The Bride Collector

Mia is doing much better today. The rash has spread up her feet and hands and over most of her stomach, but the fever is gone, and she's in good spirits. I'm planning to send her back to school tomorrow. Now I'm praying that no one else in the family gets it!

The Bride Collector by Ted Dekker is another terrifying novel from the king of Christian horror. Brad Raines is tracking a serial killer who has come to be known as the Bride Collector for his posing of the victims. When the FBI runs out of leads, a letter the killer leaves behind takes Brad to a mental institution where he finds that some of the residents may have insight into the mind of the psychopathic murderer. One of the residents, Paradise, is rumored to see ghosts and be able to see the last moments of the dead, but when Brad pulls her into the case, they both find that the case has suddenly become frightening personal. Dekker, who is the Stephen King of Christian fiction, creates a surprisingly intelligent twist on the typical serial killer pursued by the FBI novel. Paradise, and the rest of the patients, are treated with enormous compassion, and the reader will find their eyes and hearts opened to their need to be loved right alongside Brad. Often when an author reveals the murderer to the reader early on, the story loses some suspense, but Dekker keeps the tension ratcheted skintight as the killer continues to evade and outwit the police. His ability to so convincingly climb inside the head of the criminally insane gives the story an unsettling believability.  The climax is completely unexpected and shattering. I do hope that Dekker isn't finished with Paradise, Roudy, Andrea, and Cass, they make a fascinating set of crimefighters.

Thank you to Goldberg McDuffie Communications for providing me with a copy of this book for revie