The Bride Collector by Ted Dekker

My hopes for this novel were set very high. Being a fan of the work that Ted Dekker is doing with Center Street Publishers I have anticipated reading The Bride Collector since I finished Boneman’s Daughters, also published by Center Street, and I must say that I was in no way, shape or form let down. The Bride Collector delivers… big.
It is the story of FBI agent Brad Raines, the man who is relentlessly chasing a killer known as the Bride Collector, and of Paradise Founder, an innocent girl hiding in a psychiatric institute from a world that has shown her nothing but hate. The two come together when it is realized that Paradise has a special ability that may hold the key to unlocking the Bride Collectors secrets. As the two begin to decode the killer’s clues, they are forced to decode a growing attraction towards one another, as well.
You’ve read thrillers. And you’ve read a few romances. But have you read anything like The Bride Collector? This is the first novel I’ve read that had an almost perfect blend of thrills and romance. One chapter you are on the edge of your seat wondering what the killers next move will be and the very next chapter you are caught up in a heart touching love story. The two are blended seamlessly. Both compliment each other. And neither suffer at the hand of the other.
Whether you plan to marvel at it’s beauty or shriek at it’s terror… this is a story you want to read.

Burn by Ted Dekker & Erin Healy

The past Janeal thought had burned away is rising from the ashes.

Years ago, the Gypsy Kumpania where Janeal Mikkado lived was attacked by outsiders. With her best friend about to be consumed by a fire, Janeal had two options: try to save her friend–at serious risk to her own life–or disappear with the million dollars that she had just discovered . . .

But the past is quickly coming back to haunt her. Both the best friend and the boyfriend that she was sure were dead have reappeared in her life, as has someone who knows about the money. There’s a debt to be paid for the money she found, but there’s an even greater debt she must face–and if the chaff isn’t burned from her own heart, it will consume her.

Burn is a story of evil within yourself. It talks about the ability that every man has to make a choice. And it talks about the result of that choice... no matter which way you choose.
It is a novel that is very easy to read and mentally consuming! I LOVED this book! It was fun to read, and it has a lesson that everyone needs to learn or be reminded of.

Comes a Horseman by Robert Liparulo

Reeling from a series of attempts on their lives, FBI agents Brady Moore and Alicia Wagner follow a trail of evidence that leads to a conspiracy a thousand years in the making. Finding clues in the dusty tomes of the Vatican's Secret Archives and the paintings of William Blake and Hieronymus Bosche, they plunge deep into a pit of evil ambition.

Released in 2005 by Robert Liparulo, Comes a Horseman won the praise of critiques far and wide.
I have searched Amazon, Barnes and Noble dot com, book review websites, and I have even talked to people who have read the book... EVERYONE that read this book loved it. And I now stand among them.


The writing is phenomenal.
The plot line is intriguing and intense.
The characters are very human, with problems that others can relate to.
The villain is more evil than evil.
And even the ending is accompanied by a twist that most will never see coming.

I do warn you however, this is not a book for children or the faint of heart. It has a few scenes that can get pretty graphic as far as blood and gore goes. Not one that I would recommend for younger people.

Comes a Horseman is one of the best books that I read last year. Robert Liparulo has since released a few more books, all of which are highly acclaimed, and I can not wait to read them!

I give it 4 stars and will gladly call it a "must read".

Elisha's Bones by Don Hoesel - Reviewed by Emilee Iseminger

The bones of the prophet once raised the dead to life... but they vanished from history in a whisper. Now Jack Hawthorne, part-time skeptic and full-time professor of archaeology, is enlisted to sift them from the sands of time. Bankrolled by a dying man of unlimited means, Hawthorne's hunt spans the globe and leads him into a deadly conspiracy older than the church itself. And he soon discovers those sworn to keep the secret of the bones will do anything to protect them.

Elisha's bones is the type of book you don't like while your reading, but after your done you at least semi-like it.
It's written in first person, which at least for me was hard to get used to. This book has a great story with a few twists in it so it keeps you interested. All and all I enjoyed the book. It was worth the read because of the story. The writing is not all that great, but if you stick with it, it pays off in the end.
I'd recommend this book to someone who does not over critique or who does not need perfect writing.
I'd give it two and a half (out of five) stars.

Not my favorite, but I am glad that I read it.