Rating: 
Summary: Had me crying.
Review: This book had me sniffing back tears not once, but twice. Beginning and end. I guess it's appropriate considering the title, but I don't think I've ever cried reading a novel before. The story is about a soldier who finds an inexplicable love for a woman of ill repute. Incredible story that speaks volumes as most reviews here have already pointed out. This is a guy's love story. Not a romance. An adventure tale with pletny of violence, intrigue, and backstabbing to fill two volumes, but packed with love. I read this story and immediatly bought another book by Ted Dekker, A Man Called Blessed (co-authored with Bill Bright.) That one is as good, maybe better. Must read. Where has this guy been?
Rating:
Summary: WONDERFUL
Review: This book was an amazing find. I do not believe it is for everyone, but it really changed my perspective on true love. Once I was able to see myself as the wife and Christ as the husband, I was completely humbled. The parallels to our world and the story is astounding. Even if you think it isn't for you, give it a read!
Rating: 
Summary: A Little Morbid
Review: This book was somewhat interesting and thought provoking but seemed to me to have a morbid theme throughout. Perhaps the author feels all believers should die as martyrs. I also found the love story too hard to swallow. Frankly, I was relieved when I finished the book .
Rating:
Summary: So... you think you understand God's love ?
Review: This book was very unsettling to me - confronting me with the true depth of God's love for us and our love for other Christians. Well worth the read - great book. I have recommended it more than almost any other book in the past 2 years to my friends. If you think you understand God's love... read this and be prepared to rethink the depth of His great love.
Rating:
Summary: Fascinating
Review: This is a book every christian should read. It tells of a love that only God can give. Riveting. You will not want to put it down until you've read every page.
Rating:
Summary: One of the Best
Review: This was my first Dekker book, and I had no idea what I was in for. It certainly wasn't what I expected. From the opening scene in Bosnia right through the terrifying and totally unexpected conclusion, this book grabbed hold of me and wouldn't let go. I don't think I've ever before read such powerful scenes in a christian novel. I've been ruminating on this book and what it has to say about God's unfathomable love for the past three weeks--I just can't get it out of my mind. The only other book that affected me this powerfully was Cry the Beloved Country. A classic.
Rating: 
Summary: Satan is in the materialism as well
Review: Warning: Spoiler here. Do not read if you want to discover the ending for yourself.I agree with the preponderance of reviews so far that Dekker writes a powerful book which brings to the 21st century Hosea's love for Gomer in the Old Testament and God's love for us always. Janjic was given just the smallest bit of God's love for humankind and it nearly burst his heart. I wanted to love my wife more like that. (My wife read the novel first and recommended it because she knew I appreciated Frank Peretti's novels.) I have only one complaint. Dekker gives us the false sense that Satan is in the drugs, lust, and violence while not being in the materialism that seems to have gripped Janjic's heart. I was ready to rejoice when Janjic gave it all up, even the $5,000 balance after liquidating his ministry, but then I wondered later whether he understood the spiritual challenges that material wealth brings. If Janjic and Helen spent the rest of their days sipping lemonade on the porch of a New England mansion, living off book and film royalties, then Satan had them just where he wanted them as surely as if they had bought Satan's lie that drugs and lust would satisfy. I hope that Dekker will address better the spiritual challenges that material wealth provides in some future novel.
Rating:
Summary: Yes, I Wept
Review: Well Done! I sobbed with release and relief at the end of this spectacular book and felt compelled to congratulate the author. Mr. Dekker, you have a true gift! I wish this book to be read by all who find it hard to love the unloveable. Having lived through the terribleness of loving someone who continuously betrays you, I never thought to find such a true accounting of the emotions that experience evokes. I also chose to stick with the person who kept hurting me, not by my own strengths, but through the wonderful strengths and understanding of Christ. Thank you for putting into words the true meaning of love.
Rating:
Summary: Whoa . . .
Review: What have we got here? The first great Christian novel of the millenium? Where did this Dekker guy come from? This book is no holds barred. Author Dekker takes Christian fiction into uncharted waters and comes back, like Jason, with the golden fleece. Talk about taking chances. How about having your protagonist be under the spell of one of the most obnoxious villains of memory? I've never encountered a heroine like Helen anywhere else in fiction. She sinks oh so low only to encounter the heights of joy. Implausible? Not a bit, when there's a master storyteller like Mr. Dekker at the controls. I can't say enough about this book. It's the most riviting, vital, captivating story I've read in the past decade. By all means don't miss out on this mindblowing story.
Rating:
Summary: Most Powerful Once You Realize...
Review: WHEN HEAVEN WEEPS is one of the more powerful novels that I've read in the past few years. The second book of The Martyr's Song series, it is basically a 20th century re-telling of the Biblical story of Hosea. Jan Jovic was a Bosnian soldier in World War II. His troop happened upon a small village where the people were led by a godly man name Father Michael. A confrontation between Michael and Karadzic, Jan's commanding officer, escalated into a terrible tragedy where Michael and a small child named Nadia show Jan the true meaning of the love of Christ in the sacrifices that they make. Jan's eyes are opened and his life will never be the same. Flash foreword to the sixties and Atlanta, Georgia. Jan has written a story retelling the story of Nadia and Father Michael entitled THE DANCE OF THE DEAD. The book became a best seller and Jan has turned his life into a ministry, desiring to show the world what the love of Christ truly means. About to be engaged to his manager, Karen, his life is turned directly upside down one day when he happens upon a junkie named Helen, who is fleeing from her lover (who also happens to be a very dangerous underworld figure). What ensues basically follows the plot of Hosea. Jan unavoidably falls for Helen and Helen responds in kind but she continues to be drawn to her past, and thus becomes unfaithful to Jan multiple times over. In Hosea, God commanded Hosea to take a prostitute as his wife and to love her. The prostitute's unfaithfulness to Hosea was a graphic example of Israel's unfaithfulness to their lover, God. In WHEN HEAVEN WEEPS, the character of Helen represents each of us -- and therein lies the power of the story. WHEN HEAVEN WEEPS is remarkable in that it is quite graphic in its description of sin. All of Helen's dirty laundry is laid out before us, and as we read we wonder how anyone can be so callus in their regard for the love shown to them. But the detail is necessary, because when we realize that Helen is us the effect is ten times more powerful than if her sins had been glossed over (Ivena's explanation on page 263 is the key). As the story plays out Jan and Helen engage in a conflict that will demonstrate again what the ultimate love of Christ is, but also show that true love demands true sacrifice. WHEN HEAVEN WEEPS, then, stands as a triumphant work. It is not a perfectly written book (and that is why I cannot give it a full five stars). But it is very readable, and any literary criticisms that I have can easily be laid aside in light of the power of the message contained here. This is a rare thriller that will have you turning the pages like mad but also challenge your faith walk with God at the deepest levels, if you choose to let it. A solid FOUR STARS.
| 
