The Bride Collector

“The Bride Collector” by Ted Dekker is a whirlwind of a murder thriller. Special Agent Brad Raines is on the hunt for a serial killer who murders women after delicately doing their make-up, hair and nails by gluing them to walls and draining their bodies of their blood by drilling holes into their heels. When four women are found in abandoned barns with bridal veils on, the FBI knows that they have to find the killer before he murders more innocent women.

Dekker’s novel is well rounded and extremely well-written. His vivid descriptions add dimension to the print on the pages and his in-depth research on mental illness has added elements of reality that can make this novel a chilling read. The novel changes point-of-view several show more times so that readers are able to experience not only the FBI’s search for a killer but also to be inside the mind of the killer while he chooses his victims. The chapters are quick reads and each page urges you onto the next. This is a book that will not last on a nightstand for long and will remain in your mind for days afterwards. show less

Taut and well written, this is a suspenseful psychological novel. A serial killer in Denver captures beautiful women and impales them by gluing them to a wall, one woman in each of seven different sordid locations, each woman dressed in a bridal veil. Of course they are all beautiful and they are all young. The killer leaves no DNA, no fingerprints, no tire tracks, nothing that investigators can use to discover his identity. But we the readers find out who he is early in the novel, a brilliant, supremely confident schizophrenic, gloating at his success and thumbing his nose at the authorities who can't catch him.

Special Investigator Brad Raines of the FBI thinks the killer is in love with his victims, creating a supreme sacrifice, an show more offering to the gods, of sorts, a macabre expression of love. But the deaths fuel the killer to continue his rampage, like a vampire feasting off the blood of his hapless prey. But it takes a psychotic to know one and off the investigators go to an institution for the insane, but an institution limited only to insane persons of high intelligence,

The institution is filled with zany characters but the most notable is Paradise, a young woman who had suffered severe emotional trauma and who is reported to be able to touch a murdered person and name the killer by picking up some sort of vibes via osmosis. She hears voices and sees ghosts but nevertheless, you kind of get the feeling the real crazy people and killers are not in the institution, they are outside it and among us.

The way the story is structured, you know who the murderer is right off. The story bounces back and forth between the killer and Raines, so the payoff isn't the "who dun it" resolution at the end. Instead, it's more along the lines of seeing whether Raines will be able to stop him before he can claim his final victim. show less

When I saw the title of this book listed as #43 on NPR’s List of Top Ten Thrillers of All Time, I was skeptical. I didn’t like Boneman’s Daughters very much. But I was curious too, and since it happened to be in my TBR pile, I read it.

To my pleasant surprise, this really is a good representative of the serial killer genre [I know that “good” and “serial killer genre” will seem oxymoronic to some.] It sticks pretty closely to the standard serial killer template, but Dekker adds two interesting plot threads that elevate the level of the book. One is the theme of mental illness, and how defining someone as “mentally ill” separates and stigmatizes people in a way that may not be justified. The lines of demarcation on the show more continuum between mental illness and mental health are not always clear, and Dekker takes pains to educate us on this as his characters grapple with the issue.

A second, related plot thread concerns self-worth, and the shame and self-loathing that can paradoxically result from childhood abuse. Dekker’s main characters in this book are all notably physically attractive on the outside, and yet all feel ugly on the inside. They are in a constant battle with themselves to feel worthy. Dekker makes no comment about the societal pressure to be beautiful, and I think that’s not in fact the issue here. Rather, beauty for the characters is defined almost exclusively as inner worthiness. It’s more of a Dorian Gray type beauty. None of them can love others until they learn to forgive and love themselves, but it's an extremely difficult process.

FBI Special Agent Brad Raines, only 32, but somewhat of a star, is heading a hunt in the Denver field office for a serial killer his team calls The Bride Collector. The killer abducts beautiful women, and kills them by draining the blood from their heels. He then glues each body to the wall and covers the face with a wedding veil.

Not only are the victims beautiful. Brad Raines is a “dead ringer” for a blond-headed George Clooney. Brad’s partner Nikki Holden is gorgeous. It turns out that even the killer (whom we meet very early on) is good-looking.

This killer, named Quinton Gauld, is in the process of selecting and killing seven brides for God, as he informs the FBI in a note he leaves. With the frequency of his killings, Brad knows he is racing against time to find and stop The Bride Collector. Grasping at straws, his team guesses from the killer’s latest note that he is somehow associated with a psychiatric facility called The Center for Wellness and Intelligence. The Director, Allison Johnson, suggests to Brad and Nikki that they question her most brilliant patients about the possibility that the killer was a resident. And so they meet Roudy, Paradise, and Andrea. The threesome's abilities are a revelation to Brad, who is astounded by what they discover.

Evaluation: This is definitely a page turner, particularly after the FBI connects with the Center for Wellness and Intelligence. Normally I am offended when every character in a book is good looking, but in this case, there is a method to the author’s madness, and it is ironic rather than iconic. If you don’t mind creepy serial killer books, this is a good read! show less

*WARNING: CONTAINS MINOR SPOILERS SO PROCEED AT YOUR OWN RISK!!!*

Bless me, Father, for I have sinned.

Quinton Gauld believes himself to be a messenger from God to deliver seven women – seven favourites – to be His bride. Each was to be progressively more perfect, leading to the last one, who was to be the epitome of perfection itself. After that, he would receive his final and just reward.

And when someone you love dies, something inside of you dies. You die. She is you. You are her.

Brad Raines is in charge of the FBI squad searching for the man they’ve dubbed The Bride Collector. As every lead leads them to a dead end, he turns reluctantly to their only remaining lead: the Centre for Wellness and Intelligence – a psychotic ward show more catering exclusively to patients with high levels of intelligence.

It was a strange story in so many ways, strange because Paradise knew it was absolutely normal.

Paradise, Roudy, Andrea and Enrique have all agreed to help Special Agent Raines on his case. Roudy can connect seemingly random dots, Andrea can spot patterns, Paradise can see ghosts, and Enrique is a hopeless flirt. Together, they start unearthly more clues the Bride Collector left behind in his message to them.


I really, really wanted to like this book. And I succeeded, in the first three quarters of the book. The detective work was fairly well-written, and the author sounded like he knew what he was talking about. The attention to detail was really quite astonishing (and yes, I am being sexist here) – the meticulous attention given to trivial matters such as the stringy hair and the too-short jeans all helped set the atmosphere for the plot.

And then he went ahead and turned it to a love story.



He would head back to a precious woman named Paradise who deserved and now had his complete devotion.

Every cliché in the book had happened to her, all at once. In her dark world, the sun had come out as if for the very first time.

What happened? This book isn’t even listed under the romance genre, for God’s sake! Why oh why did this book have to be spoiled with the soppy declarations of love of two people who’d known each other for what, under a week? It’s not that I don’t believe in love at first sight, but rather that there were no previous indications that the romance was going to take the lead role in the story and then, suddenly, bam! they were exchanging their declarations of love – and get this, both are supposed to be emotionally scarred and unable to love anyone.

And then, as though that weren’t enough, you had the classic “I’ll go!” “No, I’ll go!” “No, let me go!” “It’s too dangerous! I’m the only one who’s fit to go! I have to rid the world of all your demons, baby!” “Aww! That’s so sweet! Okay, you go, and come back quickly – I’ll be waiting!” scenario from two wounded people a mere three hundred yards away from the Bride Collector’s house. Please, kill me.



What really devastates me is the fact that this is a good book. The plot – barring the last quarter – is brilliant! You had the motive, the ritualistic killing, the ideal, the panic – you had everything a thriller needed and then some. The characters were all so 3D – I could talk to any one of the characters and predict what they might say. The research was watertight – you had a whole array of psychotic diseases and the symptoms were all so well-blended, so essential to each character themself that you could not imagine them not being a psycho.

See, this is where a little regression back into say, the 19th century would have been good. Authors like Sir Arthur Conan Doyle didn’t have to add romance to his stories to get attention – Sherlock Holmes could discriminate women to his heart’s content without being called a sexist! But now, now authors have to induce a violent and/or romantic angle to the story to even get near the bestseller lists, and I cannot count the number of books this has tainted, corrupted, destroyed. show less

This was my first Ted Dekker book and after immersing myself in Mr. Dekker's prose for the last week, I feel like Augustus Gloop might have felt after drinking Willy Wonka's chocolate river - - satiated and happy to have done it, despite the messiness.

The Bride Collector is the type of genre book I have always been drawn to, a mystery/thriller. I don't mind if I solve the mysteries/thrillers before the end (provided that if the clues are obvious the hero or heroine figures it out as well). What I do mind is if the hero or heroine does something completely out of character or something that is so obviously to make him or her have a run-in with the killer or bad guy but is the type of move that defies common sense (such as taking a show more midnight stroll while a serial killer is on the loose, right smack in the middle of the killer's hunting ground).

Fortunately Mr. Dekker avoids illogical character actions and reveals the identity of the Bride Collector fairly early on. The mystery isn't so much the killer's identity but why he's doing what he's doing and whether or not hero Brad Raines can stop him.

I found Brad to be a hero you can root for. I liked his character and I particularly enjoyed that Mr. Dekker didn't say so much with words that Brad was a faithful and loyal man who was adept at his job, he let Brad's actions shape and mold his character. If you've read my past reviews you know that I like characters with flaws and Brad is no exception.

The Center for Wellness and Intelligence was an interesting and fascinating locale for a portion of the book. Supporting characters Allison, Andrea, Roudy and Cass added extra dimension and flavor to the story and I found the psychiatric and psychological themes to be appealing without being heavy handed or overly academic. These characters on their own formed unusual stories that could have demanded more.

As much as I liked Paradise, I also felt she was a bit weak and I wished her family storyline and connections could have been further developed and identified. I enjoyed her "ability" and I would have appreciated reading more about that.

The Bride Collector himself, however, was a powerful and satisfying character. As much as you root for Brad and hope for the Collector's failure, you also hope that these two strong men will come face to face, a good versus evil, if you will. Mr. Dekker did an outstanding job with fleshing out the Collector and making him more than just "the serial killer".

In short, I found The Bride Collector to be an intense, action-packed, and ultimately very satisfying, read. Mr. Dekker threw one or two unexpected curveballs in the book that kept this reader on her toes and anxiously flipping each page. I thought the story was absorbing, as well as Mr. Dekker's writing, which made me care about the characters and what happened to them. I plan on adding Mr. Dekker to my "must read" list and am pleased that I had this opportunity. show less

Although not as usually faced-paced as his books have been, nevetheless, Dekker keeps you at the edge and forcing you to turn the next page.

A serial killer is out there brutally murdering women in search of the perfect bride to present to God. FBI agent Brad Raines, who unexpectantly lost the women he loved by suicide, assumes the killer is mentally deranged and in desperation, therefore, enlists the help of mentally ill patients at the Center for Welllness and Intelligence. He is drawn especially to a patient named Paradise who seems to have a gift of seeing "ghosts".

The thing that makes me wonder is how imaginative is the Christian mind in thinking up sadistic ways to kill. Is such writing consistent with Christian principles?

In any show more case, the writing was typical crazy-in-the-head Dekker and a read that one should not neglect. show less

Reading this book reminded me why Ted Dekker is one of my favourite contemporary authors. In typical fashion, he launches right into the action with a crime scene reminiscent of an episode of criminal minds. The characters are unexpected and interesting and the story just doesn’t stop with some very surprising twists which I can’t explain without spoiling the end. All you really need to know is, if you like crime fiction, then you should read this book.