BoneMan's Daughters a Graphic and Creepy Thriller from Ted Dekker

I can think of a lot of people who would be freaked out by this book... and I'm one of them. Why, there's probably a whole class of Christians that are probably up in arms about the very nature of this novel. So, due to the graphic nature of this story, I feel I should give parents a heads up for younger children that may be easily frightened or who may wonder why this killer does what he does. This book will no doubt give way to a lot of questions. I'll add a bit more about the graphic nature after an overview. Not to worry, I'm someone who hates spoilers, so I'll touch on some of them briefly in the "Parents Spoiler" zone. And I'll do my best to alert you to when they're coming.

A general overview of the story

BoneMan's Daughters is the story of a high-level military intelligence officer who is facing his worst nightmare. Having just returned from the war overseas in Iraq, Ryan Evans is harboring some horrible memories from an interrogation that he underwent. This dramatic event has convinced him that he needs to reconnect with his estranged wife and teenage daughter, Bethany, whom he has neglected for way too many years. He returns to Texas only to be shocked to learn that a notorious serial killer has taken his daughter hostage. When the killer (The BoneMan) taunts Ryan with a message that he has Bethany, Evans begins a desperate search to locate his daughter. Not only to rescue her, but to demonstrate his love for her and prove that he is her rightful father.

In classic Dekker style, the whole drama is nicely wrapped up with a satisfying tightrope ending and a surprising twist or two... Including the very last page, which still has me thinking about how this story relates to my life. I love it when Dekker pulls this off. He did that in Heaven's Wager as well. (You can read my review of Heaven's Wager by clicking here.)

Spiritual Dimensions

Right up there in the "Way to go, Ted!" department, is that fact that Dekker never whitewashes sin. It's one of the reasons his antagonist are so horrible, so evil. Satan does exist, and he routinely throws his rage at humans, those made in God's image.

And in this story, in the face of such evil, a father is willing to do anything to save his daughter. Anything.

Love exists too.

I began to analyze and question my own love during this story. Would I be willing to endure anything to save my daughter? My wife? The teenagers that God has placed in my life? I'd like to believe so. (It's one of the things I learned while writing my own short story of selfless love.)

Heavy duty questions, from a heavy duty author.

Parents Spoiler Zone - Kind of...

Even though I call this the spoiler zone, I don't plan on giving everything away. You'll just have to go get Dekker's novel and read it for yourself. The reason I'm including this area is for parents who may be screening the kinds of things their kids read. (You are doing that for your kids, right?)

BoneMan's Daughters was very disturbing to me on a couple of levels. I'm not the kind of guy who goes to horror/slasher movies much anymore (yeah, I saw the original Halloween and Friday The 13^th part 1. Part 1? Yeah, showing my age.), so when Dekker describes BoneMan's targets (teenage girls) and then describes how BoneMan kills his victims (usually by staking them down and slowly breaking all their bones) I begin to feel a little queasy. Much attention is given to how these girls must have suffered and begged for mercy, and frankly, I have many dear young friends who fit the target profile of this monster. You might say that the fact that the story so disturbed me is a testament to Dekker's writing. As usual, I'll give him an "A" in that department.

Still, because this monster known as The BoneMan takes such immense pleasure in methodically breaking fingers, and arms and legs and ribs (with no skin breakage) until the victim slowly dies of internal bleeding, I found myself traumatized by the torture. There were days when I'd read a chapter and then just have to let the book sit for a while. I had felt and heard each bone snap! It left me weak in the knees and my mind a bit foggy. And like Ryan Evans, begging for the evil to end.

Final Thoughts

If you can make it through this story, it will affect you. It has me.

And if you can step back from the horror, I hope you gasp at the redemption. Try and perceive this novel from a "God's eye view", and you might be surprised at what you see.

As Dekker likes to say, "Dive Deep".