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Showdown (Paradise Series, Book 1) (The Books of History Chronicles) Paperback – January 1, 2007
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Epic battles of good and evil are happening all around us.
Today that battle comes to town with the sound of lone footsteps clacking down the blacktop on a hot, lazy summer afternoon. The black-cloaked man arrives in the sleepy town of Paradise and manages to become the talk of the town within the hour. Bearing the power to grant any unfulfilled dream, he is irresistible.
Seems like bliss . . . but is it?
Or is hell about to break loose in Paradise?
- Print length478 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherWestbow Pr
- Publication dateJanuary 1, 2007
- Dimensions4.25 x 1.25 x 7 inches
- ISBN-101595542302
- ISBN-13978-1595542304
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Product details
- Publisher : Westbow Pr; First Edition (January 1, 2007)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 478 pages
- ISBN-10 : 1595542302
- ISBN-13 : 978-1595542304
- Item Weight : 8 ounces
- Dimensions : 4.25 x 1.25 x 7 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #6,170,720 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #3,328 in Religious Mysteries (Books)
- #17,687 in Christian Mystery & Suspense
- #240,977 in American Literature (Books)
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About the author

"Ted Dekker is a true master of thrillers."
- Nelson DeMille, NY Times bestselling author
"BoneMan's Daughters is a tour-de-force of suspense that demands to be read in one sitting."
-James Rollins, NY Times bestselling author
"Ted Dekker is a master of suspense."
-Library Journal
"Priest's Graveyard is a thrill-a-minute ride, with heart-pounding action and a twist that you'll never see coming."
- Tess Gerritsen, NY Times bestselling author of Ice Cold
"Priest's Graveyard is an amazing novel, utterly compelling, intensely readable, well written, and completely original.
-Douglas Preston, co-creator of the famed Pendergast series
"Here's the best part about The Priest's Graveyard: It's smart enough to realize that, for many, the scariest thing in life isn't a monster or something that bumps in the night. It's love. Love is terrifying. And powerful. And unstoppable. And if you don't already know that, you're about to see why. Priest's Graveyard will haunt you--long after you want it to. - Brad Meltzer, #1 NY Times best selling author of The Book of Fate and The Inner Circle
"If you've never visited Ted Dekker's world, do it. The Priest's Graveyard is perfect entertainment. Beguiling, compelling, challenging, and riveting --fantastic gimmick-free storytelling -- that's what you get with Ted Dekker. Don't pass this one up." - Steve Berry, New York Times bestselling author
TED DEKKER is a New York Times bestselling thriller author. Heralded as a "master of suspense" by Library Journal, Dekker has sold millions worldwide, establishing himself as one of the most widely recognized author brands.
He began his career writing fantasy novels that explored spirituality (Black, Red and White) and has since become a major force in the mainstream fiction arena with his recent thrillers, "Adam," "Thr3e," "Skin," "Obsessed," "BoneMan's Daughters," which landed in the #10 on the New York Times hardcover bestseller list in 2009, and "The Bride Collector". Dekker has been honored with a Christy Award as well as a Gold Medallion Award for Best Fiction. "Thr3e" and his novel "House" became feature films.
Dekker was born to missionaries and grew up among cannibals of Indonesia, and his peculiar upbringing gives him a unique perspective outside the cultural bubble, allowing him the freedom to share provocative insights in his fiction. After leaving Indonesia, Dekker graduated from a multi-cultural high school and took up permanent residence in the United States, earning his B.A. in philosophy and religion, and then went into business.
In the early nineties, Dekker decided to pursue his desire to write fiction, selling his company, moving his family to the mountains of western Colorado, and writing full-time. Two years and three books later his first novel, a supernatural thriller called Heaven's Wager, was published. Dekker proceeded to write 6 more supernatural thrillers, rising to the top of many bestsellers lists and earning himself critical acclaim and legions of fans. "Thr3e" heralded his launch into mainstream fiction and was followed by "Obsessed," "Skin," "Adam," and "BoneMan's Daughters," all of which hit the New York Times bestseller list.
Ted Dekker's fans are comprised of readers of all ages, backgrounds, and belief systems who love his compulsively readable stories, authentic characters, and universal and relatable themes that he explores from a unique point of view.
He resides in Austin, Texas with his wife and children. You can find him at Teddekker.com and Facebook.com/teddekker.
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Dekker had me doing the latter and feeling the former two things. I liked that a lot.
This is a Christian horror novel (in case someone reading this had no clue). It's a Christian publisher, a Christian author, and the book has Christian characters. There's some God-talk. You should know.
You should also not be put off by that if, as I stated, you like a good vs evil story with imaginative and very creepy elements.
The others have provided story synopses here, so you don't need mine, but just in case you're gonna gripe if I don't give it to you, here goes:
Story opens with a bad guy walking into a Colorado town called Paradise. He's definitely not seeming like a good guy, especially given what he does to the first townsman he meets. (Gory.) It's Marsuvees Black and he's come to show Paradise what real hope and grace mean. Only his vision of hope and grace is a really scary one, and it will make you wonder if it's not Lucifer himself come calling to turn Paradise into Hell.
But Paradise, Colorado has a secret community nearby made up of especially smart students (orphans) and the monks who are conducting an experiment (educational in part, but theological and redemptive at core) with these same students.
And soon, it becomes obvious that the fate of Paradise, possibly the world itself, will rest on the struggle between good and evil within the souls and minds and hearts of these students in the secret community. And Paradise will be doomed or be saved depending on what choices the monks and students...and one lone boy from Paradise choose to do.
I'd have to rate this book as at minimum PG 13 and more likely R (for the disturbing violence that a Christian book-buying audience may not always be comfy with.) However, I figure the world is a bloody, violent, evil-riddled place, and anyone who can read a newspaper or TIME magazine without puking--not to mention King or Koontz--should do just fine.
Ted Dekker's writing here is lean and moves along without excessive description. Koontz and King are, I believe, better wordsmiths, but Dekker is at least as good at keeping things moving and the questions rising and the creeps crawling. His invention of a truly gross "dungeony" place where the kids learn about their own inclinations--and not good ones--is Lovecraftian a bit, Bentley Little-ish a bit. Generally: gross. But that's fine. Horror has the freedom as a genre to turn your guts about as well as make your hairs rise.
I deleted a star because the ending chapters lacked clarity. I didn't find the path to the resolution utterly well-developed. I even went "huh" at one part, not really sure what went on, and had to reread. There's a lovely Scriptural parallel in some things that go on, but I think a bit more time was needed in the actual showdown part of SHOWDOWN.
Ultimately: a really cool Christian horror read. Go, Ted!
Mir
Johnny lives in a small Colorado town called Paradise, nestled in a little valley in the Rocky Mountains. Life is dull and mundane for the most part until a mysterious stranger walks into town garbed in black and bringing a message of hope and grace. His name is Black, Marsuvees Black, and he is no ordinary travailing preacher. Johnny knows that he's dangerous, but can't convince anyone in town. Meanwhile in a monastery far above the town thirty children are being raised in isolation as part of a project funded by Harvard called "Project Showdown" which is designed to raise children outside the influences of society in order to raise "noble savages" who may one day change the world for love. Unfortunately one of the students has decided to disobey the rules of the monastery by going into the forbidden dungeons.
Yes, I know it sounds crazy, but trust me, it's great. The story takes one huge twist after another until reality itself is called into question, and everything you know about love and hope will change. If I were to be picky I guess I could call into question some of Dekkers philosophical views about love and free will and liberty, but the very fact that I can nit pick at these ideas is what makes this book so enthralling. This is a must read book for any Dekker fan, and for all those who simply wish to have a good read.
PS; it might be best to read the Circle Trilogy first as it will defiantly make the book more enjoyable, and easier to understand.
Re-read value; High.
The story in this book also continues to build the world created in the Circle trilogy and as you move into Saint, Sinner and Green as well as the Lost Book's series, it really becomes an integral piece in Dekker's overall mythos. While the book was perhaps a bit too "on the nose" a few places and there weren't quite as many twists as I'm accustomed to in a Dekker book, Black is easily one of Dekker's best characters to this point in his career and the Paradise side of the story is just wonderfully mad, if a bit constrained in places by being primarily a work of Christian Fiction.
While I wouldn't quite put Showdown on par with the Circle series as a whole, it's really quite compelling and very enjoyable overall, and it's especially important if you want to read Green and fill in more of the story started by the Circle trilogy. Highly recommended to all, however, this book has some pretty graphic violence and suggestive content that probably wouldn't go over with children younger than 12.








