about it. I never intended to find out where they went; I just trusted that God would place them with whoever needed them the most. In fact, I only share it with you here because it helps to illustrate my point. As it turns out, they almost immediately took the appliances to a woman they knew who needed them. But, as they were taking them in and setting them up for her, they discovered that she needed much more than just the appliances and ended up unloading the couch and bed as well.

Now, at this point it would have been easy enough to simply accept the woman's thanks, maybe even tell her what church they were from and pray that God might move through their actions and bring this woman to a relationship with God. But that's not what they did. They made a point to tell this woman exactly why they did this and tell her of God's saving grace. As it turns out, the woman made a decision that day to accept that precious gift of salvation. I have to admit, that really did move me.

And it brought me back to the paper I had found earlier that weekend with the quote from St. Francis on it. As I said, it seems a bit incomplete to me. Is it enough to simply show God's love by our actions? Maybe, but if we don't share the Gospel then what makes our actions any different from anyone else's? You can turn on the news and see coverage of any number of humanitarian efforts. There are countless agencies around the world doing amazing things for the less than privileged. They show tremendous love and mercy. And then look at Hollywood. George Clooney, U2, Brangelina and countless others are lending their time, money and fame to raise awareness of many injustices the world over. They too show great love and compassion. But to what end and in who's name do they do it?

So many "Christians" today are so quick to speak, but they never back up their words with actions. It's easy to tell people what they should or should not do, but what kind of clout does it carry if not backed up with actions? And I think that's part of the basis for the St. Francis quote. But it doesn't mean we should keep our mouths shut completely. In fact, as true believers, is it even possible to not speak of Him? Shouldn't we be so overcome by the undeserved gift of salvation that we can't possibly keep quiet about it? Granted, not everyone should get up on a Sunday morning and preach a sermon. It takes a special gift to be a teacher in that regard. But when it comes to backing up our actions, we most certainly should be willing to speak. Otherwise we're just another good Samaritan, taking the glory onto ourselves by not directing where it ultimately deserves to go.

Now, go out today and preach the Gospel, with your actions and your words.