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| Adam | 
 enlarge | Author: Ted Dekker
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Category: Book
List Price: $25.99
Buy New: $3.82
You Save: $22.17 (85%)
New (43) Used (22) from $3.82
Avg. Customer Rating:  50 reviews
Sales Rank: 3714
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 400
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.4
Dimensions (in): 9.5 x 6.3 x 1.4
ISBN: 1595540075
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9781595540072
ASIN: 1595540075
Publication Date: April 1, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: near perfect,orders to us by 3:30 pm eastern time are out that same day. WE SHIP 3 TIMES DAILY.
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Product Description
It takes an obsessive mind to know one. And Daniel Clark knows the elusive killer he's been stalking. He's devoted every waking minute as a profiler to find the serial killer known only as Eve. He's pored over the crime scenes of sixteen young women who died mysterious deaths, all in underground basements or caverns. He's delved into the killer's head and puzzled over the twisted religious overtones of the killings. What Daniel can't possibly know is that he will be Eve's next victim. He will be the killer's first Adam. After sixteen hopeless months, the case takes a drastic turn on a very dark night when Daniel is shot and left for dead. Resuscitated after twenty minutes of clinical death, Daniel finds himself haunted by the experience. He knows he's seen the killer's face, but the trauma of dying has obscured the memory and left him with crushing panic attacks. Nothing--not even desperate, dangerous attempts to reexperience his own death--seems to bring him closer to finding the killer. Then Eve strikes again, much closer to home. And Daniel's obsession explodes into a battle for his life . . . his sanity . . . his very soul. Enter a world of death and near death that blurs the lines between fiction and reality in a way that will leave you stunned. "The detail is stunning, pointing to meticulous research in FBI methods, forensic medicine, and psychological profiling. We have to keep telling ourselves that this is fiction. At the same time, we can't help thinking that not only could it happen, but that it will happen if we're not careful." David M. Kiely and Christina McKenna, authors of The Dark Sacrament
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| Customer Reviews: Read 45 more reviews...
 Danger in the Details March 21, 2008
18 out of 19 found this review helpful
From the time I finished "When Heaven Weeps" (Dekker's second novel), I knew we were witnessing a new direction in the world of fiction with a faith-based message. While never hiding his Christian roots and their influence on his writing, Dekker has carved out his own niche in the marketplace with big concepts, fast-paced stories, and prolific output.
"Adam" is as fast-paced and riveting as anything Dekker's written. While unfolding the antagonist's background through cleverly inserted magazine bits, Dekker spends even more time letting us follow an FBI investigation through the eyes of Daniel Clark. Daniel has given years of his life to capturing Eve, a serial killer with unknown motives and a knack for avoiding detection. While Eve's motives become more personal, drawing in Daniel and his ex-wife, Daniel is threatened by the disorienting effects of a bullet wound suffered in an earlier showdown with Eve.
In the past, Dekker has sometimes passed over certain details to focus on the heart of a story, but he bolsters this latest thriller with research that adds to the story's realism and sense of danger. Not only does this lift it above many other books out there, it becomes essential to the ending--where fact and fiction, faith and doubt, and good and evil collide.
This is one of Dekker's best books overall, and may be his best thriller yet. Combining character and plot development with spiritual ideas, he proves that he has many more stories for us. Although the climax is reached in a somewhat expected exorcism scene, God's truth and light are on full display, pinpointing mankind's fall and the hope of redemption. Good storytelling need never be preachy, and Dekker proves that once again with "Adam."
Dekker Fan? Order it Now! March 3, 2008
15 out of 15 found this review helpful
Dekker fans are in for a wild ride. Dekker is at his best when he writes thrillers. His fantasy is good, but his thrillers are breathtaking and sleep stealing.
Adam pivots on the usual Ted Dekker standard theme of man's fall and God's extravagant grace. An avowed atheist, psychological profiler on his quest to catch the bad guy enters into places he never believed existed, especially within himself. The woman who loves him gets entangled in the increasingly tense cat and mouse game between the ever-changing status of hunted vs. hunter. Dekker covers the murderer's intriguing backstory in a multi-part news expose which amps the tension with each segement of article.
The only negative is some ambiguity in the final sewing up of details. Dekker may very well have meant to be ambiguous as he left some story lines with opportunity for growth in future novels which would be very okay by me. The climax ended on a decided downbeat, too. But to have pumped any more intensity into the scene may have been overkill.
I'm calling Adam my favorite Dekker novel -- to date -- you never know what's going to tweak his creative flow next.
 Welcome Back Mr. Dekker. April 28, 2008
10 out of 11 found this review helpful
I've made it no secret my opinions of Ted Dekker's latest works (read my reviews for Skin, Saint, and the first two Lost Books). Over the last year Dekker's writing has taken a turn for the worse and for a long time I wondered if I'd ever see the great and wonderful writing which graced the pages of master works like Thr3e, The Circle, and Showdown, again. Fortunately, Ted Dekker has finally broken out of his funk and delivered the goods.
Special Agent Denial Clark is obsessed. A killer known simply as Eve is loose in the country, and it is his job to bring him to justice. But Eve is an elusive killer, with a meticulous attention to detail that puts villains like Hannibal Lector to shame. His victims; young women chosen seemingly at random to feed some sort of sick perversion. His method; a mysterious virus which attacks the mind. His favorite food; candy bars and cherry coke. Mmmm, yummy. Not too healthy, but hey, he's a killer, what does he care about health?
The case takes a dramatic turn for the worse, however, after Denial, following a lead on Eve, is shot dead by the killer only to be revived twenty minutes later by his partner. But now, every twenty minutes or so, his mind forces him to relive the fear of death, crippling him with blinding terror which lasts about five to ten seconds. Although this may seem like an insignificant amount of time, the constant panic attacks grow worse as time goes by, driving him almost to the point of suicide.
This is more Dekker formula, so if you're familiar with his previous works you'll be right at home with Adam. The crazy villain, the worldly characters, the supernatural elements, the all too familiar nail biting suspense, it's all there. Everything you loved about Dekker's older works is here in this new book, so for all those Forest Guard people out there this book will not disappoint. But he brings something to this novel which was absent in his previous works, and that is attention to detail. Ted Dekker clearly did his homework because his attention to the details of autopsies, medical practices, FBI procedures, etc, could not have been better if they had been written by experts in all these fields (okay, maybe they could be, but you get the point). This is something that was noticeably absent in Dekkers other works. Although he's written about the FBI before (Thr3e) he never got into the details about how it worked.
A nice touch Dekker through in is to have news articles, dated after the timeline in the novel, scattered throughout every three or four chapters. These news articles tell the story of two siblings, Jessica and Alex Train, who were abducted from their home in Arkansas when they were little and lived out their childhood with a family of deranged psychopaths. This story within the story compliments the main storyline very well (even though it is rather short overall) and fits in nicely at the end. If not for these news articles the ending for the novel would have made absolutely no sense at all.
Speaking of endings, Ted Dekker has been known for his endings, but lately these endings have come in one of two forms.
1) He saves a mediocre book with a killer ending (Skin).
2) He ruins a pretty darn good book with a mediocre ending (Saint).
Adam, unfortunately, falls into category two. Although yes, it does have a big shocker (which I won't' spoil for you), that shocker is negated by the simple absurdity of the closing chapters. All the build up to the ending and no satisfaction. Where the book for the most part resembled Thr3e, the ending resembled Saint more than anything else, a book I consider to be Dekkers worst.
Although this book has its share of problems, it is still a very worthy novel which I am glad Dekker took the time and effort to write. It may not be as good as Showdown or Thr3e, but it at least matches Obsessed and Blink while surpassing Saint and Skin.
Re-read value; moderate.
 A good read, but Dekker isn't at his best here... May 9, 2008
9 out of 9 found this review helpful
Ted Dekker is my favorite author, and once again he has given me a book that has given me ours of entertainment and some things to think about in life and faith.
In this book, you follow the latest and most career intensive case of an FBI criminal profiler who also, through his studies has come to view religion as one of the driving forces of evil in society (and his serial killers motive), as opposed to an "evil force" itself existing.
Dekker provides us with his normal fast-paced, suspensful story, some excellent research and a plot with some good twists but not so surprising turns and anyone who loves a good mystery or story will read this book quickly and eagerly.
However, having said this, and understand I am one of Dekker's greatest fans, my applauding of the book ends here. Large, crucial and incredibly interesting themes of good/evil, especially evil's reality and the supernatural are addressed in this modern-day thriller. However, Dekker says in an interview about the book that his hope through painting a more real picture of the darkness is to draw people to the light. My biggest disappointment with this book is that in the end, little time or attention or detail for that matter is given to how the Light overcomes the very real darkness. So much time is spent exploring the possibility and then reality of the evil side of the supernatural that you are left to wonder how the light defeated the darkness. Sure you hear the name "Jesus", and Dekker is phenomenal at not being preachy, but when I read the last word of the last chapter, my biggest question was "What? How the...that's it?"
A fast-paced mystery where the conclusion is still a step beyond predictability, but I'm afraid that in my opinion, even though the Light is the victor in the end, the book leaves you wondering, "if the Dark is really so real and powerful, how in the world did the Light overcome it in this story? And if Lights victory is so unplausible at the end of this work of fiction, why would I ever hope in its power in reality?"
Evil is real and powerful, but the Light shatters darkness! However, in this book, you'll find that the light really just kind of wears it down and chases it away to fight another day...
Keep writing Dekker! You are amazing as are your works...but I must responsibly rate this book lower than your others...may your fans forgive me, and remember too that I am a fan.
Going Dark? No Turning Black! March 11, 2008
8 out of 10 found this review helpful
When Frank Peretti endorsed Ted Dekker's debut novel, "Heaven's Wager," he knew it was something special. Fans of Frank Peretti, including me, figured Dekker was something special. Ted Dekker has repeatedly impressed time and time again. At least I've been impressed! I really love his work, and would immediately recommend it to anybody. So when "Adam" was released into the "New Release" category, I immediately wondered, almost figured that it might be an addition that goes along with "The Circle." Nope. Not this time. Dekker came out with something that would make the likes of Frank Peretti and Randy Alcorn wince, and author John Eldredge would personally endorse this.
Evil. It is all around us. Evil is what "Adam" is all about. Or rather Eve. And Daniel Clark is set, more like obsessed, with finding what Eve is all about. Eve is an abductor, and a killer, and Eve will play with your head. It all begins with the kidnapping of two children, and will certainly end in death. And Eve has clearly told Daniel to back off! Daniel himself has been driven to the brink, and it scares the living hell out of him. And when he's been scared, he goes deeper than he thought he could ever go. And now he's got nothing to lose. Right?
Ted Dekker is once again brilliant. He holds nothing back, and he refuses to apologize for it. And his aim this time is to show the defeat of Satan through Jesus Christ. He takes evil on and clamps down hard! He refuses to let go until the time is right. He tackles spiritual warfare through an outstanding thriller! That's Ted Dekker, the one Frank Peretti endorsed some time ago. I still endorse him to this day! Great work!!
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