BoneMan's Daughters

Sooooo…I was at the Dollar store yesterday and I picked up six—yes, SIX—new books. Only one was by an author I’ve read previously, one was by an author I’ve heard of but never read, and the remaining four are all new-to-me authors. I figured at a buck each, if they’re lousy books I haven’t lost much and if they’re good, hey, it’s all good.

It wasn’t until I got out to the car that I realized what I had just done. I just bought six new books. The number of unread books on my bookshelf is at least 50, likely closer to 75, and I just added six more.

And I haven’t touched BoneMan’s Daughters in a week!

Allow me to explain.

BoneMan’s Daughters is an intense ride. On the front cover is a quote by Brad Meltzer: “[It] doesn’t just get under your skin. It crawls there, and nests, and raises its head with a bitter tug, like it’s living within you.” This is a very apt description of this novel and this is exactly what this novel did to me.

Have you ever read a book (or watched a movie) where you knew a train wreck was coming and there was nothing you could do to stop it? You could see it happening, building up scene by scene, paragraph by paragraph and with every page you turn, you know that train wreck is getting closer and closer, and with every word you know the coming explosion is not just going to be just a little fire but a conflagration that will simply swallow you whole?

Yeah, that’s this book.

I had to stop reading on page 175 because I knew the bomb was going to drop in the next couple pages and I just couldn’t read any further. I figured I’d give it a day or so then I’d pick it back up again and finish reading. That day turned into two, and two turned into three, and next thing I knew, three turned into a week. I even started reading another book just to keep myself from reading BoneMan’s Daughters. I kept telling myself, “I have to finish the Ted Dekker book before I read this other book,” but I just couldn’t bring myself to pick up BoneMan’s Daughters and finish it.

So after that little revelation in the parking lot, I decided that I had to finish BoneMan’s Daughters and I had to finish it before I went to bed. Which I did last night.


BoneMan’s Daughters by Ted Dekker

Would you kill an innocent man to save your daughter?

They call him BoneMan, a serial killer who’s abducted six young women. He’s the perfect father looking for the perfect daughter, and when his victims fail to meet his lofty expectations, he kills them by breaking their bones and leaving them to die.

Intelligence officer Ryan Evans, on the other hand, has lost all hope of ever being the perfect father. His daughter and wife have written him out of their lives.

Everything changes when BoneMan takes Ryan’s estranged daughter, Bethany, as his seventh victim. Ryan goes after BoneMan on his own.

But the FBI sees it differently. New evidence points to the suspicion that Ryan is BoneMan. Now the hunter is the hunted, and in the end, only one father will stand.

--BoneMan’s Daughters by Ted Dekker, Copyright ©2009 by Ted Dekker. Published by Hatchette Book Group

My Review

If you’ve read this far, you probably already know what I think of this book…it is four hundred and four pages of pure awesomeness.

Commander Ryan Evans is in Iraq, a Navy intelligence officer borrowed by the Army to help analyze the mountains of data they’ve amassed. When his convoy is attacked and he’s the only survivor, he must rely on his wits and his knowledge of the Iraqis and their tactics to gain his freedom.

He manages to escape after a harrowing, heart-wrenching experience and returns to the US, only to find his wife is in love with another man and his 16 year-old daughter wants nothing to do with him. He hasn’t been a part of their lives, more dedicated to the military than to his family. They’re ready to move on, but Ryan isn’t.

Lawyers for the man convicted as the BoneMan, a serial killer who kidnapped six teenaged girls and then killed them by breaking every bone in their bodies, manage to get his conviction overturned and he is set free, much to the city of Austin’s horror. Is this man really the BoneMan, and if he is, when will he strike next?

With time and counseling, Ryan comes to grips with his family’s decision, but before he can do what little bridge-building he can do, his daughter is kidnapped, ostensibly by the BoneMan. Problem is, now the FBI suspect Ryan is the BoneMan, and they have very good reasons to think so.

Can Ryan find the BoneMan and his daughter before the FBI catches him? Can he do as the BoneMan directs and jump through his hoops in order to save his daughter? And if he does, will his daughter ever accept him as her father again?

Get this book (click the link below). You will not be disappointed.

As I believe I’ve mentioned before on this blog, I’m an aspiring writer and this story was not only a great read, but a great lesson. Ted Dekker goes further than I have ever conceived going. He doesn’t just push the envelope, he mangles it, he shreds it, he puts it back together and then sprinkles a little C4 on it and blows it up. I’m now taking another look at the mystery I’ve started to craft and am wondering just where I can do a little envelope-destroying of my own.

I give this story FIVE STARS.