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Monday, March 23, 2009

Kiss by Ted Dekker Review and Erin Healy

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Details from Thomas Nelson Website:
Sometimes dying with the truth is better than living with a lie.

After a car accident puts Shauna McAllister in a coma and wipes out six months of her memory, she returns to her childhood home to recover, but her arrival is fraught with confusion. Her estranged father, a senator bidding on the White House, and her abusive stepmother blame Shauna for the tragedy, which has left her beloved brother severely brain damaged.

Leaning on Wayne Spade, a forgotten but hopeful lover who stays by her side, Shauna tries to sort out what happened that night by jarring her memory to life. Instead, she acquires a mysterious mental ability that will either lead her to truth or get her killed by the people trying to hide it. In this blind game of cat and mouse that stares even the darkest memories in the face, Shauna is sure of only one thing: if she remembers, she dies.



My Review: I have really been quite fond of Ted Dekker's work for quite a while now. I was very excited about reading Kiss. Imagine waking up from a coma with no idea about what happened to you. People you trust tell you the details of an accident you were in and some of the things are simply shocking. Some of the details make you question the you that you think you are. Imagine the pain of being told that you are the cause for your brother's devastating injury. What do you do? Do you try to remember what happened so you can literally relive the horrible memories or do you accept what you are told?

I found it believable that Shauna would want to know the truth. From what you read about Shauna before the accident, it is obvious that she would have a tenacious personality that would compell her to where she simply would have to know no matter what the cost to her. There were times that I felt the bad guys and the good guys were a little obvious. I am not sure if this is because Dekker and Healy made them obvious or if they were obvious because I read so many thrillers that I kind of get a good idea of the bad verses the good.

SEMI SPOILER:
There were a few times where I was stunned that Shauna would confide more than once to a person who she could not fully trust. I felt like grabbing her and telling her to shut up!

The supernatural elements were believeable to me. Dekker and Healy made it easy to let go of the doubts and enjoy the flow of the story. It was also nice seeing the character struggle with her new abilities. I did like the direction of the story and for the most part it was believeable.

I only had a few problems with the book. I had a hard time getting into it in the beginning. I was pulled into it a lot more fully mid way through the book, but once I did get into it, I was ready to take the whole ride. I thought the relationship with Shauna and her dad was cleared up really oddly. This woman endured years of pain from a distant father and an abusive step mom. I believe forgiveness and restoration is possible in life, but I want to see it happen when it is such an important part of a story.

All in all I think this was a great read. It was a Christian book, but it was more so in subtle messages than out and out preachiness. I liked the main characters and felt the minor characters were well done as well. This paranormal theme is definitely something I hope to see explored again.

2 comments:

Sunny said...

Hey girl! Great review! I felt the same as you did on most of what you said. I really liked it, but there were a few things that could have been better.

Anonymous said...

I sort of skipped a little bit of this review. I have it on my nightstand. :) Can't wait!