Product Description

US Navy intelligence analyst Ryan Evans is used to treating life like a code to be deciphered. But a brutal kidnapping in the Iraqi desert presents him with an excruciating dilemma that turns his whole world upside down.

Back home in Texas, the serial killer dubbed ‘Bone Man’ is about to be released, amid allegations that the wrong man was put behind bars. When Bone Man strikes again, hunter becomes hunted and Evans must risk everything he has to win a cruel game – and protect everything he loves.

A tense psychological puzzle that explores the complexity and compromises of relationships, this is a dark and frightening thriller that drills into the ultimate battleground between good and evil – the human heart.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #293666 in Books
• Published on: 2009-04-16
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 352 pages

Review
'Dekker is adept at unraveling stories of good and evil at a nail-biting pace...' -- Library Journal Review 'Ted Dekker is clearly one of the most gripping storytellers alive today.' -- Jeremy Reynalds, syndicated columnist 'There's lots of good Christian fiction around but it's virtually impossible to get non-Christians to read it because it's overtly Christian. This book isn't. The story is gripping. It weaves together the abduction of two young children, the unfolding drama of 'Eve' a serial killer who leaves no clues as he kills a young woman every month, and the tensions between Clark, his ex-wife and an attractive female detective. Be prepared for a terrifying climax. Be prepared to learn!' -- Christian Marketplace on Adam

Review
'Dekker is adept at unraveling stories of good and evil at a nail-biting pace...' (Library Journal Review )

'Ted Dekker is clearly one of the most gripping storytellers alive today.' (Jeremy Reynalds, syndicated columnist )

'There's lots of good Christian fiction around but it's virtually impossible to get non-Christians to read it because it's overtly Christian. This book isn't. The story is gripping. It weaves together the abduction of two young children, the unfolding drama of 'Eve' a serial killer who leaves no clues as he kills a young woman every month, and the tensions between Clark, his ex-wife and an attractive female detective. Be prepared for a terrifying climax. Be prepared to learn!' (Christian Marketplace on Adam )

About the Author
The son of missionaries, Ted Dekker was brought up among headhunters in Indonesia. His unique insight into human nature and the eternal conflict of good and evil have made him a bestselling writer with THR3E and THE CIRCLE TRILOGY.

Customer Reviews

Brilliant
Ted Dekker is simply one of my favorite authors. He combines adrenaline laced thriller with philosophy that would make the hardest of anti-theist think. Plus, with books such as this one, he stays within the "real" world. Sure characters aren't shown beeping and f-ing, but they curse, they talk about sex, the characters are "real". This is amazing considering so many christian authors fall into the trap of having goody-good good guys and big mean baddies.

But this books real merit? I haven't done anything today apart from read. It kept me captivated for a long stretch and at no point did I want to walk away.

What about down sides? Well some bits are a little inconsistant or unexplained, but only the worst critics would hold these slight details against Dekker.

Very enjoyable and gripping. Recommended.

Confusing
I don't know whether the author deliberately set out to make all the characters deeply unsympathetic or whether it's just me but all of them, the delusional Ryan, his unpleasant ex-wife and his whiny brat daughter just grated on me totally. Ryan says people misunderstand him like they 'misunderstand God', his daughter compares her father not being there to the pain suffered by murder victims and his ex-wife cares for no-one but herself, so I found it hard to sympathise with any of them or care whether they got out alive or not. I found some parts confusing and unnecessary.

That aside, the Bone Man is a terrifying creation and the descriptions of his murders are upsetting but on the whole I was disappointed. Could have been a much better book.

TED DEKKER - BONE MANS DAUGHTER
Ryan Evans a USA naval intelligence officer is captured by insurgents in iraq - forced to watch children being tortured then killed then told he will suffer the same fate. -However he is rescued by the US army. After this horrendous experience in Iraq he finally realises the important things in life are his wife and family and vows, when he is reunited with them to make up for all the separations between them caused by his job.

However his wife, and daughter have made new lives for themselves during his absence and make it clear his is no longer wanted by them - he is forced to leave the family home and goes to live in a cheap motel, where in spiraling depression he sleeps and drinks his life away.

Meanwhile a convicted felon named 'Boneman' is released from prison after it is discovered that evidence was planted against him to ensure a conviction, it would seem the local D.A.'s office planted the evidence due to public pressure to catch the killer.

Then Bethany - Evan's daughter is kidnapped - by the real Boneman, who contacts Evans to say he has her - with instructions on how he can save her.

He informs the local D.A. who it would appear is having an affair with Evans wife, he accuses Evans of being the Boneman - saying he has kidnapped his own daughter to hide this fact.

The story then continues with Evans trying to evade capture from the D.A. and FBI
whilst trying to find the real Boneman who has his daughter.

This is the first Ted Dekker novel i had read, its pretty scarey at times, filled with dark humour when featuring the thoughts of Boneman and some of the scences depicted are not for the faint hearted.

I thought the story started really well - was well written and gripping - but half way through it annoyed me, i felt some of the storyline was - well - just silly, dragged out badly written, it was as if the book was written by 2 different people. However i stuck with it until the end - which i thought was predictable, however if you are stuck for something to read, and have a fairly strong stomach then overall this could be the book for you.

Pity the second half of the book didnt live up to the first half as i would have given it 5 stars - obviously there is a lot more happening in the book than i have described here, but to tell you more - would spoil the story.