Blink

Rating:
Summary: A Thrill Ride
Review: I've never read Ted Dekker's work before and normally I have shied away from Christian "thriller" fiction because I found it to be poorly written and forced. This book, however, pleasantly surprised me.

The plot is outrageous, but Dekker sells it pretty well. A Saudi princess escapes from her country and her family after hearing that she will be forced to marry an older, cruel man. She is unaware of the political considerations - and they are formidible. She encounters a certifiable genius in San Francisco in the person of Seth Borders and he saves her from being kidnapped back to Saudi Arabia.

Borders and the princess go on the run. Borders is helped by unexplained glimpses at possible futures - a new phenomenon that he is learning how to manage as he is running. Borders is also troubled by the source of this phenomenon - is it natural or divine?

The chase continues and it is a great read. Have no fear of picking this one up, lovers of Christian novels!

Rating:
Summary: Don't Blink / You Don't Want to Miss Anything
Review: Seth Border and Miriam, daughter of Prince Salman bin Fahd, live worlds apart, physically, culturally and socially. Seth, with a razor sharp intellect, makes waves among the academic elite. Miriam runs from a forced marriage in Saudi Arabia. Thrust together in a bizarre escape, drawing the combined but competing attention of one of the most powerful oil-lords in the world as well as the FBI, Seth's gifted mind plots each step in a desperate race where the prize is their lives.

How do you describe a mind that plays with quantum physics with the ease of a high-school math wiz handling Grade 2 Arithmetic? Bigger challenge - how do you show that mind in a light that us lesser mortals can comprehend? The incredible flashes of insight Seth employs would strip almost any novel of credibility, yet somehow Dekker pulls this one off.

A fascinating story that pulls together such divergent themes as Christian / Muslim interactions, Woman's Rights, International security, and the inner working of the human mind. Dekker has also spun an immensely readable tale of edge of your seat fiction. From page one to the closing paragraph, this work combines entertainment, insight, thrills and spills and just plain good writing.


Rating:
Summary: Hats off to an exciting and hot author!
Review: Ted Dekker is regarded by many as one of the hottest writers of Christian fiction, and his novel "Blink" goes a long way to explain why. It's a thrilling and suspenseful story of the brilliant American student Seth Borders and the runaway Saudi Arabian princess Miriam. Miriam is the object of an arranged marriage to a vile man. Her marriage plays a key role in Middle East political intrigues and is integral to a planned coup with huge political implications. When Miriam flees her marriage and her repressive Islamic context to America, she connects with Seth. Seth has an IQ above 190, and discovers that he has a remarkable ability to see possible futures. But his ability is mostly limited to seeing ahead a few hours, and at times it disappears altogether. And which of the possible futures that he sees should he choose? Together Seth and Miriam join the readers on a thrilling ride as they dodge their pursuers and seek freedom.

The premise about Seth's ability to see the future is a good one, and for the most part it works. Dekker stretches it a little too far by suggesting that it is similar to the conditional prophecies uttered by Old Testament prophets. What characterized Biblical prophecy was not so much an ability to see possible futures, but rather the ability to directly proclaim God's Word (which on many occasions did concern the future). While Seth's ability is remarkable, it is not accurate to equate it with Biblical prophecy. But this is a minor quibble, and doesn't detract from the idea itself. Dekker's focus is that the future is in God's control, and in this regard he is completely correct, and his novel thoroughly thought provoking. When impossible situations arise, God can change the future in a way that even Seth himself can't imagine. This is especially evident in the conclusion: where the hand of God brings Seth and Miriam out of an impossible situation, yet in a very satisfying and convincing way.

In short, "Blink" offers an excellent and exciting story-line with political intrigue and suspenseful action, interwoven with thought-provoking theological and philosophical threads about prayer and providence. Aside from being hampered at times by the complexity of Middle East politics, this is a great and exciting novel, and I'm definitely going to add more Dekker books to my wish list! - GODLY GADFLY


Rating:
Summary: So Good
Review: This book served as my introduction to Ted Dekker and I must admit that I'm hooked! I read "Blink" over the summer with 2 friends while we were on a trip. Suffice it to say that we fought for our turn more and more as we got farther into the book. After reading the first chapter, I didn't want to stop. Dekker does a great job at combining a story with cultural and religious facts and beliefs. I did find one chapter hard to read and almost put the book down; if you find yourself in a similar place (due to a soft heart) - press on...it's well worth it!

Rating:
Summary: A peek under the curtain...
Review: This is the second novel I've read by Mr. Dekker, and I must say he is rapidly becoming my favorite author. His ideas are unique, his characters engaging, his plots intriguing, and his insights into the Christian faith are profound.

This book gives us a peek under the curtain to see the way God works. Seth Borders (one of the most interesting characters I've read in a long time) is given the ability to see into the future. As this ability develops, Seth is able to not only see many possible "futures," but is able to "pick" the one he wants by following the chain of choices that prompt others to react the way he "sees" them act in these possible futures.

Now, for me to say anything more about the plot would be to give it away, but Mr. Dekker has managed to relate in story form the paradox of God's sovereignty and foreknowledge coupled with man's ability to freely choose. How could God know the future with certainty and man be free to make choices? The answer provided by Mr. Dekker fits in line with what I myself have believed. God is able to "manuever" the future to fit his plan without doing harm to our ability to freely make choices. In "Blink," Seth knows what people will choose by making certain choices of his own knowing how people will respond. The old Protestant Reformers captured this thought when they said in the Westminster Creed that God exercises his sovereignty, primarily through secondary causes and the free choices of people. This is great stuff!

The only sticking point in this novel is its presentation of Islam. Islam is not portrayed too kindly in "Blink." But the fact of the matter is that Islam hasn't portrayed itself too kindly in the aftermath of 9/11 and the War on Terror. More and more we see that the so-called "religion of peace" is a deceptive tool of the devil that has trapped millions in its deceits. However, individual muslims aren't the enemy! They are in need of the saving gospel of Jesus Christ as all people are. Jesus Christ may be the only way to heaven, but out of love he calls ALL people to come to him.