Customer Reviews

Adam

5 star:		(64)
4 star:		(22)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Dekker fans are in for a wild ride. Dekker is at his best when he writes thrillers. His fantasy is good, but his thrillers are breathtaking and sleep stealing.

Adam pivots on the usual Ted Dekker standard theme of man's fall and God's extravagant grace. An avowed atheist, psychological profiler on his quest to catch the bad guy enters into places he never believed existed, especially within himself. The woman who loves him gets entangled in the increasingly tense cat and mouse game between the ever-changing status of hunted vs. hunter. Dekker covers the murderer's intriguing backstory in a multi-part news expose which amps the tension with each segement of article.

The only negative is some ambiguity in the final sewing up of details. Dekker may very well have meant to be ambiguous as he left some story lines with opportunity for growth in future novels which would be very okay by me. The climax ended on a decided downbeat, too. But to have pumped any more intensity into the scene may have been overkill.

I'm calling Adam my favorite Dekker novel -- to date -- you never know what's going to tweak his creative flow next.

Ted Dekker is my favorite author, and once again he has given me a book that has given me ours of entertainment and some things to think about in life and faith.

In this book, you follow the latest and most career intensive case of an FBI criminal profiler who also, through his studies has come to view religion as one of the driving forces of evil in society (and his serial killers motive), as opposed to an "evil force" itself existing.

Dekker provides us with his normal fast-paced, suspensful story, some excellent research and a plot with some good twists but not so surprising turns and anyone who loves a good mystery or story will read this book quickly and eagerly.

However, having said this, and understand I am one of Dekker's greatest fans, my applauding of the book ends here. Large, crucial and incredibly interesting themes of good/evil, especially evil's reality and the supernatural are addressed in this modern-day thriller. However, Dekker says in an interview about the book that his hope through painting a more real picture of the darkness is to draw people to the light. My biggest disappointment with this book is that in the end, little time or attention or detail for that matter is given to how the Light overcomes the very real darkness. So much time is spent exploring the possibility and then reality of the evil side of the supernatural that you are left to wonder how the light defeated the darkness. Sure you hear the name "Jesus", and Dekker is phenomenal at not being preachy, but when I read the last word of the last chapter, my biggest question was "What? How the...that's it?"

A fast-paced mystery where the conclusion is still a step beyond predictability, but I'm afraid that in my opinion, even though the Light is the victor in the end, the book leaves you wondering, "if the Dark is really so real and powerful, how in the world did the Light overcome it in this story? And if Lights victory is so unplausible at the end of this work of fiction, why would I ever hope in its power in reality?"

Evil is real and powerful, but the Light shatters darkness! However, in this book, you'll find that the light really just kind of wears it down and chases it away to fight another day...

Keep writing Dekker! You are amazing as are your works...but I must responsibly rate this book lower than your others...may your fans forgive me, and remember too that I am a fan.

From the time I finished "When Heaven Weeps" (Dekker's second novel), I knew we were witnessing a new direction in the world of fiction with a faith-based message. While never hiding his Christian roots and their influence on his writing, Dekker has carved out his own niche in the marketplace with big concepts, fast-paced stories, and prolific output.

"Adam" is as fast-paced and riveting as anything Dekker's written. While unfolding the antagonist's background through cleverly inserted magazine bits, Dekker spends even more time letting us follow an FBI investigation through the eyes of Daniel Clark. Daniel has given years of his life to capturing Eve, a serial killer with unknown motives and a knack for avoiding detection. While Eve's motives become more personal, drawing in Daniel and his ex-wife, Daniel is threatened by the disorienting effects of a bullet wound suffered in an earlier showdown with Eve.

In the past, Dekker has sometimes passed over certain details to focus on the heart of a story, but he bolsters this latest thriller with research that adds to the story's realism and sense of danger. Not only does this lift it above many other books out there, it becomes essential to the ending--where fact and fiction, faith and doubt, and good and evil collide.

This is one of Dekker's best books overall, and may be his best thriller yet. Combining character and plot development with spiritual ideas, he proves that he has many more stories for us. Although the climax is reached in a somewhat expected exorcism scene, God's truth and light are on full display, pinpointing mankind's fall and the hope of redemption. Good storytelling need never be preachy, and Dekker proves that once again with "Adam."

I've made it no secret my opinions of Ted Dekker's latest works (read my reviews for Skin, Saint, and the first two Lost Books). Over the last year Dekker's writing has taken a turn for the worse and for a long time I wondered if I'd ever see the great and wonderful writing which graced the pages of master works like Thr3e, The Circle, and Showdown, again. Fortunately, Ted Dekker has finally broken out of his funk and delivered the goods.

Special Agent Denial Clark is obsessed. A killer known simply as Eve is loose in the country, and it is his job to bring him to justice. But Eve is an elusive killer, with a meticulous attention to detail that puts villains like Hannibal Lector to shame. His victims; young women chosen seemingly at random to feed some sort of sick perversion. His method; a mysterious virus which attacks the mind. His favorite food; candy bars and cherry coke. Mmmm, yummy. Not too healthy, but hey, he's a killer, what does he care about health?

The case takes a dramatic turn for the worse, however, after Denial, following a lead on Eve, is shot dead by the killer only to be revived twenty minutes later by his partner. But now, every twenty minutes or so, his mind forces him to relive the fear of death, crippling him with blinding terror which lasts about five to ten seconds. Although this may seem like an insignificant amount of time, the constant panic attacks grow worse as time goes by, driving him almost to the point of suicide.

This is more Dekker formula, so if you're familiar with his previous works you'll be right at home with Adam. The crazy villain, the worldly characters, the supernatural elements, the all too familiar nail biting suspense, it's all there. Everything you loved about Dekker's older works is here in this new book, so for all those Forest Guard people out there this book will not disappoint. But he brings something to this novel which was absent in his previous works, and that is attention to detail. Ted Dekker clearly did his homework because his attention to the details of autopsies, medical practices, FBI procedures, etc, could not have been better if they had been written by experts in all these fields (okay, maybe they could be, but you get the point). This is something that was noticeably absent in Dekkers other works. Although he's written about the FBI before (Thr3e) he never got into the details about how it worked.

A nice touch Dekker through in is to have news articles, dated after the timeline in the novel, scattered throughout every three or four chapters. These news articles tell the story of two siblings, Jessica and Alex Train, who were abducted from their home in Arkansas when they were little and lived out their childhood with a family of deranged psychopaths. This story within the story compliments the main storyline very well (even though it is rather short overall) and fits in nicely at the end. If not for these news articles the ending for the novel would have made absolutely no sense at all.

Speaking of endings, Ted Dekker has been known for his endings, but lately these endings have come in one of two forms.
1) He saves a mediocre book with a killer ending (Skin).
2) He ruins a pretty darn good book with a mediocre ending (Saint).
Adam, unfortunately, falls into category two. Although yes, it does have a big shocker (which I won't' spoil for you), that shocker is negated by the simple absurdity of the closing chapters. All the build up to the ending and no satisfaction. Where the book for the most part resembled Thr3e, the ending resembled Saint more than anything else, a book I consider to be Dekkers worst.

Although this book has its share of problems, it is still a very worthy novel which I am glad Dekker took the time and effort to write. It may not be as good as Showdown or Thr3e, but it at least matches Obsessed and Blink while surpassing Saint and Skin.

Re-read value; moderate.

FBI agent Daniel Clark is obsessed with stopping Eve, a serial killer that has taken the lives of fifteen victims. His training in behavioral psychology has helped him get close to the killer numerous times, but despite his hard work he is always one step behind. His relentless pursuit of Eve has cost him his marriage and will now cost him his life.

As Daniel follows a new break in the case he comes face to face with his nemesis and dies as a result. His partner, Lori, fights to resuscitate him as Eve vanishes into thin air. When Daniel is brought back to life twenty minutes later he realizes that he is the only eyewitness that has ever seen Eve. The only problem is that the image is burned into Daniel's subconscious and try as he might he can't retrieve it. Daniel's mind and body are now all out of whack and he is plagued with a perpetual nightmare about what he saw while he was dead. Soon Daniel and Lori are convinced that the only way to identify Eve is for Daniel to die again in an effort to reclaim those lost moments.

As Daniel gets closer to the truth he uncovers shocking revelations about Eve that will challenge his own personal faith to the core. To make matters worse, Eve has now made the game personal and Daniel will stop at nothing to protect the woman he loves.

Ted Dekker brings suspense and terror to a whole new level with Adam. We always expect "outside of the box" fiction from Dekker, but this one pushes the boundaries more than any of his previous works. And that's a good thing! Not only do we get another well crafted plot and more intriguing characters, but this time around Dekker shows us a darker side of spirituality that is ultimately frightening and real. Much of the plot deals with demon possession, and Dekker effectively sheds light on a diverse subject that is often overlooked or ignored. As always Dekker uses the darkness to show us the light, and it doesn't get any darker than this. We are reminded how real evil is and if nothing else this novel will help us to wake up and pay attention to the dark forces that are unseen in our world.

Adam is bound to be considered controversial, but I must admit I loved every moment. I read that Dekker researched more for Adam than any of his previous works and if so it really pays off. The glimpses into near death experiences are especially eye opening and delightfully creepy bringing the chill factor to new heights. This is not a typical Dekker story with alternate universes and mind blowing plot twists around every corner. Instead we see a new side to Dekker's writing that is just as enjoyable and even more thought-proving and challenging. Everyone will be talking abut this one!

To say that this novel is a psychological thriller is an understatement. The human psyche is deeply explored, as well as more about spiritual forces than at first glance. It's also not just a serial killer book, though that is one aspect. Abuse, fear, evil, victimization, freedom of choice, religion, triumph over evil, truth over lies, courage, and love all have a part in the whole. But the whole is definitely more than the sum of its parts.

What might happen to someone who is severely abused as a child in the name of religion? Is it possible to escape that evil, or must you succumb to it at some point in your life? Can good triumph over evil? Will it always? How much can one person endure before they break? Are demons real? Can they really overtake someone who gives them access? Don't we all have the capacity for evil inside ourselves? Dekker explores answers to these questions.

I usually preface my Dekker reviews with the disclaimer that I may be a bit too passionate when it comes to his books. I'm a huge fan and he never ceases to flabbergast me. Adam is no exception. Dekker continues to up the ante and churn out gale-force plots with gargantuan spiritual oomph. Hence my admiration. Do I have anything negative to say about this story whatsoever? Not remotely. And that's a shock if you know me. Even with Ted, I'm still nitpicky. No doubt, thriller lovers like me will find merit in this newest offering.

Ted's track record for penning chest-heaving, mind-spinning works is nothing short of uncanny. His writing has always been spot on, but I have seen his growing maturity not only in his words, but in his themes. I definitely think this is his best to date, his Circle works coming a very close second.

Do not miss this one. It deserves recognition and discussion not just for its entertainment value, but on the merit that it has the potential power to change lives.

Does evil exsist? If so, what about the exsistence of true goodness? What if you don't believe in either, but are confronted with both? What if you life depends on how and what you believe?

Like most of Dekker's books, Adam is hard to put down. The story draws you into the lives of even the mostly unlikable characters. Both you and those Dekker writes about are dying for resolution--and you both know it's not going to come easy.

Adam ranks right up there with Thr3e and Blink. Very much worth the read.

Ted Dekker does it again with the novel "Adam." I don't think that Ted Dekker can write a bad book. The main story is the search of a Serial killer who has killed 16 women. Daniel Clark a FBI investegator has spent years searching for the serial killer called Eve. When Daniel Clark gets to close to Eve a near death experience occurs for Daniel and draws him even further into the mind of the serial killer. What happens next is a whirlwind page turning ride that will make you see the real light of God. A very powerful and intense story that keeps you wanting more. I love the way the book switches between the story and magazine articles. Im not sure if this ties into the rest of Teds book or stand alone but who know with the mind of Dekker.

I was hoping this book would end better than it did. The ending was just a little too corny for the storyline. The premise sounded very intriguing, however, it got very dark that I couldn't read it much at night. Also, some of the writing was really, really, can I say really belabored with some of the description writing.....ok,ok, I got the idea! Characters were likable just not enough development for me.

Ted Dekker has released a book which has nothing to do with The Circle world. It's been quite some time since we've seen anything like it (ala Obsessed or Blink of an Eye) but Adam comes like a breath of fresh air.

Adam follows a profiler named Daniel who is obsessed with finding a serial killer known as Eve. Eve kills young girls each month when the moon is new. Daniel's obsession has led to his divorce which is a tad cliche but we can forgive Dekker that bit.

Throughout the novel, there are excerpts from a crime magazine that records the story of two children who were kidnapped and how they were raised. Using the articles helped as backstory and building a suspense for the overall story.

I enjoyed reading Adam. However, I won't jump into the camp of people who said it was so scary they had to sleep with the lights on. (As one of the editors for the book said) I didn't find it scary. Perhaps I'm used to the Dekker thrills. But having said that, it didn't cause me to enjoy the story any less.

What did lessen the book's quality was the word repetition. Words that had to have been substituted for swear words to lessen the objection of Christian readers. Dekker had his characters say "whore" and "sow" and "pig" over and over when I thought it just made the characters seem, I don't know, lame.

However I don't have a compelling solution. I don't know how Ted can get around it. I just didn't think repeating those words worked.(any kind of repetition of words has the tendency to get old)