The name of this novel is truly apropos, and would be good for Mike Dellosso's books in general. He has a truly mastermind of dark subjects and does quiet an excellent job of shining a light in the end. He has captured eerie paranormal torment in this offering.
The book is very well written, with most excellent development of characters. Any wife will instantly sympathize with Sam Travis' wife, and any father will fear for Sam's daughter. It is a chillingly viable scenario if one dabbles in the occult. I have studied it and have found out that demons can be hereditary. That in itself is chilling.
I appreciate the way Mike underscores the way humans open themselves up to the paranormal when they don't know any better, and even when they do. We humans are driven to do things that under normal circumstances and normal stress levels we'd never even consider. Coupled with our deep-seated desire to understand and to find answers, we are perfect targets for Satan and his minions.
Born in Baltimore, Maryland, Mike now lives in Hanover, Pennsylvania, with his wife, Jen, and their three daughters. He writes a monthly column for Writer . . .Interrupted, was a newspaper correspondent/columnist for over three years, has published several articles for The Candle of Prayer inspirational booklets, and has edited and contributed to numerous Christian-themed Web sites and e-newsletters. Mike is a member of the American Christian Fiction Writers, the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance, the Relief Writer's Network, the International Christian Writers, and International Thriller Writers. His short stories have appeared with Amazon Shorts and in Coach's Midnight Diner genre anthology. He received his BA degree in sports exercise and medicine from Messiah College and his MBS degree in theology from Master's Graduate School of Divinity.
Mike Dellosso writes novels of suspense for both the mind and the soul. He writes to both entertain and challenge. In addition to his novels, Mike is also an adjunct professor at Lancaster Bible College and a faculty member at the Greater Philadelphia Christian Writer's Conference.
ABOUT THE BOOK
Sam Travis lives in a Civil War era farmhouse in Gettysburg, PA, where he awakens one morning to find an old journal with an entry by a Union soldier, Lt. Whiting…written in Sam’s own handwriting. When this happens several more times, both at night and during waking “trances,” Sam begins to question his own sanity while becoming obsessed with Lt. Whiting and his bone-chilling journal entries. As the entries begin to mimic Sam’s own life, he is drawn into an evil plot that could cost many lives, including his own.
Can the unconditional love of Sam's daughter, Eva, break through his hardened heart before a killer on the loose catches up with them and Sam’s past spurs him to do the unthinkable?
If you would like to read the Prologue and first chapter of Darkness Follows, go HERE
What is sacrificial love? That is the question asked by Ted Dekker of his fans and of the bloggers on this tour of his new book, Immanuel’s Veins.
Oddly, that term is not in the Bible. Nor is the term unconditional love found, but these principles are stark realities of God’s Word. We are to present ourselves and living sacrifices, Paul tells us in Romans 12:1. I wrote about unconditional love several years ago and still believe that humans are not capable of unconditional love without the continuing super power of God infusing our being completely and solely. How often does that happen?
Yet, there is Jesus on the cross thinking about the joy beyond, not the shame of the moment. There is the instance of Abraham who was told by God to sacrifice his precious son, Isaac. There is Paul who was beaten and left for dead, whipped, ship-wrecked, starved, worked for his living, who loved God so much that he bore all the tribulations to obey the command, “Go and make disciples.” The Apostles died terrible deaths for the Gospel, all for love of our Father who created us in His image and who gave His only Son so that we would be reconciled to Himself. That is sacrificial love. It is putting our self-serving desires aside to provide service to a greater cause.
Every Christian must know the difference between lust and love, but not every Christian exhibits sacrificial love. It goes against the human nature to love someone else more than oneself. God knows this which is why the 2nd Greatest Command is to Love one another as you love yourself. Healthy sacrificial love is not beating the chest, or slicing to let blood flow. It isn’t being crucified every Easter to show the world how much you love God.
It is quiet. It is sweet. It is unannounced. It is done, not talked about. A mother gives her tiny, daily ration to her child instead of eating the only meal she’s been able to scrounge, though she starves, her child will live. A father works three jobs so his wife doesn’t have to and his children can eat and go to college. A sister gives her only dress instead of loaning it so that her sister can look nice on an interview and get a job. A brother gives his kidney to his brother so he may live.
Sacrificial love is more than compassion in action. It is the ultimate giving of one’s self to make life or liberty better for others. Is it possible to exhibit it on a continual basis? We would die trying.
~oOo~
I read a little more than a quarter of the way into this new book of Dekker's and I felt this sinking in the pit of my stomach. I thought, "Oh, no! Ted has succumbed to this vampire trend. Why is everyone jumping on this stupid bandwagon? How in the world can this possibly be a Christian story???? Dekker, what have you gotten me into now?" Then I kept reading. The way he writes you just have to keep going.
I was struck by something else. Dekker has an uncanny way of seeing into human nature and putting it on paper (yes, even women's thoughts seem pretty much on target.) He captured the deep longing of the human heart and painted the pain with words. I think this may be one of his best. It was certainly gripping.
Tension builds as Toma (the hero) is confronted by a little gnome of a man who warns him that he is riding toward evil. Well, would you sit still on your horse having heard that if you were the champion warrior of your country? Of course not. Warriors have to face down the evil and defeat it. Thus begins an epic journey of the heart of one man.
This one is a keeper. I will say that it is not for the fainthearted or for the weak of stomach. Frankly, there were some stomach-churning parts I had to skip over. However, it is well worth the money.
Ted Dekker is a New York Times best-selling author of more than twenty novels. He is best known for stories which could be broadly described as suspense thrillers with major twists and unforgettable characters, though he has also made a name for himself among fantasy fans.
Early in his career he wrote a number of spiritual thrillers and his novels were lumped in with ‘Christian Fiction’ a surprisingly large category. His later novels are a mix of mainstream novels such as Adam, Thr3e, Skin, Obsessed and BoneMan’s Daughters, and fantasy thrillers that metaphorically explore faith. Best known among these is his Circle Series: Green, Black, Red, White and The Paradise Books: Showdown, Saint, and Sinner.
Dekker was born to missionaries who lived among the headhunter tribes of Indonesia. Because his parents’ work often included extended periods of time away from their children, Dekker describes his early life in a culture to which he was a stranger as both fascinating and lonely. It is this unique upbringing that forced him to rely on his own imagination to create a world in which he belonged.
After leaving Indonesia, Dekker graduated from a multi-cultural high school and took up permanent residence in the United States to study philosophy and religion. Upon earning his Bachelor’s Degree, he entered the corporate world and proceeded to climb the proverbial ladder. But his personal drive left him restless and, after many successful years, he traded corporate life for wide range of entrepreneurial pursuits that included buying and selling businesses, healthcare services, and marketing.
In the early nineties while visiting a friend who had just written a book, Dekker decided to pursue a long held desire to be a novelist. Over the course of two years he wrote two full length novels before starting from scratch and rewriting both. Now fully enamored by the the process and the stories, he realized that storytelling was in his blood and a new obsession to explore truth through story gripped him anew.
He sold his business, moved his family to the mountains of Western Colorado and began writing full-time on his third novel. Two years and three novels later his first novel, Heaven’s Wager, was published.
Now, Dekker’s novels had sold over 3.4 million copies worldwide. Two of his novels, Thr3e and House, have been made into movies with more in production. Dekker resides in Austin, Texas with his wife Lee Ann and two of their daughters.
ABOUT THE BOOK
This story is for everyone--but not everyone is for this story.
It is a dangerous tale of times past. A torrid love story full of deep seduction. A story of terrible longing and bold sacrifice.
Then as now, evil begins its courtship cloaked in light. And the heart embraces what it should flee. Forgetting it once had a truer lover.
With a kiss, evil will ravage body, soul, and mind. Yet there remains hope, because the heart knows no bounds.
Love will prove greater than lust. Sacrifice will overcome seduction. And blood will flow.
Because the battle for the heart is always violently opposed. For those desperate to drink deep from this fountain of life, enter.
This is probably one of Ted Dekker's most chilling novels he's ever written. It is also the most gruesome. Chilling because it could so happen to anyone's daughter, gruesome because I have a most excellent imagination and just the hint of some of the things this monster does makes me see the whole in living color. Ted brings horror to life.
I just love the characters that he has developed. They have huge flaws, but you love one of them anyway. Another is so self-centered, you are sure that Ted used someone you know to model her. The girl's mother makes you want to reach into the book and pinch her head off. (Was that gruesome?)
The plot is developed very well, but I think peeking into the mind of the killer does not move the story along and it does not add any "chill factor" to the story either. I'm really not sure what the purpose of looking into the mind of a killer actually does do to the psyche, but it didn't help me understand the man any better.
This novel is not for the faint hearted, because it does get graphic... even to someone who does not have a triple portion of imagination. The descriptions are not necessarily R rated, but I certainly would not want an older child or a young teen reading it. It gave me a nightmare, I'm not sure what it would do to a much younger mind than mine.
It's a keeper, and it is certainly worth the money.
Ted is the son of missionaries John and Helen Dekker, whose incredible story of life among headhunters in Indonesia has been told in several books. Surrounded by the vivid colors of the jungle and a myriad of cultures, each steeped in their own interpretation of life and faith, Dekker received a first-class education on human nature and behavior. This, he believes, is the foundation of his writing.
After graduating from a multi-cultural high school, he took up permanent residence in the United States to study Religion and Philosophy. After earning his Bachelor's Degree, Dekker entered the corporate world in management for a large healthcare company in California. Dekker was quickly recognized as a talent in the field of marketing and was soon promoted to Director of Marketing. This experience gave him a background which enabled him to eventually form his own company and steadily climb the corporate ladder.
Since 1997, Dekker has written full-time. He states that each time he writes, he finds his understanding of life and love just a little clearer and his expression of that understanding a little more vivid. Dekker's body of work encompassing seven mysteries, three thrillers and ten fantasies includes Heaven's Wager, When Heaven Weeps, Thunder of Heaven, Blessed Child, A Man Called Blessed, Blink, Thr3e, The Circle Trilogy (Black, Red, White), Obsessed, Renegade, and Chaos.
ABOUT THE BOOK
Would you kill an innocent man to save your daughter?
They call him BoneMan, a serial killer who’s abducted six young women. He’s the perfect father looking for the perfect daughter, and when his victims fail to meet his lofty expectations, he kills them by breaking their bones and leaving them to die.
Intelligence officer Ryan Evans, on the other hand, has lost all hope of ever being the perfect father. His daughter and wife have written him out of their lives.
Everything changes when BoneMan takes Ryan’s estranged daughter, Bethany, as his seventh victim. Ryan goes after BoneMan on his own.
But the FBI sees it differently. New evidence points to the suspicion that Ryan is BoneMan. Now the hunter is the hunted, and in the end, only one father will stand.
If your an avid Dekker fan, and would like wallpaper and counters for your blog, go HERE.
Seriously, Robert Liparulo is one of my all time favorite authors. He can take a What If and actully follow through. Deadlock is a sequel and it is not a sequel in the sense of other sequels. You absolutely do not need to have readDeadfallin order to completely understand and enjoy Deadlock.
In today's advanced technology, this is such a chilling story because it could actually happen. It is terrifying that someone with absolutley not conscience or moral apititude could have access to such fortune that puts him above the law and above accountability. That seems to be happening in our world today, more's the pity.
Liparulo has once again written a masterpiece of suspense. It will, no doubt, keep you up at night and you'll be thinking about it throughout the day until you can settle in your arm chair or bed to finish it. The characters are very well developed, and absolutely believable. They reach out from the page and grab you, pulling you into theri problems so much so, that there is no "relaxing" with this book.
He takes the possibilities of what would happen if a game suddenly became real... What would happen if violent-prone men who are not fully mature (18-25) were suddenly able to live out their violent fantasy completely legally... Then what would happen if one or two of these young men were suddenly brought face to face with reality?
oOo
If anyone would like a copy of Bob's Comes a Horseman email me. My review of that book is here. I will be sending out details as soon as I receive the copies from Bob.
Robert Liparulo is a former journalist, with over a thousand articles and multiple writing awards to his name. Readers of his action-thrillers were not surprised when his visual storytelling style caught the eye of Hollywood producers. Currently, three of his novels for adults are in various stages of development for the big screen: the film rights to Comes A Horseman were purchased by the producer of Tom Clancy’s movies; and Liparulo is penning the screenplays for GERM and Deadfall for two top producers. He is also working with the director Andrew Davis (The Fugitive, Holes) on a political thriller. Novelist Michael Palmer calls Deadfall “a brilliantly crafted thriller.” March 31st marked the publication of Deadfall’s follow-up, Deadlock, which novelist Gayle Lynds calls, “best of high-octane suspense.”
Liparulo’s bestselling young adult series, Dreamhouse Kings, debuted last year with House of Dark Shadows and Watcher in the Woods. Book three, Gatekeepers released in January, and number four, Timescape, comes out in July. The series has garnered praise from readers, both young and old, as well as attracting famous fans who themselves know the genre inside and out. Of the series Goosebumps creator R.L. Stine says, “I loved wandering around in these books. With a house of so many great, haunting stories, why would you ever want to go outside?”
He is currently working on his next thriller, which for the first time injects a bit of the supernatural into his gun-blazing stories. The story is so compelling, two Hollywood studios are already in talks to acquire it—despite its publication date being more than a year away. After that comes a trilogy of novels, based on the critically acclaimed short story he contributed to James Patterson’s Thriller anthology. New York Times bestselling author Steve Berry calls Liparulo’s writing “Inventive, suspenseful, and highly entertaining . . . Robert Liparulo is a storyteller, pure and simple.” He lives with his family in Colorado.
ABOUT THE BOOK
John Hutchinson thinks it's no coincidence that Brendan Page runs this modern Praetorian Guard, and that the billionaire military industrialist must have had something to do with the atrocities his son Declan committed in Canada. The Canadian and U.S. Justice departments disagree, but Hutch has been digging for dirt ever since.
Brendan Page has some dirty not-so-little secrets. he's built an empire on supplying futuristic weapons and highly trained soldiers to the world's most powerful armies. But he's saved his most destructive weapons for himself.
When Hutch discovers the secret of Page's success, Page decides to teach him a lesson. But the operation goes terribly wrong, and Hutch's son is kidnapped. While a lone man stands little chance against the best black op soldiers ever issued M-16s, Hutch manages to survive longer than Page anticipated. As far as Hutch is concerned, high-tech helmets, machine guns, and hand grenades are nothing compared to a man determined to save his son. It's a lesson he sets out to teach Page-and one that he can only hope works as well in the real world as it does in his heart.
If you would like to read the first chapter of Deadlock, go HERE
The writing is really good. The characterization is also really good. They are not predictable, but they are all in character. In other words, no one suddenly does something out of character in order for a surprise or theatrical jolt.
You find yourself drawn into this small town and a mystery very slowly unfolds, along with shredded people (shades of Freddie Kruger). Almost everything right about this.
Once again I have a huge problem with the editing of this novel. You are drawn into a tenseful situation, and almost find yourself biting your nails when you turn the page and suddenly the brakes are applied and you drop out of hyperdrive into a 25 mile per hour stretch of novel. It completely throws off the storyline flow.
There is a scene where everyone is after "IT" and its foggy and it's getting scary (really the writing is quite good), and suddenly you are whisked to the underside of a trailer. Tsk Tsk. It is so bad, I gave up and didn't even read the last chapter. I didn't care anymore.
When are people going to learn that novels are NOT TV movies or feature films? You don't do the same things in novels, you don't need theatrics in novels, you don't need the same kind of tension breaks in novesl that you do in two hour movies. I see this all the time. It completely ruins the storyline flow.
Yes, this book has some great reviews. If someone had warned me before I read it, I would have been prepared and I would have put up a wall between me and the story. Then the screeching halts would not have bothered me.
I have to give the writing in this book about 4 stars... the editing is a minus 1 star.
A little about this story...
A town's deadly secret will drive one man to the edge of his faith... After learning of the disappearance of his nephew, Joe Saunders returns to his childhood home of Dark Hills to aid in the search effort. When Caleb is found, badly mauled and clinging to life, Joe embarks on a mission to find the beast responsible. But the more Joe delves into the fabric of his old hometown, the more he realizes Dark Hills has a dark secret, shrouded for three generations in a deadly code of silence. As Joe unravels the truth behind a series of unexplained animal attacks, murder, and corruption at the highest level of law enforcement, he is led to a final showdown where he must entrust his very life into God's hands. Will his young faith be strong ehough to battle the demonic forces of The Hunted?If you would like to read the first chapter, go HERE.
