Title: Black: The Birth of Evil
Series: The Circle Trilogy
Year: 2005
Author: Ted Dekker
Summary: Enter an adrenaline-laced epic where dreams and reality collide.
Fleeing his assailants through deserted alleyways, Thomas Hunter narrowly escapes to the roof of a building. Then a silent bullet from the night clips his head...and his world goes black.
From the blackness comes an amazing reality of another world-a world where evil is contained. A world where Thomas Hunter is in love with a beautiful woman. Then he remembers the dream of the chase as he reaches to touch the blood on his head.
Where does the dream end and reality begin? Every time he falls asleep in one world, he awakes in the other-both facing catastrophic disaster. Thomas is being pushed beyond his limits...even beyond the limits of space and time.
Black is an incredible story of evil and rescue, betrayal and love, pursuit and death, and a terrorist's threat unlike anything the human race has ever known.
Some say the world hangs in the balance of every choice we make. Now the fate of two worlds hangs in the balance of one man's choice.
Fleeing his assailants through deserted alleyways, Thomas Hunter narrowly escapes to the roof of a building. Then a silent bullet from the night clips his head...and his world goes black.
From the blackness comes an amazing reality of another world-a world where evil is contained. A world where Thomas Hunter is in love with a beautiful woman. Then he remembers the dream of the chase as he reaches to touch the blood on his head.
Where does the dream end and reality begin? Every time he falls asleep in one world, he awakes in the other-both facing catastrophic disaster. Thomas is being pushed beyond his limits...even beyond the limits of space and time.
Black is an incredible story of evil and rescue, betrayal and love, pursuit and death, and a terrorist's threat unlike anything the human race has ever known.
Some say the world hangs in the balance of every choice we make. Now the fate of two worlds hangs in the balance of one man's choice.
Main Characters:
~ Thomas Hunter
~ Thomas Hunter
Review: Ted Dekker is one of those authors who I really can't make my mind up about. I begin his books with low expectations, get lost in the story and dragged on by suspense, and then end with mixed feelings. Yes, I'm a book snob. I can't help that.
Anyway, Black follows the beginning adventures of Thomas Hunter a man who's being chased for not repaying a rather large loan.
Oh. Wait.
Thomas Hunter is a man without a memory who somehow survives the infamous, evil-filled Black Forest.
Oh. Wait.
He's both. Thomas Hunter is living in two different worlds, and we're not sure which one is the real one. And that's where the adventure begins.
After getting out of the Black Forest alive, Thomas works at getting his memory back, asking a million questions, eating strange fruit, and learning to woo a female as part of the great romance. Behind him, there's always the threat of the large, flesh-ripping bats. In the other world, Thomas works at not being killed by his pursuers, announcing the winner of the Kentucky Derby before the race even begins, and making a trip around the world to gain an audience with science's foremost star. And behind him, there's the threat of assassins and a virus that has the power to effectively kill the entire planet's population in three weeks. No pressure. He can handle both lives.
This book doesn't give you a moment to catch your breath. Honestly, if I wasn't a new mom needing sleep, I would have been up until 3am trying to finish and find out what happens. Yes, I howled at the cliff-hanging ending. You have been warned.
For the most part, I liked this book. It's fast-paced, confusing, heart-stopping, and well-written. Thomas is a likable hero with plenty of snark and spontaneity.
I wasn't too keen on the great romance bit. While I could understand why it was written the way it was, it felt very forced and awkward. Thomas is chosen by this girl and then must woo her; he doesn't show much affection for her, other than a general gawking at her beauty and fighting skills. Personally, I preferred the relationship, albeit short, that he had with the girl from earth.
Anyway, Black follows the beginning adventures of Thomas Hunter a man who's being chased for not repaying a rather large loan.
Oh. Wait.
Thomas Hunter is a man without a memory who somehow survives the infamous, evil-filled Black Forest.
Oh. Wait.
He's both. Thomas Hunter is living in two different worlds, and we're not sure which one is the real one. And that's where the adventure begins.
After getting out of the Black Forest alive, Thomas works at getting his memory back, asking a million questions, eating strange fruit, and learning to woo a female as part of the great romance. Behind him, there's always the threat of the large, flesh-ripping bats. In the other world, Thomas works at not being killed by his pursuers, announcing the winner of the Kentucky Derby before the race even begins, and making a trip around the world to gain an audience with science's foremost star. And behind him, there's the threat of assassins and a virus that has the power to effectively kill the entire planet's population in three weeks. No pressure. He can handle both lives.
This book doesn't give you a moment to catch your breath. Honestly, if I wasn't a new mom needing sleep, I would have been up until 3am trying to finish and find out what happens. Yes, I howled at the cliff-hanging ending. You have been warned.
For the most part, I liked this book. It's fast-paced, confusing, heart-stopping, and well-written. Thomas is a likable hero with plenty of snark and spontaneity.
I wasn't too keen on the great romance bit. While I could understand why it was written the way it was, it felt very forced and awkward. Thomas is chosen by this girl and then must woo her; he doesn't show much affection for her, other than a general gawking at her beauty and fighting skills. Personally, I preferred the relationship, albeit short, that he had with the girl from earth.
Advisory: Lots of violence. Multiple fights bloody/kill/injure combatants. It's not extreme gore, but enough that I would recommend this book for a slightly more mature audience.
Also, the romance. Some kisses and touches, but not terribly graphic.
In the strange world that Thomas finds himself in, Dekker makes a parallel to the story of the Bible. The black forest and the evil bats represent sin and (duh) evil while the colored forest, good. The evil bats try to tempt the good people to eat the fruit from the black forest (much like Satan tempted Eve in the Garden of Eden); and the parallels could go on and on. However, the "God" of this world is more essence in liquid form than holy spirit. While it makes sense in a fairly cool analogy in the book, it still felt a little weird to me to make the awesome Lord of the universe into a pool. Just throwing that out there.
Also, the romance. Some kisses and touches, but not terribly graphic.
In the strange world that Thomas finds himself in, Dekker makes a parallel to the story of the Bible. The black forest and the evil bats represent sin and (duh) evil while the colored forest, good. The evil bats try to tempt the good people to eat the fruit from the black forest (much like Satan tempted Eve in the Garden of Eden); and the parallels could go on and on. However, the "God" of this world is more essence in liquid form than holy spirit. While it makes sense in a fairly cool analogy in the book, it still felt a little weird to me to make the awesome Lord of the universe into a pool. Just throwing that out there.
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
