Blessed Child [Paperback]

Ted Dekker (Author), Bill Bright (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 4, 2001

The young orphaned boy was abandoned and raised in an Ethiopian monastery. He has never seen outside its walls -- at least, not the way most people see. Now he must flee those walls or die.

But the world is hardly ready for a boy like Caleb.

When relief expert Jason Marker agrees to take Caleb from the monastery, he unwittingly opens humanity's doors to an incredible journey filled with intrigue and peril. Together with Leiah, the French Canadian nurse who escapes to America with them, Jason discovers Caleb's stunning power. But so do the boy's enemies, who will stop at nothing to destroy him. Jason and Leiah fight for the boy's survival while the world erupts into debate over the source of the boy's power.

In the end nothing can prepare them for what they will find.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Eighty-year-old evangelical icon Bright and up-and-coming novelist Dekker pool their talents in this latest of several Christian fiction offerings about contemporary child miracle workers. Jason Marker, an embittered Peace Corps representative, must spirit the 10-year-old wunderkind Caleb out of Ethiopia with the help of Leiah, a Red Cross nurse who is covered with disfiguring scars. Upon their arrival in the U.S., Caleb is put in the care of the nefarious Father Nikolous at the rather stereotypically cruel Sunnyside Orphanage. Caleb's extraordinary powers manifest themselves early in the tale: raising a man from the dead, restoring sight to a blind boy, healing a paraplegic. Even as religious authorities are thrown into turmoil about the source of Caleb's amazing abilities, Father Nikolous loses no time in exploiting those powers for his own financial gain. When a powerful politician realizes that Caleb holds the key to the destruction of his presidential ambitions, he contracts for the boy's murder. The romance between Jason and Leiah follows a predictable course, although Jason's unconditional acceptance of her scarred body offers a nice touch. Caleb is satisfactorily presented as an uncorrupted innocent who finds the world a stumbling block to his childlike faith. The writing loses its moorings in spots ("It wasn't the first time they had been in this situation, facing sudden long odds, but this time its gravity felt heavier"), but the plot is action-packed. Bright's name on the cover will garner widespread reader interest for this Christian thriller.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"[Blessed Child is] superbly written and deeply captivating" -- CBA Marketplace --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Thomas Nelson (April 4, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0849945135
• ISBN-13: 978-0849945137
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (71 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #45,789 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Another Thumbs Up For Dekker, October 23, 2001

By 

mjanke - See all my reviews

This review is from: Blessed Child (Paperback)

BLESSED CHILD is an excellent novel that both inspires and thrills. Teaming with Bill Bright for inspiration, Ted Dekker shows that he's the real deal (in this, his third book) and should he continue to put out work like this I expect to see him around for a long time.

BLESSED CHILD is basically a thriller with supernatural elements and romantic overtones. It takes you on a journey from the wilderness of Ethiopia all the way to Pasadena, California. In the process we meet and begin to love a little boy who exudes innocence, the love of God, and great manifestations of His power. We never question that this power comes from God (as some in the story do) because we are allowed glimpses of his heart, so the real conflict lies in how this power is accepted by the world around him. The road is an exciting one and Dekker does an admirable job of making sure that he paints the trip in vivid spiritual colors.

This is another one of those rare novels that works on two levels -- it's a good read and it will challenge you in your Christian walk. Bill Bright's afterward notes that he believes a good novel on biblical themes can reach many more people than a normal theological work (similar to how Jesus' use of parables was so outstanding). BLESSED CHILD is a good example of how that can be true. FOUR STARS.

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyed it..., March 26, 2003

By 

Marilynn Griffith (Florida United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Blessed Child (Paperback)

but not necessarily for the story. It wasn't the miracles, the bright lights or even Caleb's powers that impacted me, but rather the words of the dying leader,"Who says that a straightened hand is more powerful than a healed heart?"

Little Caleb's battle with the "brine" in the oil of his heart and his struggle to "walk in the kingdom" reminded me of my first days as a Christian and how much I earnestly desired Christ and His kingdom as the pearl of great price, worthy of surrendering everything in my life for.

That the book caused me to evaluate my desire for Christ and whether He was still my first love was this book's success for me, not the fiction. The story dragged in places for me and the constant use of the phrase "The Greek" to describe the priest threw me for some reason. In some ways, all the good characters seemed the same and all the bad characters seemed the same. Only Caleb and the dying man really stood out, but perhaps that was intentional. After the last page, I was on my knees, so the book did its job. :)This is my second Dekker title. It won't be the last.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Can't Get Enough of This Dekker Guy, December 8, 2001

By 

Sally Rhodes (Atlanta, GA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Blessed Child (Paperback)

I'm going to keep it short and sweet. I went on a little bit about When Heaven Weeps, but I couldn't help it--it just really got to me. So did Blessed Child, but in a different way. Blessed Child is unique. All of Ted Dekker's novels give us a wonderful picture of the love of God in action, but Blessed Child has this tranquility in the face of extreme danger that is really compelling. I felt like a totally refreshing shower had washed over me after reading this book--an absolutely unique experience, something I've never encountered in any other book I've read. The only thing that comes close is Leif Enger's Peace Like a River, though the two books are very different. I truly felt like a blessed child of God after reading this book. And so will you, I predict.