Skin

Ted Dekker

Summary:

A freak storm has spawned three tornados that are bearing down on the town of Summerville.

Yet under the cover of the storm looms a much more ominous threat: a vindictive killer known as Red who’s left a string of victims in his wake and is now bent on exacting his final revenge on the unsuspecting town.

But there is an enigma surrounding Red that the FBI is unwilling to admit – closely guarded secrets of something gone terribly wrong beneath the skin of Summerville. Secrets that will destroy far more than one small town.

Caught in the middle is Wendy Davidson, a recovering cult survivor who takes refuge in Summerville on her way to visit her estranged mother. And with her, four strangers, any one of whom could be the next victim...

...or the killer.

Plot:

After reading two of Dekker’s other novels I know to expect the unexpected from him, yet he manages to surprise, shock and thrill me every time. This novel pulls you in on the first page and keeps you on the edge of your seat, guessing every possible and impossible outcome to this story, until you close the book, and even then it doesn’t completely let you go. Thrilling is the best word to describe this novel, some parts are horrifying, and you never know what’s going to happen next.

Characters:

The characters are the reason I prefer Dekker’s book over Frank Peretti’s, he builds his stories around his characters. You get a look into a crazy killer’s brain, and it’s both incredibly scary and strangely fascinating at the same time. All the characters in this book are slightly crazy, which seems to be a pattern for Dekker’s books. You start rooting for some of them, and some of them are not likable at all, but all of them have faults and positive points, even though it may be hard to spot.

Who should read this:

16+, this is definitely not one for anybody who is sensitive to graphic descriptions of murders, some of which are incredibly cruel and disturbing. Also, this is not a happy, nice or in any way light-hearted story, so if that’s what you’re looking for skip this one. If you enjoy thrillers that will keep you guessing, even after you finished reading, or something that’ll make you think I would definitely recommend this one.

My rating:

It’s really hard to say I loved this book, because it’s such a disturbing story, but I did. It’s just a great book, well-written and thought-provoking, even if it is horrifying at times. Although I prefer Dekker’s more famous book ‘Thr3e’, this one is definitely worth a read as well. 5/5

Quote:

“What we see may deceive us - the skin may be deceptive - but there has to be one truth, right? It can't all just be a jumble of perceptions. So what really exists out there, beyond what we can see? We're so dependent on the surfaces of what we see. But if we could see past the skin of this world...”