One of the most thought provoking writers today is Ted Dekker. If you have never heard of him – you should.
When C.S. Lewis said we didn’t need more Christian writers, we need more writers who are Christians, I think he had someone like Dekker in mind. His adrenaline-laced novels can be enjoyed by anyone regardless of their faith background.
He has a blog post up about Jesus in art that I think is worth some attention. If nothing else the title should grab you – Jesus is a girl.
To further entice you, he closes his post with this:
Is Jesus a lamb? Or a lion? Or a Ram? Is he male? Is he white? Is he black? Is he a little girl named Susan?
You tell me.
His latest book, Saint, has just been shipped and will be released on October 1st.
The twisting tale follows assassin Carl Strople, who has been trained to be the best at what he does – kill people. Because of the intensity of the training, he has no idea who he really is.
The book opens with Carl waking up strapped to a bed with a women who says she is his wife, although he doesn’t really remember her. A man comes in and shoots her in leg and threatens to kill her and Carl’s son, if Carl doesn’t complete an assassination of two government officials.
With his mind racing, trying to remember, trying to piece together what is going on, Carl heads out to kill, like only he knows how.
From the back of the book:
“I know a few things about myself. I know that my name is Carl. My wife is Kelly. I love her more than my own life. If she told me to kill you, I would.
I’m a captive, deep inside Hungary – no one knows I’m here. I can put a bullet into a ten-inch target at 3,000 yards. They tell me that I’m the best sniper in the world. Sometimes I sit in my dark hole for days without moving so that they don’t hurt me. I can kill a man with my bare hands.
If Kelly told me to kill you, I would.
I only know a few things about myself. My name is Carl. They call me Saint.
I think they want me to kill you.”
(If you’d like to buy Saint, go to www.readted.com and enter the guard number/access code FG2DJ8. You can get a $10 rebate coupon.)
Ted Dekker has found the perfect publishing company for his novels. WestBow is intent on marketing high quality stories with great writing told by Christians, not sloppy, one-dimensional “Christian” shlock.
In an interview Allen Arnold, the Senior VP and Publisher for WestBow Books, said:
At WestBow, we don’t start with a grid of how much Christianity the story must have. We start with finding great Christian writers who have told a great story. You wouldn’t tell a master painter, “I love your landscape, but it needs a church in the middle of the field to be a more Christian painting. Likewise, you don’t tell a great Christian writer, I love your story but we’ll only publish it you must add a church scene and not allow a character to have a beer.” That makes no sense and isn’t how Christ interacted with his followers. For WestBow, the scale is “Great Writing vs. Poor Writing” and the talent pool is comprised of Christian storytellers.
Dekker’s books are some of the best written, fastest paced novels are the market today. Several are being made into movies. THR3E is set to come out in January 2007, with House, co-authored with Frank Frank Peretti, to hit theaters later that year.
If you have never done so, get a book by Ted Dekker. Just make sure you don’t have plans for the next few days. You won’t put it down.