So maybe you have read Showdown. Maybe you have read Saint. Now, we must read Sinner. Or so that is what I said. Much like the 300 hundred, the 3000 are going to stand up for our right to exclusive religion. Unfortunately, it simply isnt as exciting; even if Ted hoped it would be. It is further unfortunate that this book is part of a greater series and so if you plan on keeping up to date, you probably should read it. In the same breathe the book becomes a filler and needed; thus, much like the young adult books, this book was overall disappointing.
Because I think that people ought to do more reading, I am not going to do any sort of plot spoiling. Instead, I am going to go on a bit of a rant.
Ted Dekker, although he may be enjoying the stuff he is writing, is slowly being affected by outside voices. Through out his career, especially since Three, Dekker has been known for his adrenaline laced novels that do not always line up to the traditional Christian expectation. To the people who have cried out that Ted needs to keep Christ at the center of his books: I want to rip your heads off. Ted Dekker is best when he writes in parables. The message is something that is not meant to be seen at first glance because he is not meaning to write to the people who are comfortable in the pews. The Church goers need to read these books and use their minds to see exactly what Ted is doing. What Dekker did in Skin, a little bit House, The Circle series(Black, Red, and White), and Adam blew my mind away. He leaves the reader to decide what to take from these books and they are written well enough that the reader is then challenged to think about spiritual things. With so many being incresingly frustrated with the Church and institutionalized Christianity, we need a new message. In the books I mentioned, Ted is it. Then came Sinner. I enjoyed the read, but every out right mention of Jesus being the light of the world is a blatant response to the cries of those who want Christ at the center. Good job, you got what you want.
Now shutup and let Dekker write what he is good at. There is a time for the gospel, and then their is a time to plant seeds that may very well lead to the person hearing the gospel. Let the spirit write, and Ted Dekker, please set your standards as high and as good as Adam and Three.
