Book Review: "Kiss" by Ted Dekker and Erin Healy

A Dekker novel women will enjoy

Shauna McCallister has woken up from a coma with no memory of how she got there. The last six months have been erased from her mind. Friends and family say that she was in a car accident that left her brother severely brain damaged and that she had been hoarding drugs in her apartment. Her father is running for President and cannot deal with any scandal tainting his name. Therefore her stepmother wants Shauna having nothing to do with them during the campaign blaming her for everything. However things aren't beginning to add up and soon Shauna starts being suspicious. Then she discovers that she's gained a power that could solve the mystery behind her past.

Every Ted Dekker book is an adventure to read and this one is no exception. This book is so unlike most of Dekker's other novels. I would say this falls more along the suspense/romance like Blink of an Eye. There's a great female lead and the plot is very well written and draws the reader in immediately. The story starts off a little slow but it mirrors exactly what Shauna herself is going through. All the details are hazy as both the reader and Shauna tries to figure out what has happened to her. I think Shauna's new "power" after accident was portrayed very well. It would be an interesting development in the world if it every truly happened. There are characters in this book that you just want to slap in the face. Evil stepmothers still strike fear in people especially when political is at stake. I really feel sad to read stories where the father is blind to his new wife's abuse of his own children. There's talk about underlying issues about corrupt politics and human trafficking that are background topics in the book. However they do bring to light attention to these issues which are very important. While this book has Christian authors, one could say this isn't really a Christian novel. I didn't find it preachy at all and there's no unrealistic conversion scenes. It would be a great book to pass along to fans of the romantic suspense genre and it opens up doors for more female readers to become fans of Dekker. Ted Dekker is one of my favorite authors so I had no doubt this book would be great. Erin Healy shows great promise as a new writer. I will be looking forward to their next joint offering in the future.

Kiss by Ted Dekker and Erin Healy is published by Thomas Nelson (2009)