Adam

This dark disturbing thrill ride may not be what you were expecting from a book released by a Christian publisher. Welcome to the world of Ted Dekker, who exposes evil in all it's gruesomeness, but also shows the power of God's light that overcomes evil's darkness. In Adam that evil comes in the form of "Eve"--a serial killer hunted by Daniel Clark. Daniel is convinced that Eve's compulsion to kill is the result of the religious beliefs he was exposed to as a child. Daniel's profiling of Eve helps his FBI team get close to catching the elusive killer--so close that Daniel gets a glimpse of the killer, just before he is shot in the head. Amazingly Daniel doesn't die--his partner is able to resuscitate him and he becomes obsessed with the show more secrets to Eve's identity that he believes are now locked inside his own head. But the real key to Eve's identity leads him to confront an evil power the atheistic Daniel never expected to find.
Dekker dares to portray demon possession with frightening detail, and raises questions about whether or not it still exists in our modern world. Reading Adam is not for the faint of heart, though the hunt for the serial killer storyline is fairly straightforward and full of enough twists and turns to keep the reader turning the pages. I enjoyed the suspense of this story and the darkness was tolerable--more so than in some of Dekker's other recent books. If you enjoy books written from a Christian point of view that don't sugarcoat the reality of evil than Dekker is definitely an author you will enjoy--and the fast pace and thrills of Adam make this a great book of his to put at the top of your "to read" list. show less

Just because we don’t believe in something, does that mean it can’t be true? That is the crux of Ted Dekker’s novel, Adam. Daniel Clark, an FBI profiler, has been hunting a serial killer named Eve who has killed 15 women, and Clark is desperate to stop him. Clark dies in a close encounter with Eve and is resuscitated. He is not the same man as before, and suffers panic attacks and from overwhelming bouts of fear. As the novel progresses, it becomes obvious that Daniel Clark is not one to ever believe in the concepts of God and Satan, and all that is associated with these beliefs. And in this novel at least, disbelief can open you up to a whole world of evil.

The supernatural element aside, the book is a very well done crime novel. show more The characters are well thought out, interact quite well and Dekker has used some plot devices that came as a surprise to this reader. It was quite easy to get into the skin of whichever character was being portrayed at the time.

The supernatural is, however the main element of this novel. Do we believe? Can we believe in good, without believing in evil? Does disbelief lower our defenses, so we are blind to the reality of evil? In a world as secular as ours, it becomes quite easy to deride religion and believers in general. After all, the only real proof appears to be belief and faith, and in our world, these ephemeral concepts seem just a bit outdated and outlandish. If you disbelieve, this book is well written enough to make you stop for at least a moment and consider your position. If you haven't ever given it much thought, you might be finding yourself considering the possibilities just a bit more often. And if you've come to realize that you do believe in at least the power of good in our world, then you’ll probably find yourself doing a little gut check on your belief in the power of evil. show less

I really enjoyed this one. I think alot of ppl in the reviews here are taking this way too seriously. Yes, this book deals with demonic possessions, religion and near death experiences, but, it's a work of fiction, only a story. I have read books that take a much darker approach to these subjects. Dekker does a great job of keeping things in perspective here. He delves into deep and controversial topics without becoming over invested in the ideology. There are some of the plot twist and turns we have come to expect from him, but this one stays the course a bit more than his other works. This was an enjoyable fast read for me. Well done, once again, Dekker!

In "Adam" you follow the latest and most career intensive case of an FBI criminal profiler who also, through his studies has come to view religion as one of the driving forces of evil in society (and his serial killers motive), as opposed to an "evil force" itself existing.

My biggest disappointment with this book is that in the end, little time or attention or detail for that matter is given to how the Light overcomes the very real darkness. So much time is spent exploring the possibility and then reality of the evil side of the supernatural that you are left to wonder how the light defeated the darkness. I gave it 4 stars because of the well thought out plot, (it was a very interesting story), even if the end didn't answer my questions.

Ted Dekker has the ability to keep the reading fast-paced, suspenseful, and mind-twisting. Every time I thought the jig was up, Dekker puts a whole new spin to it. Personally, and really as a compliment, I think Dekker is a sick pup; but that's what makes his books so good. Adam is no different. That said, I do have one complaint: the ending was not satisfying to me from a Christian perspective. He does not make clear, although he does mention Jesus Christ, that it is the power of Christ who overcomes the evil powers and frees those possessed by it. For me, he kind of makes it a mixed bag of things that overcome the demon-possession; however, he seems to waffle or obscure the name of Christ as the determining factor in healing. But, of show more course, my complaint is from a Christian perspective. In all other respects the ending was great in that it was also quite wild, wierd, and unexpected; not at all a typical ending, Christian or not. show less

Daniel Clark left his marriage. Daniel Clark doesn't really care about anything anymore. Why? He's on the hunt for Eve, a serial killer who systematically kiddnaps young women and kills them with a strain of meningitis. Daniel decides to go dark and hunt for Eve on his own terms with his partner, Lori. Daniel thinks that the way to the killer is through his mind. One night, Daniel is tracking down Eve's latest kill when Eve himself appears and shoots him dead. Twenty minutes later, Daniel is revived by Lori but he cannot remember what Eve's face looks like. Determined to find out this crucial detail, Daniel goes to extreme measures, extreme enough that he "dies" again. Led on a new road, Daniel is on a quest to find Eve, stop Eve, find show more himself, find his ex-wife, Heather, who has been taken by Eve, and solve the mystery.

My dad warned me not to read this book because it was 'too scary' for me, but I did anyways. It was scary. Adam is full of suspense, plot twisters, and things that make me want to crawl under my sheets. The romance part of the story was amazing and actually really sweet how a divorced couple can find the capacity to love each other again. The ending was what really surprised me the most though. I also really liked the character development and how everyone worked together in weird circumstances. Also, even though the killer is ruthless and unforgiving, I kind of felt sorry for him and how he was controlled. But overall, this was a wonderful book. But I'm not reading this at night. show less

While obsessively pursuing a serial killer, FBI behavioral psychologist Daniel Clark has a near death experience. His anti-religious skepticism provides him perfect rationalization for what happened during the 20 minutes he was “dead”. But the personification of evil gives him increasing reason to doubt his atheistic conclusions. This may be Dekker’s best book since Three. And that’s saying a lot - he’s written some good ones in that time. The characters, the pacing, the plot twists, the insights, the scares - everything you’ve come to expect from Dekker, but taken to a new level. If you are a Dekker fan, you won’t want to miss it. Not yet a Dekker fan? Adam is a great place to start.

From my blog at show more target="_top">http://signsoflifebooks.com/blog/2008/06/adrenalin-abuse/ show less