Three, by Ted Dekker is a twisted roller coaster of a ride. This was my first experience with Dekker, and can I say that it was exhilarating. The book starts out with a young seminary student receiving a cell phone call telling him to confess his sins in three minutes, or the car that he is driving will blow up. This sets off a chain-reaction of events that lead to a surprising conclusion.

The book has strong points and weak points. The weak points are that the truth is a bit too obvious from early on if the reader pays attention. Having the audience figure out the truth is great for a mystery novel, but not so much for a suspense novel that is supposed to expound deep theological concepts. The other weakness is that the plot does not flow well. The plot stalls in places, and picks up in others. At the end of the book, the plot goes into full "hyperdrive", as it were, to the story's resolution. Part of this can be justified by the necessities of the plot itself, but part of it really can not. If the pacing throughout the novel had been better, then the end would not have appeared to be so jarring.

But the strengths of the novel far outweigh it's weaknesses. The plot is interesting, and the novel pulls the reader into the world of the characters. The overall plot is good enough to make up for the poor pacing of the novel. The characters themselves are superbly written. Too many authors sacrifice characters for plot, or plot for characters. Dekker properly balances both. You are right there feeling what the protagonists and antagonists are feeling. Dekker makes the fear, joy, happiness, sorrow, and other emotions so real.

Another strength is the theological concepts discussed in the book. Few authors have the talent of a CS Lewis or JRR Tolkien to expound on theological truths within in a work and have this complement the work. While I would question whether anyone should put Mr. Dekker up there with these great men, he is one of the few modern authors that can accomplish this difficult blending of theology and good, fun story telling.

A brief warning that there are concepts of hatred, violence, murder, terrorism, child abuse, and psychological problems, in this book. This book should not be read by anyone who is not high school aged or older.

In the end, this book has some problems in predictability once you figure out the plot (early on in my case), and some issues with pacing. That would cause me to rate it 3 stars, but the rest of the plot manages to draw you in despite these issues, and the characterizations, and excellent combination of theology and good story telling more than make up for this. I look forward to reading more of Mr. Dekker's works, and I highly recommend this book. ( )

Another good pulp-fiction thriller ( )

This is a top notch thriller that had me absorbed in the story from page one. Dekker is great at heightening the suspense and really keeps the reader guessing. During the time I was reading this, I felt some of the scenes were a little long, especially at the end when two of the characters are debating the evil nature of man. Afterward, I read somewhere that this novel is considered Christian fiction (shocker) and then the debate made sense. Though it was still a tad too long, especially that late in the book, when you just want to know who the killer is. ( )

This book was excellent!!! I cant believe the twist, TED DEKKER is deffinetly my new fav author ! Looking forward to reading more. This was my fouth book reading of his, and I really think hes awesome! ( )

Split personality where one is the serial killer stalking the second while the third is the stalkee's best friend.

The movie starring Marc Blucas & Justine Waddell is also very good. ( )