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ec_newman's review against another edition
couldn't finish this. i don't know, just didn't stay interested.
jobananers's review against another edition
4.0
This review does not pertain to the book, but I just had to say that TED DEKKER IS A GENIUS.
simonrtaylor's review against another edition
3.0
Sinner: Ted Dekker, August 15—25, 2014
My rating: ♦♦♦◊◊
SinnerSinner is the third part of the Paradise Trilogy which itself forms part of the Chronicles of History. The trilogy centres around orphan Billy's decision to write in one of the blank books only for his evil creation, Marsuvees Black, to come to life.
Sinner is very much a sequel and a stand-alone at the same. There are sufficient references to Showdown and Saint, but the plot is removed enough from the preceding instalments to be read in isolation. In fact, Dekker now recommends reading the series backwards and allowing these references to be teasers.
This final instalment is set 13 years after the creation of Black. Billy is now a criminal defence lawyer and his ex-girlfriend Darcy is living a secluded life, traumatised by the events of Showdown. At the opening of the book, Billy gains the ability to read minds while Darcy becomes capable of making minds up. No sooner does this occur do they find themselves working with the FBI, CIA, Senate, White House and other assorted national leaders.
Sinner explores the balance between free speech and tolerance, and how that fits into Christianity which is, by definition, exclusivist. It's a genuinely tricky issue which is handled badly by overstating the reaction of the government. In general, Dekker rams every message down your throat to the point of distraction. Every character insists on banging on at length about how much they never think about a person's race, which sounds unnatural and forced. Subsequent themes about the shunning of Christians by a secular society are similarly heavy-handed, and it seems as though the story is very much a vehicle for Dekker's sermons.
Character development is rushed for all concerned. It seems to happen suddenly, dramatically and then lead to a plateau for a while. It's not believable, the characters are not likeable and it's difficult to invest in them. The plot is very over-the-top and uncertain of its purpose. Is this a supernatural thriller? A political thriller? A spiritual exegesis? And whatever it is builds quite suddenly to a very dramatic over-the-top climax where characters insist a quickly changing rainbow of ideas are each 'the only way' without ever really explaining the need for them.
Most disappointing is the short shrift handed to Marsuvees Black, who is largely absent for the majority of the book. He steals the scenes he appears in early on, but later he is badly mistreated by the author later on which betrays his earlier menace.
There are some good points. It's great to be back in Paradise again and to live in that little close-knit village for a while, however short lived. There are also a couple of genuine surprises and the traditional Dekker twist at the end is clever, even if not particularly - dare I say it? - interesting.
Undeniably a Dekker, he has gathered some complex issues but hasn't constructed them well into a narrative. Sinner misses the mark, and the high bar set by Showdown and overall it's a little disappointing.
My rating: ♦♦♦◊◊
SinnerSinner is the third part of the Paradise Trilogy which itself forms part of the Chronicles of History. The trilogy centres around orphan Billy's decision to write in one of the blank books only for his evil creation, Marsuvees Black, to come to life.
Sinner is very much a sequel and a stand-alone at the same. There are sufficient references to Showdown and Saint, but the plot is removed enough from the preceding instalments to be read in isolation. In fact, Dekker now recommends reading the series backwards and allowing these references to be teasers.
This final instalment is set 13 years after the creation of Black. Billy is now a criminal defence lawyer and his ex-girlfriend Darcy is living a secluded life, traumatised by the events of Showdown. At the opening of the book, Billy gains the ability to read minds while Darcy becomes capable of making minds up. No sooner does this occur do they find themselves working with the FBI, CIA, Senate, White House and other assorted national leaders.
Sinner explores the balance between free speech and tolerance, and how that fits into Christianity which is, by definition, exclusivist. It's a genuinely tricky issue which is handled badly by overstating the reaction of the government. In general, Dekker rams every message down your throat to the point of distraction. Every character insists on banging on at length about how much they never think about a person's race, which sounds unnatural and forced. Subsequent themes about the shunning of Christians by a secular society are similarly heavy-handed, and it seems as though the story is very much a vehicle for Dekker's sermons.
Character development is rushed for all concerned. It seems to happen suddenly, dramatically and then lead to a plateau for a while. It's not believable, the characters are not likeable and it's difficult to invest in them. The plot is very over-the-top and uncertain of its purpose. Is this a supernatural thriller? A political thriller? A spiritual exegesis? And whatever it is builds quite suddenly to a very dramatic over-the-top climax where characters insist a quickly changing rainbow of ideas are each 'the only way' without ever really explaining the need for them.
Most disappointing is the short shrift handed to Marsuvees Black, who is largely absent for the majority of the book. He steals the scenes he appears in early on, but later he is badly mistreated by the author later on which betrays his earlier menace.
There are some good points. It's great to be back in Paradise again and to live in that little close-knit village for a while, however short lived. There are also a couple of genuine surprises and the traditional Dekker twist at the end is clever, even if not particularly - dare I say it? - interesting.
Undeniably a Dekker, he has gathered some complex issues but hasn't constructed them well into a narrative. Sinner misses the mark, and the high bar set by Showdown and overall it's a little disappointing.
micklz24's review against another edition
2.0
I really and truly thought this one was gonna be better than the rest of the series. It was tolerable at first. The dialogue wasn’t as truly terrible. Yes, the plot was still a bit paradoxical and illogical in many ways, but it was decent. And then of course Black had to show back up and start with all of his “wanna trip, baby” crap, and of course everyone magically has a conversion experience by looking into someone’s eyes, and OF COURSE the dialogue has to get corny and just flat out weird before the book can end. And let’s not forget the explosion of LIGHT scene that must always serve as a climax to a paradise novel. I’ve never been so thankful to be done with a series.
With that said, I recognize Dekker is usually, well, better than this. But it’s gonna be a hot minute before I can pick up one of his books again after this series. Considering reading the paradise novels? Read the circle series instead.
With that said, I recognize Dekker is usually, well, better than this. But it’s gonna be a hot minute before I can pick up one of his books again after this series. Considering reading the paradise novels? Read the circle series instead.
hannah_dillard's review against another edition
4.0
This was a good culmination to the trilogy, focusing this on love. It leaves just enough questions to reiterate that Dekker has written other books in this world, the Lost Books and the Books of History. I still have a few more books to complete!
myeverskye's review against another edition
5.0
As always, Ted Dekker does an amazing job with suspence & thrill & tying another series together to completion. Great read!
superstars111's review against another edition
dark
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Hate crime
Moderate: Murder, Racism, and Violence
lifeisstory's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.25
Billy Rediger has spent the last dozen years running from his past. It was he who wrote Marsuvees Black into existence and nearly destroyed himself and Paradise in the process. His attempt to soothe his troubled mind through gambling and booze hasn’t paid off and he finds himself in severe debt to an angry crime boss. But the tables turn when Billy suddenly discovers he has the ability to read minds.
Darcy Lange has also spent a dozen years trying to forget what havoc her thirteen-year-old self brought upon Project Showdown. Life is humdrum and Darcy is apathetic until one day she manifests the ability to persuade others. Almost immediately, Billy and Darcy find themselves reunited and under the care of a CIA agent named Kinnard — reunited because Billy felt the sudden urge to connect with Darcy after being reminded of her, and under the care of Kinnard because he knew of Project Showdown and was anticipating their abilities.
Meanwhile, the outside world is falling apart. Religion in the United States has become increasingly diverse, with more and more claiming no religion at all. Tolerance has become the mantra: everyone’s beliefs are equal and no one way is exclusive. But that mantra is beginning to be challenged. Religious-based hate crime is on the rise, with the lynching of Christians leading to a full-scale riot. Billy and Darcy are called in by the government to use their abilities to quell the crowd. In the middle of this are Katrina Kivi and Johnny Drake. Kat has been quite the teenage rebel and example of religious intolerance. A right hook to the face to a Muslim schoolmate landed her in community service and at the feet of Johnny Drake. Johnny takes in the young girl and through his own powers opens her eyes to the truth.
The religious situation continues to deteriorate, leading to the United States Congress—under influence from Billy and Darcy—to amend the First Amendment to outlaw hate speech such as claims of religious exclusivity. Johnny, Kat, and the residents of Paradise don’t intend to follow any such rules, boldly proclaiming their intentions to preach salvation through Christ alone. The final battle begins to rage as it pits one town against the nation, but even more importantly one man against himself—or one man against his creation. Marsuvees Black is back and he’s been manipulating things all along, baby.
As much as it pains me to say it, Sinner is an absolute disappointment. The plot is a discombobulated mess—you’ll notice I took 500 words to simply try to give a basic setup. Billy and Darcy have these amazing powers, yet their use of them extends to dispersing a crowd, showing off, and influencing a Senate vote. Honestly not that thrilling. While Saint portrayed Strople/Johnny’s power through assassinations and action sequences, Billy and Darcy get government meetings and terrible dialogue
Kat Kivi’s character, while dear to Dekker’s heart, was extraneous to this story. I know Ted’s reasons for writing her, I know of her significance and understand how she personalizes the story for Ted, but this is a Paradise novel and introducing a new character doesn’t work. It’s almost like, in trying to write everything, Dekker spread the story too thin and favored Sinner’s thematic elements over the story.
Which…I don’t know why Ted had this brief time period where he was suddenly worried about free speech (a year after this book was published, Ted’s novel Immanuel’s Veins would be banned in the Netherlands for its sensuality, but the timeline doesn’t fit) but in both this book and his Christmas gift book The Drummer Boy, Dekker turns into a raging fearmonger insisting that all religious freedoms will soon be going away. It’s a theme that’s tonally inconsistent with the Project Showdown series, reduces his most iconic villain to a government worker, and isn’t it just a bit ironic to publish a best-selling book complaining about the lack of freedom of speech?
Even if Dekker did treat the theme with the nuance and perspective it needed, it wasn’t a story that fit within the Project Showdown milieu. The story doesn’t fit the characters. Ted wanted to tell a different story, but here’s the story he had to write to finish the trilogy, and that’s why we get what we get.
What does work is the secondary theme of Billy’s fight against Marsuvees Black. This is what the story should have been about. There was the creation of evil (condemnation) and redemption through sacrifice (justification) in Showdown and the formation of spiritual identity (sanctification) in Saint. Sinner should have been about Billy and Darcy’s attempt to ultimately defeat evil as incarnated in Marsuvees Black (glorification). That would make the series a thematic parallel to Black, Red, and White as well. Showdown was written as a standalone novel years before it was published. After it was published, there had to be a follow-up. As such, neither Saint nor Sinner really seems to fit as sequels—but it’s especially egregious with Sinner. That ad hoc construction of the trilogy really impacts the whole of the overarching Books of History Chronicles narrative. A tighter, more focused plot that followed naturally out of Showdown and had more secure connections to the rest of the series would have not only improved Sinner, but the BoHC as a whole.
In the end, too much theme, not enough story, and this is not the story these characters needed to tell—and not one that Dekker tells well. The thematic fearmongering falls flat. Dekker does a disservice to his greatest villain. And the book is just slow and boring. Dekker fans need to read this to round out the Paradise Trilogy and flesh out their knowledge of The Books of History Chronicles, but this isn’t a book I’d otherwise read.