Obsession

Rating:
Summary: Obsession-suspense, fast moving, good clean reading
Review: As an avid reader of all types of novels, I find this sequel to Abduction fast moving and exciting. I like the manner in which the author, Wanda Dyson presents her story line and her characters. The dialogue between Zoe and JJ is delivered in a clean format. By clean, I refer to the language used. As a Christian I expect our choice of words in our home to be respectful and void of guttural slang. As a father, I encourage my daughter to read books such as Obsession and her being away at college, made me think of the real dangers out there. Wanda had me pondering whom might be the killer right to the end, where I thoroughly enjoyed the interrogation room scene. The references to Scripture's were relevant and well placed. Zoe had transitioned from psychic to a believer in the Word and Dyson made that transition logical. God loves to talk to us; we often can't discern at first whether it's Him or instincts. I recommend this book and I look forward to a sequel to compete a Zoe trilogy.

Rating:
Summary: Great Suspense
Review: As an avid reader of mystery and suspense, I am extremely pleased when I find a new author who can tell a great story. In Obsession Wanda Dyson continues the story of her two main characters, JJ and Zoe. Sparks fly between these two whenever they get together-JJ wants to protect Zoe and Zoe wants to be free to work independently. Dyson does a great job of weaving in the Christian elements and message by using her characters' struggles and doubts. And the suspense is great-Dyson masterfully weaves in her red herrings, keeping the reader wondering who the true villain is until the very end. I had trouble putting this book down until I was through.

Rating:
Summary: Awesome!!!!
Review: In this fast-paced sequel to Abduction, Wanda Dyson takes all her talent for suspense and goes a step further. She handles Zoe Shefford's struggle to find her purpose as a Christian with skill and wisdom, all while delivering a story that grabs readers by the throat. Dyson refuses to let you discover the true killer until she jolly well decides it's time...by which point in the book, if you're like me, you'll be creeping around your house turning on the lights.

Rating:
Summary: Great Book!
Review: Loved the twists and turns that kept me guessing right to the end. The relationship between JJ and Zoe keeps things from getting too dark with the way they are so mature and intelligent with everyone--except each other. Pushing each other's buttons sends them into feeding frenzy of adolescent behavior that amuses. Bought this after reading ChristbookReview said it was a shining example of what Christian fiction is becoming with all the pace and terror of the best secular police thrillers.. they were right on target. Can't wait for the sequel.

Rating:
Summary: A Frightening Book - Frighteningly Bad
Review: While it is refreshing to read about characters who struggle with and ask questions about God, a rare thing to see in today's fiction, that may have been the only savior of the book. Within the first ten pages, Dyson broke one of the most important rules of writing, which is 'show, don't tell'. She does not let the characters reveal themselves; instead, she tells us exactly what we should percieve in them, and unfortunately most of the characters come off as shallow or simply talking heads as a result. We are told that J.J. and Zoe are intelligent characters, yet for the most part they are incapable of speaking in little other than cliches or childish insults that better reflect Jr. High students, such as 'I know it might be a stretch to think you could actually act human...' or when Zoe calls J.J. a 'big oaf', not jokingly, or responds to J.J. by saying 'Oh, please. In your dreams.' This is just not how mature, hard working adults talk, nor is it what adults who read this book should be expected to believe we'd hear from the characters as she set them up. Another road block to readers finding the character's minds believable is the continual reference to instincts. It may have been one of the most used words in the novel, as the characters constantly felt the 'tingle' as their instincts were telling them something. It would be believable if this occurred once or twice in the novel at the most. A similar problem occurs when the characters are angry; their eyes flash or they speak with such emotion that they send chills down others' spines. This is writing from an amateur. In addition, we are supposed to believe that the killer is truly frightening, but the worst thing that he can spit out to say is 'He has to pay.', which echoed his earlier thought of 'As soon as he got out of here...someone was going to pay. And pay dearly.' One might expect a killer to have deeper psychological conflict than that, or at least something more interesting to say. Our killer is the printed version of one of the Scooby Doo bad guys who, after being revealed, inevitably shakes his hand at the gang and says 'If it weren't for you meddling kids...' And to top it off, Dyson inserts a minor character's observation of women wearing tight skirts in bars. This character asks himself 'What man truly wanted to marry a woman, the future mother of his children, knowing that she went home with a different man every weekend?' It seems that, as Dyson doesn't have women picking up other women in the bar, she is suggesting that the men who exhibit the exact same behavior in the bars are exempt from responsibility, hence placing it solely on the woman. Perhaps her observation should have been why would anyone, respectable man or woman, want a spouse who took a different person home each night? The christian community has placed so much responsiblity on women for sexual behavior, almost to the point of eliminating men from the same expectation of self control. In short, this just isn't a well written book. The dialogue is forced, cliched, and the bickering between J.J. and Zoe insufferable. While I understand the point Dyson was trying to communicate in forcing them to fight at every meeting, she did it without any creativity or finesse. I admire Ms. Dyson for writing, finishing, and publishing a book, which is more than most people achieve in their entire lives. However, when I spend my time reading, I don't want to spend time with a book so silly that the writing is distracting and downright grating.