Customer Reviews

Obsessed

5 star:		(59)
4 star:		(33)
3 star:		(13)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

How far would someone go to satisfy their all-consuming obsession for the ultimate treasure? In Ted Dekker's novel 'Obsessed' we meet Stephen Friedman and Roth Braun who are about to find out. Stephen is a wealthy Jewish immigrant who came to America from an orphanage in Russia. Having searched to years with no success, he has come to believe the mother he never knew is lost forever. Roth, the son of a Nazi Commandant, is determined to finish what his father started decades ago in a Nazi labor camp, no matter what the cost.

The adventure begins when an article in a newspaper convinces Stephen that he is the son of Rachel Spritzer, who had recently died, leaving behind one of the very valuable Stones of David, believed to be one of the five Stones chosen by David to kill the giant Goliath. Obsessed with finding the rest of the Stones, Stephen will go to any lengths to secure the treasure and discover his past. To complicate matters, Roth has also learned of the Stones and is able to buy Rachel Spritzer's house before Stephen is able to. Convinced that clues to what they seek are hidden in her house, both men are working feverishly to find them before the other can.

I would highly recommend Obsessed as a great read. As those who have read his books before would already know, Ted Dekker writes a novel that keeps you at the edge of your seat the whole time. The pages are filled with twists as unexpected as always, action, adventure, mystery, and a bit of romance. If you enjoy this is book, I'd also suggest Blink, Thr3e, and his Circle Trilogy.

I'm a big fan of Ted Dekker's books, with "Three" remaining one of my top five all time favorites for the payoff alone. With "Obsessed", we have an uneven but well-told story. The elevating tension felt in Three is not here, settling instead for a slow-burn rise the first few chapters that settles into simmering for the remaining portion of the book. The focus of the book is on the obsession of two characters for the same thing. Halfway through the book, the obsession of one changes, then the other does too, effectively destroying the need of the first half of the story.

In all honesty, this isn't Ted's best book. The characters here make truly strange decisions that make no sense given the way they are portrayed to us. Their obsessions become fanatical far too quickly to be believed. The ending of the story doesn't really have a payoff like his previous books, ending with a sigh rather than a bang. Still a good read, but not on par with his previous thrillers.

I just finished Dekker's Obsession this morning, and then finished reading the reviews on Amazon for the book. I am shocked that there is only one other person out of now 84 reviews that sees what I see in this book. Dekker's portrayal of the evil of the Braun's is in itself evil. I have read most of Dekker's books, but this one is over-the-top. To a person that enjoys modern horror movies or to a person that has not had any hardcore experience with spiritual warfare, his tales of the bloodletting and hangings are just sick/gross/gorey. To someone who has been in the trenches, his delivery of the satanic mindset/philosophy is what is truly scary. This is done with no mention of salvation beyond talk about an old messianc Jew. To my way of thinking, if I am going to read a supposedly Christian book that goes to that detailed level of truly satanic thought (which I hope I do not do again), I surely want to read about the only weapon that we have against such forces and that is our salvation in Jesus Christ. Don't get me wrong, I have read Peretti's great Darkness books as well as several other's that deal with spiritual warfare, and as such am not shy with the topic. I really wonder what is going on with Ted to write this book. Your typical secular writer I believe would not go to that level of evil in his writing. I would like to think that your typical Christian writer would not go there either because it is spiritually unhealthy to go down that road. To the non-Christian or weak Christain, this book can plant some really sick stuff in their heads. The following is a clip from the only other Amazon review that feels the ways that I do:

"Of greater concern was the darkness of the evil in this story. It is one thing to portray an evil person, but when these characters are involved in satanic rituals, draining blood from their victims and drinking it, it seems that a line has been crossed, even if the deeds are portrayed with a minimum of detail. At some point should we not need to heed the apostle's warning to "Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret" (Ephesians 5:11,12)? At what point do we cease to even speak of the deeds done in darkness? I cannot say, but I do know that the sheer depravity of the deeds in this book made me uncomfortable, and I'm no prude. I thought back to when I used to read thrillers of this type and realized that many good authors have been able to develop "bad guys" without resorting to such evil deeds."

My $.02 for what it is worth. As always, Dekker's writing style is great, but he surely was in a bad place when he wrote this one. I'll pray for him. Incidentally, I finished that book about 3 hour ago, so my thoughts are obviously quite fresh.

The novel obsessed consists of two separate stories, the first is about a man named Stephen and the second is set in a Nazi concentration camp in World War II. Ruth and Martha are both pregnant and on a train to a work camp run by the ruthless Gerhard Braun. At Torun, they live in brutal conditions and are at the whims of Braun. Braun is an evil man who kills Jewish women. When Braun finds out Ruth and Martha are pregnant he wanted to kill both them both. Dekker submerses the reader into the fear and desperation felt by all of the prisoners, as well as the agony of having hope stripped from them.
The other story is about Stephen, a real estate agent. One day he receives a letter through a friend. The letter is from an old woman saying her son has a unique burn mark on his chest. Finally knowing who his mother is gives Stephen a purpose in life. He searches his mom's property and also finds out she is wealthy. She even donated an ancient Jewish artifact worth millions to a museum. But before Stephen can search his mom's property further, it is bought by Roth Braun, the ruthless son of Gerhard. You could probably say that they end up enemies, but you have to read the book to find out what happens. I recommend this book to anyone.

It was fair, but after the totally implausible actions (fiction should make sense within the bounds of the fictional "world" given in the novel)I find the book wore out its welcome with me. .Characters developed as "main" yet have significant things happen that are brushed aside with only a slight comment...People who show up out of nowhere with unreal "talents" that help move the plot along--and then fade into nothingness...bad guys that help move the plot along---for money--and then don't even fade...they simply disappear---and the final ending---the "you've got to be kidding" scenario....Well, as much as I like Dekker (one of the few Christian authors next to Peretti that can actually write intelligently)I'll have to pass on this one with only a "fair"....but hey...the idea of the plot was very very good...

Obsessed is the second novel I've read by Ted Dekker, the first being Thr3e. All in all I found this book to be a compelling read. There is good character development, a solid plot and good dialog. Stephen, the main character in the story becomes "obsessed" with an object. As the story progresses one can see how a person can become obsessed with something and go to great lengths to obtain it even nearly to the point of going beyond rational thinking. I believe the author succeeds in getting this point across. The antagonist (Rolf) is cold and calculating with a very sinister overtone which is carried thru to the end. However there are a some glitches in the story like a few inconsistencies (when Stephen pulls a knife out of his sock) and a few other areas when the author skips over important details. And, to be honest the premise is a bit concocted. One has to suspend belief a bit that a mother and son, separated at birth for nearly 30+ years just happen to live only 20 miles from one another and that her byline in a newspaper just happens to be read by her son (but he doesn't know he's her son). But, beyond these drawbacks the story I felt was solid. The flashbacks to the Nazi concentration camps of WWII were lurid and wholly believable and connected the story well. The story has a nice little plot twist at the end. Even with the noted drawbacks I found the book very readable.

What to say? T3d's done it again. I'm usually not much of a fan of modern works. Classical literature is my passion, and I'm often somewhat skeptical of contemporary author's ability to write well. And then, I read Black. My entire mindset underwent a paradigm shift so dramatic, so utterly complete, that I began to devour any and all books by Ted Dekker. Now, several months later, I have had the incredible privledge of reading his latest offering: Obsessed.

As has become his trademark, Dekker seamlessly weaves spiritual depth into a genuinely captivating tale. Gone are the days when a parable sounded like a parable and nothing more. In Obsessed, the imagination has been given full freedom to invent and create and illuminate in the tradition of the Inventor and Creator and Illuminator. Tolkien's idea of "subcreation" has rarely been capitalized upon so richly and rewardingly.

Others have already given a basic synopsis of the plot; I shall not bore you with recitation of the book's moving story. Rather, I seek to spark some thoughtful, reasoned consideration of the book's main premise - Obsession.

Ted makes a shrewd observation near the beginning of the book. A wise, kindly old antiques dealer tells Stephen - the protagonist - that man was created to obsess. Value is often not so much intrinsic as ascribed. For example, diamonds are shiny, compressed carbon. Yet, they are valued and sought after world-over. Why? Because people percieve value in them, and are willing to pay copious amounts of money to obtain them. The price a person is willing to pay determines the worth of the diamond. We know that people obsess over such petty things. Indeed, entire wars have been waged over less. And Ted Dekker has the audacity to posit that humans act in such manner because they were created to do so!!!

In fact, he goes so far as to say that our obsessive tendencies are a reflection of God's character, because He is obsessed with us. Moreover, and much more importantly He is obsessed with Himself. Due to His infinite worthiness, His obsession is not petty or narcissitic, but wise and proper. And in the midst of His obsession is one great and glorious goal, one end to which His obsession must lead: He longs to lavish the extravagance of His love upon His children - to the praise of the glory of His grace!

The problem is, mankind has collectively shifted focus from what should be the object of their affection and obsession - God Himself - onto worthless baubles and meaningless floccinaucinihilipilification. To combat this, Ted has carefully crafted a brilliant expose of our spiritual unfaithfulness and wrapped it in the guise of a fascinating, compelling, oft-disturbing novel. And for that I am thankful. By the end of my read, I finally understood - and longed for! - the need for obsession. My earnest prayer is for Christ to be my all. I desire to be obsessed with Him as He is obsessed with me. May you who read this become consumed with the same obsession.

Oh, and make sure to read Obsessed if you haven't already. For that matter, read all his books! I've enjoyed every one of them. Elyon's blessings!!!!!!!
~EvadingShadows

I don't get what the other readers liked about this manufactured thriller. Yes, there were some suspenseful scenes (too few) and a couple times when the characters poked at my emotions (some situations truly are heart-wrenching), but overall the plot was unbelievable, the writing OK but not great, and the characters were not very deeply developed, so I didn't care about them very much. Also, they seemed to think and act inconsistently. I sensed were the story was going, "twists" and all, and without fail, there it went. It was very formulaic. Mr. Dekker does try hard, and maybe that's the problem. I got the feeling he was trying TOO hard to make me care. Truly great writers have a knack for pulling the reader in without showing the tricks they use to do it. The cards up Mr. Dekker's sleeves are too apparent.

I was fortuntate enough to read a galley of this wonderful novel. If you liked Thr3e, you'll love Obsessed. Gone are the days when very basic, stale plots gave us yet one more book to waste our minds on. Dekker has a unique knack for combining plot elelments that make you laugh and think at the same time; give you chills and thrills back to back.

Obsessed is the story of an Obsession that is born in a Nazi prison camp and finaly plays out in all of its glory in the mid seventies. I won't give away the plot except to say that the protagonist, Stephen Friedman, and the antagonist, Roth Braun, are both after the same invaluable relic. But as with all of Dekker's books, in the end it's so much more. It's edgy, maybe more so than PW would like good old fashioned Christian fiction to be. As for me, I'm keeping my fingers crossed for the day that there are another ten authors who write books like this.

More and more, I'm seeing Dekker apply his formula to different settings. The story tracks closely to Thr3e and Blink, as a psychological-suspense thrill ride. In this case, the author traverses the very tense generational struggle of Jews who survived the Holocaust, those who barely remember it, and those who never experienced it. Stephen Friedman fits in the middle, and tries his best to escape burdensome and unsolvable emotions by simply distancing himself from them.

Another strength of Dekker is his ability to bring us into the mind of evil and perversion. Roth Braun and his father are unrepentent anti-Semites, who glory not in racial purity, but in pure worship of "the prince of the air." I felt the twisted pleasure these butchers take in emotionally toying with their victims, instilling them with hope, then dashing it. It's a scary thing to understand why psychopaths do what they do. This author brings us to that uncomfortable place.

In-depth characterization, several surprising but ultimately intelligent twists, and high-speeed pacing are standard fare for Dekker's novels, and these same ingredients saturate Obsessed. As a stand alone, this might well garner five stars--especially to those new to what I call the Dekker genre. However, having read nearly all of his previous works, I have noticed with Obsessed the feel of formula. It is as if he has found a writing equation, and simply is running different scenarios through it. It works well, but over time becomes somewhat predictable. I came to the end of Obsessed and was pleased, but not greatly surprised at how the story wrapped up.

Bottom-line: This is great writing, with excellent characterization and tempo. I only hope Dekker continues to stretch his approach.