Rating: 
Summary: Love it
Review: To write a trilogy is an accomplishment. To write a trilogy such as this with only two books out is more than an accomplishment it is like platinum in the making. Ted Dekker picks up the last book and keeps you inteegrated into the story with as much passion as the last.
Rating:
Summary: A Wild Success!
Review: "Black" was an appetizer. Pleasing, but not entirely satisfying, it lacked a certain richness. Meant to whet our appetites, it was preparing us for something greater."Red" is the meal. Ted Dekker expands upon his concepts and worlds, entertaining us, spinning a great story, and serving up substance with style. The dream-like world of Thomas Hunter takes on weight--it becomes more real. In the "real" world, the spreading virus and its global threat become parallels for the actual battle playing out on another plane. A spiritual plane. A plane with very real consequences. As in the first book, we don't get much inner character conflict or change. For me, this can lead to disappointment. But Dekker aims for a larger, symbolic conflict--the struggle of the human soul between darkness and light, between death and life. In this, he succeeds wildly. I've had my appetizer and my entree...Now I'm waiting for dessert!
Rating:
Summary: Dream Worlds!
Review: "Red" is the second book in Ted Dekker's exhilarating color triology ("Black was the first, and "White" is the third).
In this second installment, we find that Thomas Hunter is still dreaming. Everytime he goes to sleep in one world, he wakes up in the other. Unfortunately for Thomas, both worlds have gone to hell in a handbasket. For each world to survive, Thomas must learn how to apply what he learns in one world to his situation in the other world.
As if that wasn't pressure enough, it now seems that there is a correlation between the people he knows in each world. In fact, from time to time other people Thomas knows are able to dream about the other world.
In this second installment, Ted Dekker continues to grab our attention and hold on to it from start to finish. This is not a book you will want to put down, whether it be to eat, sleep, or go to work. Each chapter only whets your appetite for the next one.
All the books in this series are unapologetically Christian oriented. There are many comparisons between the "other world" and the Bible, including the first man, the fall of man, the crucifixion, the resurrection, etc. I was well into "Red" before I realized the correlations between this book and the Bible. Kudos to Ted Dekker for pulling off such a feat.
Rating: 
Summary: Hate to do this, but...
Review: ... what a badly, badly-written book. I mean terrible, this book and Black both read like unedited first-drafts rushed out the door as quickly as possible. You couldn't pay me enough to read White, Black and Red make Left Behind look like quality fiction, I at least made it to the third book of that before giving up.
Is the Christian fiction market really so desperate for good writing? Must be an absolute wasteland if everyone honestly thinks this Dekker trilogy is such hot stuff.
The dialogue here is corny, stagy and stilted, the "action" is boring and oh so by-the-numbers predictable, there's not a tired genre cliche or first-draft placeholder Dekker doesn't use, the characters are not as deep as cardboard or as real as Ken and Barbie dolls, I couldn't care less if they all died tomorrow.
The plotting is clumsy, confusing and unbelievable, there's no evidence of research or any care taken with the facts -- page 73, "Pulitzer Prize?" Um, don't you mean Nobel Prize, Ted? Couldn't even be bothered to get something so basic right?
I really don't enjoy trashing books, my usual policy is to praise good books and ignore bad ones, but I hate seeing fellow Christians under the impression that this is anything approaching good writing simply because it's deemed acceptable for Christian audiences. It sucks hard, plain and simple.
I've read hundreds of techno-thrillers, fantasy thrillers, suspense novels and everything else this trilogy wants to be, and this is such a shabby imitation of a real thriller that it's embarassing to see us Christians both grinding out and lapping up such dreck.
Speaking of which, I'd sure like to know what else everyone who praised this book to the sky here reads. Certainly they haven't read five decent thrillers in their lives. I mean I thought The Osmonds were great rock'n'roll before I heard real rock, too.
Okay, you don't have the stomach for Stephen King, fine, but fellow Christians, you want high-quality good/evil thrillers? Read Dean Koontz, read Jonathan Kellerman, read Clive Cussler, read Frank Peretti, read Robert Ludlum, read Michael Crichton, read David Baldacci, read well-written, enjoyable, high-quality novels, not this bland marketing product.
Demand high-quality Christian fiction and sooner or later we'll get it.
Rating:
Summary: It's about time!
Review: As a consumate reader of fiction I can honestly say that this trilogy penned by Mr. Dekker is perhaps the most absorbing and well executed tales I have ever read. So much so that I am posting this review, my first on Amazon.
Usually I find inspirational fiction less than inspiring, Left Behind being a good example. It's about time popularity and excellance met as they have here. I've seen and heard about Dekker before, but these are the first books of his I've read. I am very impressed. The characters are extreemly rich as we follow them through three completely unique adventures. I haven't shed a tear in a good ten years while reading a novel. That changed on seveal occasions in this trilogy. The plot twists were frequent and unexpected, even to this well read lover of thrillers. But most importantly, Dekker handles moral questions with brilliance. These are books for the heart as well as the mind, and they moved me deeply.
I'm also a great fan of Dean Koontz, and I think Dekker comes closer to his style of storytelling than any other author I've read. Thier writing is very different as Dekker tends to go straight for the juggular rather than slow the pace with long descriptions and abundantly clever wording, and I found his technique very rewarding. Reading one of these books is more like watching a movie than plodding through a long novel. Frankly, I've grown tired of some of the crowned kings of fiction's plodding. As much as I love Stephen King's old stuff, his last several have wandered aimlessly and ended nowhere.
Dekker's style is fresh and lean and definately ends very big. I have found a new author who has managed to thrill me to the bone. It's about time. I will read more from Dekker, to be sure.
Rating:
Summary: Making a grown man cry
Review: As soon as I finished the first book in Dekker's "The Circle" trilogy, Black, I immediately bought the second book in the epic. Dekker takes you deeper spiritually into the story and the pace accelerates even more. The way that theological concepts of love and atonement are woven into the story is nothing short of breath-taking, Dekker's telling of God's love for us brought me to tears. The plot twists are amazing and I was as shocked and moved as the main character, Thomas Hunter, was by the way things turned out. I think that this story will end up with those of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien as a classic. I wish I didn't have to wait another month and a half for the next book, White, to come out.
Rating:
Summary: Still going strong!
Review: Continuing with my review of this series: it is still highly recommended. It took me 2 days to read this book. It, like the first book, is a major page turner. A couple of the things revealed in the book were expected. A couple of them through me for a loop. I was like what just happened! I mean, completely unexpected. Again, in the spirit of full disclosure, there are several parts of this book that the reader will recogize as paralleling the Christian faith, so be prepared. Personally, I can't wait to re-read the book to pick up on more of those hidden items. The last book, White, just arrived today. I can't wait to read it. Of course, I'll let you know how it goes. I can't possibly imagine an ending for this series, so I'm just hopeful that it's not a letdown.
Rating:
Summary: Allegory that is poetry and action-suspense! Powerful.
Review: Dekker has lived up to the high expectation he set for himself in this middle part of the Circle Trilogy. The pages turn quickly as Thomas plays the role of reluctant prophet in one world, and Chief Warrior for the good guys in another. The spiritual undertones in the novel are layered, thought-provoking, yet nonobtrusive. Red is a truly amazing blend!
The pages will turn quickly, and you will keep asking "What next?" Beware! I stayed up on far too many nights to be able to steal an hour or two of tantalizing reading. It is addictive.
Bottom-line: Don't bother bargain shopping--just get this quickly and devour it. You will love it. Dekker is a rare genious!
Rating:
Summary: Destined to become a Classic Trilogy
Review: I just finished Red, and all I can say is "Wow"! This story just keeps getting better. Is Ted Dekker talented or what? Before I became a Chritian, I used to read secular suspense. I must say this is better than anything I've read not only in Christian writing, but in fiction period. Do read them in order. I'm getting ready to go get White now.
Rating:
Summary: Bleeding In Both Worlds
Review: The Raison Strain has been released. The world is in danger of extinction. One woman has the power to find the cure. And Thomas Hunter, the one man who can see the future, is sleeping.
Ted Dekker has created a real-life new action hero, Thomas Hunter, who splits his time between two worlds. Red is the brilliant sequel to the fast-paced fantasy fiction thriller, Black. In this one, Dekker doesn't let up on the throttle, but instead revs up the engine, taking the reader through series of international crises in both the real-world of international terrorism and the alternate world where Elyon rules. And yet for Thomas, he is real in both dimensions. His scrapes and bruises in one world transfer to the other. And his wife in the one world is the woman he loves in the next.
What makes Red such a compelling read is its lucid and tight writing. Often sequels can be a little of a letdown, dragging the reader along a boring trail, just to finish the story. However, Red doesn't do that.
Red is a fantastic book, a piercing fantasy thriller that does more than entertain. It's creative pulse provide a realistic metaphor for the spiritual life.
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