Skin
by Ted Dekker
Nashville: Westbow, 2007, 395 pp. hardcover, $24.99

See my interview with Ted.

Ted Dekker explores the nature of beauty and evil with plot twists that will keep you guessing until the end of Skin. A handful of key characters are trapped in a small town with a serial killer named Sterling Red as their world unravels and they are faced with discovering the nature of beauty, evil and love below the surface skin of everyday reality. There's a darkness in everyone that isn't always obvious immediately, but there's also a capacity for love and forgiveness that might take some work to uncover as well. Dekker knows that life-and-death situations are the fastest way to reveal what lies beneath the skin.

As we expect with any Dekker novel, the story includes plot twists that keep surprising you even when you anticipate what might be coming. There are a few allusions to prior stories, but there are no prerequisites to fully understanding the story, unlike Saint, which required Showdown to be fully understood.

Skin is a fast-moving thriller and will satisfy Dekker fans, especially those who enjoyed Thr3e and the Project Showdown stories.

Next up for Ted is a return to the Circle Trilogy story, as a six-novel series begins with Chosen and Infidel, both coming in early 2008.

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