Adam (Hardcover)

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Editorial Reviews

Review

In this supernatural horror story, prolific novelist Dekker (Skin; THR3E) explores themes of good and evil through a demon-possessed serial killer with mixed results. FBI special agent Daniel Clark's obsession with his job has cost him his marriage, but he's determined to find the serial killer known as "Eve." He's murdered 15 young women, each during a new moon, and is about to murder another. Daniel briefly sees the killer, but his memory glitches when he almost dies at the scene. In one of the novel's less believable plot twists, Daniel decides that in order to recall the murderer's face he must go into cardiac arrest several times to attempt to jump-start his memory. Dekker can't resist lecturing his readers, but the pacing is swift and the point of view changes smooth. Moreover, Dekker's use of monthly crime magazine stories as a technique of fleshing out the background of the killer works surprisingly well. But the story falls apart at the end: a multichapter conclusion features a too-long demon-possession scene with a strangely nonprofane demon ("You pathetic pile of excrement"), and some plot elements are not convincingly resolved. Conservative faith-based readers may find this novel too graphic, while general market readers will be perplexed at the awkward attempts to sidestep profanity.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. -- Publishers Weekly

Product Description

It takes an obsessive mind to know one. And Daniel Clark knows the elusive killer he's been stalking.

He's devoted every waking minute as a profiler to find the serial killer known only as Eve. He's pored over the crime scenes of sixteen young women who died mysterious deaths, all in underground basements or caverns. He's delved into the killer's head and puzzled over the twisted religious overtones of the killings.

What Daniel can't possibly know is that he will be Eve's next victim. He will be the killer's first Adam. After sixteen hopeless months, the case takes a drastic turn on a very dark night when Daniel is shot and left for dead.

Resuscitated after twenty minutes of clinical death, Daniel finds himself haunted by the experience. He knows he's seen the killer's face, but the trauma of dying has obscured the memory and left him with crushing panic attacks. Nothing--not even desperate, dangerous attempts to reexperience his own death--seems to bring him closer to finding the killer.

Then Eve strikes again, much closer to home. And Daniel's obsession explodes into a battle for his life . . . his sanity . . . his very soul.

Enter a world of death and near death that blurs the lines between fiction and reality in a way that will leave you stunned.

"The detail is stunning, pointing to meticulous research in FBI methods, forensic medicine, and psychological profiling. We have to keep telling ourselves that this is fiction. At the same time, we can't help thinking that not only could it happen, but that it will happen if we're not careful."

David M. Kiely and Christina McKenna, authors of The Dark Sacrament

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 400 pages
• Publisher: Thomas Nelson; First Edition edition (April 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1595540075
• ISBN-13: 978-1595540072
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.3 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (67 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #232,736 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dekker Fan? Order it Now!, March 2, 2008

By	Kelly Klepfer (Iowa) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

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.

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Danger in the Details, March 21, 2008

By	Eric Wilson "novelist" (Nashville, TN United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)

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."

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A good read, but Dekker isn't at his best here..., May 8, 2008

By	J. Brewer "Pastor J" (USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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.