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73 of 81 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Not a terrible thriller, but a little too melodramatic for my tastes, June 22, 2009
I`d never heard of Ted Dekker before (it turns out he's a remarkably prolific author of Christian fiction) and picked up The Bone Man's Daughters as an audio-book because, well, it was a new release and the selection of unabridged audio-books in my library is limited.
I had a mixed reaction to this novel. On a positive note, I appreciate that the author tries to explore issues, ranging from the relationship parents have with their children to the morality of causing innocent casualties of war. Dekker poses the question, what are you prepared to sacrifice, including the lives of other people, to protect your children? As a thriller, The Bone Man's Daughter mostly succeeds and for the most part I enjoyed the novel.
I have some complaints though. First off, the relationship between the protagonist (Ryan) and his estranged wife is something of a mystery. She shifts from a kind of indifference towards him to a level of fear and hate that feels contrived and without basis. 2nd, Ryan is a brilliant military strategist but does a lot of things that seem pretty stupid. Granted, his thinking may be clouded by his daughter's plight, but again this felt like a necessary contrivance of plot rather than a genuine extension of his character. Ultimately though, these are really just two examples of a larger issue for me, which is that the whole novel is just too melodramatic for my tastes. The surprise twist near the end (I don't want to give it away) is predictable and as these twists often are, undermines much of the rest of the novel.
I didn't realize until after I had finished listening to the novel that Dekker was an author of Christian fiction. I did notice a couple of instances where Dekker referred to Christian beliefs in a factual way, which struck me as odd at the time (not being familiar with the author) because they were the kind of statements that would normally be couched with `many Christians believe...' or words to that effect. The novel is ripe with Christian themes and a serial killer who calls himself Satan, but for the most part, this is not overtly Christian fiction. It's a pretty standard commercial serial killer novel although, not an especially good one. 2 1/2 stars.
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66 of 77 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Best Dekker Book in a VERY Long Time, April 14, 2009
BoneMan's Daughters is a story that will shock you, haunt you, amaze you and then just totally freak the living daylights outta you. Ted Dekker has truly bested himself with this story, this protagonist, and this honest-to-goodness bad guy who for sure tops even the infamous Marsuvees, at least in my mind. The characters in BoneMan's Daughters are driven to their own individual (and each understandable) ends and I love that, because it leaves you guessing at every step. Though considerably violent, this story has completely restored my excitement and faith in future Dekker releases. Because it poses a signature Ted Dekkery question: How far would a Father be willing to run into the bleak unknown for his daughter? It's that key unknown that'll keep the pages turning until you hit the very end.
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15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Too many (of the same) words, July 8, 2010
I just wrapped this audiobook after buying it over the weekend. There certainly was some quality here - parts of the plot seemed well hashed out, and the first few chapters really get you going. Sadly, at some point in the story its almost as if the author begins to fluff the pages a little. There are a number of annoying phrases that were repeated ad nauseum, and words that seemed out of place as well. I didn't have the paperback in my hand so I can't judge reading it for myself, but the style didn't play well having it read to me.
The other thing that got me was the characters. None of the characters in this novel were terribly compelling, and the protagonist particularly was prone to fits of melodrama. I lost count of the times he was in a rage, or furious, or despondent or whatever and after a while I wanted to reach into the cd player and slap him in the face. A lot of attention was paid to his inner turmoil, and since he was in that state for most of the book there was a lot of repetition (see paragraph 1).
Overall it was a so-so thriller. I understand that Ted Dekker writes mostly religious fiction and I have not read any of those books so I don't have anything to judge this one against. There was certainly a religious these that ran through the novel and it was generally free from the more gruesome depictions of manslaughter that can inhabit more mainstream crime and thriller authors. I have read some of the reviews and take it that some of his more erm...'faithful' readers said that this wasn't what they expected and they were offended or put off that he had produced such a work. I'm not sure what they were expecting, but if you want to really be offended go read King of Swords or anything by James Lee Burke - there is some real crime writing.
Bottom line; boring, a bit long and repetitive. Two stars.
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