absolutely amazing! ( )

Two words for those of you out there who haven't gotten to know this author: Dekker cheats.
After having read most of his previous books, I accurately predicted major events in Showdown well before they happened.
You will not guess the plot twists, so I will not give them away.
I was frustrated at Dekker's literary cheating, but despite that, this book hit close to home in exploring issues like freedom of expression, speech and the press.
Despite the cliche subject matter, Dekker handles the situations well and compellingly. Not quite as good as Saint, but much better than Showdown. ( )

Rating: *** good

Description: Sinner is the story of Marsuvees Black, a personification of raw evil who speaks with wicked persuasion far more destructive than swords or guns. Beware all who stand in his way. It’s the story of Billy Rediger and Darcy Lange, two unsuspecting survivors of a research project gone bad, who discover that they are quite extraordinary, perhaps the two single most powerful souls in the land. Listen to them or pay a terrible price. And it’s the story of Johnny Drake, the one who comes out of the desert and leads the 3000. Follow him and die.

Sinner is the 3rd and final story in the Paradise series. Showdown is the first and Saint is the 2nd. The story is well done and interesting, but the characters are lukewarm at best and the action doesn't pack the powerful punch that the first two did. In Showdown, you positively felt the evil of Marsuvees Black. Unfortunately, I didn't get the same impression in Sinner. The message was the most important factor in the story: Don't take your freedom for granted.

Sinner by Ted Dekker is a peek into a future where “tolerance” has become the new religion. Our children are fed a constant diet of the necessity for “tolerance” in school every day. While we become tolerant of cultures and religious beliefs outside our own, we find that the beliefs that are still in the majority are becoming less tolerated. I’ve often felt that as a society, we need to stop focusing on and celebrating the differences between all of us. Instead I’ve thought that if we could use the time our children are taught to celebrate our cultural differences to show our children how very much we all are the same, we would build a stronger more cohesive society. I’m not saying that our huge country shouldn’t be filled with people of all colors, religions, and beliefs. I’m merely suggesting that underneath all of our individual customs, we are all pretty much the same. We all want a better life for our kids, we all want a safe place to live and we all want to be secure. It’s how we achieve this that seems to be the problem.

Dekker makes interesting comparisons with the way our society is heading now. It’s simply not enough to tolerate others, we must always be cognizant of our ability to offend and be offended. In Dekker’s future, our seeming inability to ignore the things we don’t participate in becomes intensified ten fold. And our hyper sensitivity to contrary beliefs magnifies as well. In this scenario, a public Christmas tree becomes, instead of a beautiful charming symbol of one groups belief; a symbol of oppression and hatred displayed only to remind some that they don’t belong.

I believe the goal of Sinner was to point out the direction we’re heading in, to sort of sound an alarm of some sort to both Christians and more secular readers. The book succeeds on that level, Christians will note the way society and our government is slowly eroding the display of their beliefs. The more secular reader can see how government has slowly started to erode our Bill of Rights, and perhaps be a bit more aware of the encroaching of our rights that takes place with such regularity.

I enjoy Ted Dekker’s books and although I haven’t read any of the other Paradise novels, Sinner didn’t disappoint. This particular novel was a tad bit preachier than the other novels I’ve read by this author. I’m not particularly religious, (no I’m not going to say that annoying “I’m spiritual, not religious” line. What the heck does that even mean?) but I usually really enjoy Dekker’s books. Some reviewers have mentioned the Left Behind series whilst reviewing Sinner. I attempted to read that series, but found it just way too contrived and not terribly well written. I know, the series has sold something like a gazillion books, but I just didn’t much like them, so I quit after the third or fourth book.

Dekker’s novel reminds us all that while tolerance is to be expected in a society as broad as ours, we must be on guard against the types of intolerance it breeds. ( )