Ted Dekker
Thr3e (2003)
Author: Ted Dekker
Genre: Christian/Suspense
Plot Summary:
Kevin is a good-looking, intelligent, naive seminary student with his whole life ahead of him. But oh can looks be deceiving. After a pleasant philosophical conversation with his dean, Dr. John Francis, Kevin's world is suddenly ripped apart. He answers his phone and hears a low gravelly voice giving him a riddle and threatening him. He searches his mind for the answer to the riddle but he comes up blank and a bomb blows up his car with him only narrowly escaping. Luckily no one is injured, but the psycho, who calls himself 'Slater', is not done with the riddles, threats, or the bombs. Slater wants Kevin to reveal something about his past, a sin, that has been repressed by Kevin for years. This secret from Kevin's past has the ability to destroy Kevin's life. What could that secret Be? Kevin uses the help of his childhood friend, Samantha Sheer, and a beautiful and intelligent FBI agent to try and solve Slater's riddles, which usually somehow involve the number three. Slater is getting more dangerous with his bombings as both a bus and a library (yeah! Libraries) are blown to smithereens after Kevin and his helpers fail to meet Slater's different demands. Something must be done to stop Slater and the answer is for Kevin, no matter how painful and disturbing it may be, to confront and reveal his past. SPOILER: Here's the bomb: Kevin has a serious case of Multiple Personality Disorder and he actually is Slater, Kevin, and Samantha...Oh My! The disorder developed as a child when he was adopted by his aunt Belinda after his parents died and the crazy old bag created her own reality by clipping only news stories out of the newspapers that she thought should be true and throwing away the rest. To contribute to this already crazy living situation, Belinda's only son is retarded and she tries to stifle Kevin's growth through intense mental abuse so that he may stay at the same intelligence level as her retarded son. However, Kevin breaks out of the house only to have his horrendous past manifest itself in a horrible psychotic, 3-obsessed personality: Slater!
Geographical Setting: California
Time Period: Present Day (2003)
Appeal Characteristics:
Anyone looking for a fast-paced ride would do themselves well to read this as the main character's car is blown up within the first ten pages and the author never looks back in this 2004 Christy Award winner. The characters are definitely not well-developed, but the action furiously drives this story so the reader may not even notice that all the characters are as deep as a puddle in the Sonoran desert at the height of summer(forgive me, seriously). The pace is also quickened by the short chapters. Those readers looking for a classic good vs. evil tale, where good prevails will be happy at this ending. There are definitely Christian themes running through this one, but they are kind of masked and made digestable by the action of the story. The suspense is heavy from the start as the reader is keenly aware of how Slater is in almost complete control of the situation and the question of how Kevin will escape his grasp, is always on the mind. A major attractive aspect to this one is the psychological angle of the story and anybody interested in the effects and causes of Mulitple Personality Disorder will be riveted by the stunning portrayal of Kevin and his illness. Twists, turns, and 180-degree flips are here for those who want to get taken for a ride.
Read-alikes: Dekker's Black: The Circle Trilogy will interest those readers who like the fast-pace, good vs. evil dichotomy, and hidden Christian themes. For reader's who enjoy Dekker's style and themes, The Circle Trilogy by Dekker is a fast pace, good vs. evil story that touches upon similar Christian themes and also features a similar plot with a main character whose ability to switch realities in his dreams aides him in solving the mysteries he faces. House by Frank Peretti and Ted Dekker is a novel about a couple who seek what appears to be an abandoned house while fleeing from a maniac killer to discover the house is not actually abandoned and is part of the suspenseful mystery. Similar elements include the fast paced storyline, the dichotomy of good vs. evil, confronting a personal sin, and redemption in a suspenseful Christian themes novel. Angels and Demons is another good readalike for Thr3e as its story involves the murder of a professor of religious iconography. Readers who enjoyed the element of riddles in Thr3e will enjoy the puzzles and difficult symbols in this novel. This novel is also plot driven and ends like Thr3e by connecting the strange situations of the novel in the ending. Ted Dekker also stated The Stand as his favorite novel, and this novel has similarities to Thr3e when a plague that attacks the US becomes more complicated when a prophetic satanic figure appears and society must confront good and evil. Deception by Randy Alcorn is similar in setting and plot in this Christian mystery where a homicide detective finds a professor murdered in fast paced, contemporary interpretation of Christian themes in society. Ezekiel's Shadow by David Ryan Long, a 2002 Christy Award winner, tells the story of a horror writer who finds God and only to be haunted by the sins in the characters of his pre-religious writings in this fast pace religious allegorical novel. For readers who enjoyed the personal turmoil of identity that Kevin faced, try Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk and American Psycho by Brett Ellison Peters. These novels do an excellent job of portraying complicated personality disorders and the discover of the individual in the grasp of good and evil, right and wrong. Also those who enjoyed Three for its riddles with numbers might try Katherine Neville's The Eight or A Calculated Risk. It's hard not to mention Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code as it contains elements of religion, suspense, puzzles, and a fast pace. Those interested in secret pasts and religion along with a fast-pace thriller might read Daniel Silva's The Confessor. Those who need Christian Fiction might try Imposter by Davis Bunn, which includes insights into the FBI,an enigmatic main character, and a dark incident from the past.
Red Flags: Some violence throughout but nothing ever very graphic. No swearing, no sex, no drugs...some 7-Up(That's all Kevin drinks).
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