Review of Ted Dekker's Novel Showdown

Title: Showdown
Author: Ted Dekker
Publisher: Westbow Press, Nashville
Copyright: 2006
Pages: 357
ISBN: 1-5955-4005-9
Genre: Christian suspense

Paradise, Colorado, is anything but a metropolis. Young Johnny Drake and his old friend Cecil Marshal occupy the only bench in town the day a stranger walks into Paradise. This stranger soon proves to be anything but the typical visitor. The problem is that no one can decide exactly what he is. A preacher from God? A messenger of the devil? Perhaps a traveling magician? And then there's Johnny. He's convinced the stranger is a killer. A killer invading Paradise. Good or evil? He must be one of the two.

Meanwhile, a secret monastery near Paradise brims with intellectually mature students, children and teens in a Harvard-commissioned study called Project Showdown. One of these students discovers that the forbidden lower levels of the monastery contain tunnels and rooms full of enticing delights. But these delights come at a high price. Good or evil? They must be one of the two.

As these two tales simultaneously unfold, one thing becomes increasingly clear. Problems are brewing in both Paradise and the hidden monastery. Neither community can resolve its problems without a brutal showdown between good and evil. And the fate of both places may rest in the hands of a few kids. Good or evil? One of them must win.

In this unique tale, fantasy and reality converge in a swiftly moving plot. Dekker gives us a peek into the minds of multiple characters, a peek that is shocking in its reality. A few bizarre images and a philosophical debate round out the story. And in the end, the reader has to wonder if any of it should really be called fantasy.

It's precisely this element of reality, tempered by a touch of what seems unbelievable, that makes Showdown appealing. Our lives are no less filled with small moments of the incredible. Like the small town of Paradise, each of our lives serve as a stage for a showdown between good and evil. The fact that we aren't always aware of the showdown only demonstrates that we are blind, not that the showdown doesn't exist. Good or evil.

When Billy first enters the monastery tunnels, he fully realizes that his exploration constitutes a dark sin. And, perhaps even better than some readers of Showdown, Billy understands that his choice may "cost him the war" between good and evil (21). Before he enters, he meets a masked monk who urges him to explore the tunnels further. The monk argues, "'You must. If you weren't meant to enter those tunnels, they wouldn't be available for you, now would they?'" (22). Although twisted, his reasoning is clever-not so different from the reasoning we sometimes encounter in our own temptations.

Dekker portrays the characters in Paradise exploring in a similar fashion to Billy, first in their imaginations, then in their actions. Through his story, Dekker provides a phenomenal amount of insight into temptation, sin, redemption, forgiveness, and a host of other issues that lie at the heart of the Christian faith and daily walk. Sometimes truth given in a story form burrows deeper into the heart of a reader than a straightforward statement of the same truth. For this reason, Showdown is both an entertaining and a significant addition to the body of Christian fiction.

In a culture that often bans good and evil from their appropriate names, Dekker has blown the cover in a powerful way.