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supermantei's review against another edition
2.0
The first third of this book was good - story building and not knowing what was happening. The middle third was a little twisty, complicated to follow and drawn out. The last third was anticlimactic and felt really flat. Not the big reveal I was expecting at all.
syvehlla's review against another edition
5.0
GREATEST BOOK I HAVE READ! I love Dekker's work. I have most of his books, I'm still slowly making my way through them all and intend to read his daughter's books. But the suspense in the book was mind-blowing when i first read it! And the twist in the end... AMAZING. I watched the movie as well and it did not do the book justice at all. I love the suspense, all the characters, everything. I would recommend to any and everyone.
misskristi's review
I just can’t. It’s not compelling enough to finish right now. I may come back around and try to finish it later.
scottk1265's review against another edition
4.0
This book was excellent, fast paced and kept me guessing, it is rare when you find a book that really is a page turner, as touted on the back cover. At least for me. But ever now and again the bold captions on back covers CAN COME TRUE !!!! there is hope. This was one of those, it has me seeking out other Dekker books to read, although truthfully I have not done so yet. I am going to be rectifying that soon enough with the purchase of Priest's Graveyard and Sanctuary. Let's see if Mr Dekker can live up to the hype......again !
thatchick77's review against another edition
4.0
Really good. I did not pick up I. the ending until almost the end.
copperbeech's review against another edition
1.0
Don't read this review if you don't want the plot twist revealed.
I can't believe I just spent 4 hours reading this book. 4 hours of my life that I can't get back. It's 352 pages that should have ended at about 175. If there is anything that I hate it's a "let's fill this in with something" "Three's Company" (no pun) miscommunication conjecture-laden spun up on crank plot. What I hate more is a "Three's Company" miscommunication conjecture-laden spun up on crank plot trying to inject sinister overtones and intrigue with its conjectureness. It was so repetitive, turning spirals on itself. That will teach me to believe reviews of things. Everything I read said it was this author's strongest work (thanks for the warning) and that it was captivating and kept you riveted to figure out the twist. For those of you who were avid VC Andrews's fans, it reads like the works done after the author's death, when they were just rehashing the same (...) over and over. No edge at all.
Let me just run down the parts of it that make me want to puke:
* the lack of understanding of MPD
* the lack of distinguishing MPD from DID, Schizo and PTSD (very very vague descriptions)
* the good/bad dark/light polarity whose only grey area can be a wounded child--ie innocent powerlessness
* the really weak movement of the plot (ie a ping pong match)
Granted, the average joe reading this plot doesn't know anything about MPD et al, so it will read like a definitive fictional work. That frightens me more.
Potentially positive points, if I could stop chastising myself for finishing it:
* the lauding of spirituality over religion
* the very level handling of christianity and the church in general
* the interesting plot concept (that withered)
* interesting though thinly sketched characters
* the distinction between emotional and psychological abuse
* some nice insights into human nature, which were conveyed to ALL humans, including those in pulpits
It started out interesting, but even by about chapter 10 I was starting to feel that it was all occurring upstairs from The Ropers. That really is my biggest annoyance with the book. Some of the characterizations of MPD were spot on, but explaining it against the backdrop of the other possibilities was kinda negative. I kept reading it because I really did want to know what happened, but not because it was so enthralling that I couldn't put it down. I wanted to hope it was going somewhere Other and not where it was set up to go because it was so poorly done. Why did I pick it up at all? Because it's a book-to-script coming out in theatres later this year that is getting a lot of buzz. harrumph in the end it was exactly what I thought it would be--a watered down homogenized Christian thriller written so as not to really state anything, thus, not offend anyone. Good marketing device, bad bad writing.
I can't believe I just spent 4 hours reading this book. 4 hours of my life that I can't get back. It's 352 pages that should have ended at about 175. If there is anything that I hate it's a "let's fill this in with something" "Three's Company" (no pun) miscommunication conjecture-laden spun up on crank plot. What I hate more is a "Three's Company" miscommunication conjecture-laden spun up on crank plot trying to inject sinister overtones and intrigue with its conjectureness. It was so repetitive, turning spirals on itself. That will teach me to believe reviews of things. Everything I read said it was this author's strongest work (thanks for the warning) and that it was captivating and kept you riveted to figure out the twist. For those of you who were avid VC Andrews's fans, it reads like the works done after the author's death, when they were just rehashing the same (...) over and over. No edge at all.
Let me just run down the parts of it that make me want to puke:
* the lack of understanding of MPD
* the lack of distinguishing MPD from DID, Schizo and PTSD (very very vague descriptions)
* the good/bad dark/light polarity whose only grey area can be a wounded child--ie innocent powerlessness
* the really weak movement of the plot (ie a ping pong match)
Granted, the average joe reading this plot doesn't know anything about MPD et al, so it will read like a definitive fictional work. That frightens me more.
Potentially positive points, if I could stop chastising myself for finishing it:
* the lauding of spirituality over religion
* the very level handling of christianity and the church in general
* the interesting plot concept (that withered)
* interesting though thinly sketched characters
* the distinction between emotional and psychological abuse
* some nice insights into human nature, which were conveyed to ALL humans, including those in pulpits
It started out interesting, but even by about chapter 10 I was starting to feel that it was all occurring upstairs from The Ropers. That really is my biggest annoyance with the book. Some of the characterizations of MPD were spot on, but explaining it against the backdrop of the other possibilities was kinda negative. I kept reading it because I really did want to know what happened, but not because it was so enthralling that I couldn't put it down. I wanted to hope it was going somewhere Other and not where it was set up to go because it was so poorly done. Why did I pick it up at all? Because it's a book-to-script coming out in theatres later this year that is getting a lot of buzz. harrumph in the end it was exactly what I thought it would be--a watered down homogenized Christian thriller written so as not to really state anything, thus, not offend anyone. Good marketing device, bad bad writing.
tel4him's review against another edition
1.0
I didn't like this book at all! It just was NOT believable to me.
renelaine's review against another edition
5.0
Oh my goodness. I was in shock for a while after I finished this book. When I first started reading Dekker, I was a little skeptical. Now i love him and am going to reserve all his books! Amazing book, although one negative review I read pointed out a few minor problems, mainly having to do with the reality of the characters. I would recommend this book to anyone in a heartbeat. :)
ryannek's review against another edition
2.0
I don't even know where to begin.
This book is a mess.
The storyline is too rushed in parts, and too drawn-out in others. The actual plot is only redeemed by its unexpected ending. The crap with the bombs and the riddles were weird, and the characters were super weird, and ugh I just didn't enjoy this book as much as I thought I would.
So I'll go into more detail. The plot seemed to be confused, and didn't present itself very well. It hid behind a mountain of cliches and stereotypes, so that it was hard to know what was going on.
As for the characters, I disliked the protagonist. Kevin never really stands out. Instead, he skips from archetype to archetype and never truly makes himself extraordinary. The ending makes sense of some of this, but still.
Sam and Slater were pitiful backups. Sam was this overemotional, trying-too-hard-to-be-cool female lead while Slater was one of the most pathetic villains ever. Again, slightly redeemed by the ending.
Jennifer was uninteresting, to say the least. I didn't feel her pain. Her character, along with Dr. John Francis and everyone else, was a stereotype. Blehhh.
Don't even get me started on Balinda and her crazy family. It was almost too crazy to be real...
The dialogue was cringe-worthy. Like seriously, reading it was almost painful. Everyone was saying the stupidest stuff, from the female lead saying things like "Oh Kevin, how I love you. These last three days with you have reminded me how desperately I love you...please, please tell me we can beat this. Please tell me we can slay this dragon, my dear knight" and the supposedly scary villain saying things like "I hate you, college boy" and calling Kevin things like "squat" and "puke" like he's afraid to use an actual insult.
It's a smart book, no doubt. But it's muddied by bad characters, dialogue, plot, and overall, bad presentation.
This book is a mess.
The storyline is too rushed in parts, and too drawn-out in others. The actual plot is only redeemed by its unexpected ending. The crap with the bombs and the riddles were weird, and the characters were super weird, and ugh I just didn't enjoy this book as much as I thought I would.
So I'll go into more detail. The plot seemed to be confused, and didn't present itself very well. It hid behind a mountain of cliches and stereotypes, so that it was hard to know what was going on.
As for the characters, I disliked the protagonist. Kevin never really stands out. Instead, he skips from archetype to archetype and never truly makes himself extraordinary. The ending makes sense of some of this, but still.
Sam and Slater were pitiful backups. Sam was this overemotional, trying-too-hard-to-be-cool female lead while Slater was one of the most pathetic villains ever. Again, slightly redeemed by the ending.
Jennifer was uninteresting, to say the least. I didn't feel her pain. Her character, along with Dr. John Francis and everyone else, was a stereotype. Blehhh.
Don't even get me started on Balinda and her crazy family. It was almost too crazy to be real...
The dialogue was cringe-worthy. Like seriously, reading it was almost painful. Everyone was saying the stupidest stuff, from the female lead saying things like "Oh Kevin, how I love you. These last three days with you have reminded me how desperately I love you...please, please tell me we can beat this. Please tell me we can slay this dragon, my dear knight" and the supposedly scary villain saying things like "I hate you, college boy" and calling Kevin things like "squat" and "puke" like he's afraid to use an actual insult.
It's a smart book, no doubt. But it's muddied by bad characters, dialogue, plot, and overall, bad presentation.