It's Just the Beginning...

Black by Ted Dekker
Paperback, 432 pages
Published February 2005 by  Westbow Press
ISBN13: 9781595540218
Read June 2006

I had grown tired of reading Christian Romance novels, but was still interested in reading stories with themes of hope, love, and redemption. It was browsing through the shelves at my church's library that I saw a book that had only one word for a title and no real image on the cover. I was curious. It was for a book entitled Red and after reading the summary I was intrigued. However, Red was the second novel in The Circle Triology. I had to wait until Black was returned in order to begin the tale that at times frustrated, confused, and captivated me.

What if you fell asleep in one world and awoke in another that was as real as the one you just left? How would you know which world is real? In this exciting beginning to a 3 book series Thomas Hunter embarks on a thrilling and at times dangerous adventure in 2 worlds.

I did not immediately fall in love with the series upon beginning Black. But the further I read into Black the more I was swept up into the story. I felt as frustrated as the main character, Thomas Hunter, in deciphering which world he truly inhabited and which was just a dream. Assuming the real world was the one much like the world I experience daily, I found myself much more interested in the "dream" world that Thomas found himself in when he fell asleep. In a world where good and evil is as clearly visible as one's skin. It wasn't until about halfway through the book that I was just as interested in what was happening the "real" world. As the two worlds impacted each other more and more, I was left reeling over the possibility that both worlds existed.

By the end of the story, I couldn't wait to get back to the library to check out Red. I had found a wonderful psychological thriller with Christian themes that kept me guessing with each page turn.