Can't Put It Down: Red by Ted Dekker

by Donna Huber

February 2006; Thorndike Press
audio, ebook, print (637 pages); suspense

The thrill, nor the confusion, lets up in the 2nd novel of The Circle Trilogy. Thomas Hunter uncovers life-threatening secrets and ever-lasting love. Somehow the two worlds are connected, if injured or killed in one world it means the end of you in the other.

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My adrenaline was pumping fast by the end of Black, or so I thought. But it was nothing compared to the rush I got from Red. After finishing Black, I couldn't wait to get my hands on the next one. Instead of waiting for my church's library to be open I rushed to the public library to pick up Red and couldn't put the book down. Whereas in the first one I wanted nothing more than for Thomas to stay in the other world, I found myself just as intrigued in what was happening in "our" world where bio-terrorist were plotting the release of a deadly virus.

I finished this novel in record time and I couldn't wait to pick up the next in the series with the hope that there would be explanation and closure with the final book in the trilogy. However, White was elusive as I had holds placed at my church's library, public library, and university library in hopes of getting my hands on a copy.

Are you a Ted Dekker fan? I think the Circle Trilogy is my favorite (which I will talk more about as I review White and the new book Green in the coming days). What is your favorite Dekker book?   

Buy Red at Amazon

Donna Huber is an avid reader and natural encourager. She is the founder of Girl Who Reads and the author of how-to marketing book Secrets to a Successful Blog Tour. 

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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.