Author: Ted Dekker

ISBN: 0849943736

The following review was contributed by:  E.Dian Moore &  To read more about Dian Moore’s reviews click HERE

To read Dian's Interview with the author CLICK HERE

Since the year 2000, author Ted Dekker has had eleven books published. An amazing accomplishment by itself, but currently, he also has all three of his Circle Trilogy books on the Christian Booksellers Association bestseller list.  

No one can quite figure out what genre he’s writing in, though. Is it fiction, fantasy, science fiction, thriller, mystery, Christian fiction? He’s crossed genres in all of his books and perhaps that’s what makes his work so appealing. Obsessed is Dekker’s eleventh book, which combines mystery with a huge dose of suspense; historical fiction with compelling characters; and a quiet introduction to the true power and meaning of love. OBSESSED has something for everyone.  

It begins in 1973 with young real-estate broker, Stephen Friedman, whose mother disappeared after the Holocaust. He’s a brilliant moneymaker, living a quiet lifestyle and seems content—until a phone call propels him into a madcap race to discover a treasure, his past, and possibly the love of his life.

OBSESSED takes the reader on a journey into two eras with alternating storylines. In 1973, Stephen’s quest to discover the truth of his past and recover a treasure pits him against villain Roth Braun, the offspring of Gerhard Braun, an SS Officer during the Holocaust.  

Scenes from 1944-45 at the work camp Toruñ (Thorn), in Germany (now Poland) tell the stories of Stephen’s mother, Martha, and her friend, Ruth as they struggle to survive and keep their children alive while under the evil power of Gerhard Braun. Both women are pregnant, a condition that puts them in peril. Between them, they are able to ensure the survival of their children: Stephen, Martha’s son; and Esther, Ruth’s daughter.

The wit and courage of Martha and Ruth reach across a generation and instigate a pursuit to fulfill the promises of hope and defeat the power of evil on one hand; and on the other, a pursuit to destroy hope and defeat the power of good.  

Stephen discovers that his biological mother, Martha, may have lived near him for many years, though he never knew her; they were separated after the war, never to be reunited. Her death sets into motion both Stephen’s quest to find one of the treasured Stones of David and recover his past, and Roth Braun’s mission to recover not only a journal of the torturous games of his father, but also the power he feels has been drained from his family by the cleverness of Ruth and Martha.

Braun is creepy, perhaps more so than the fictional Hannibal Lecter. He is obsessed with regaining a power that can only be fueled by drinking the blood of the offspring of the women his father guarded in Germany almost thirty years ago. Right before he kills them.  

As Stephen races to retrieve the stone, his obsession grows to encompass the mysterious Esther. Could she be alive? Are they meant to be together? Are they the true Stones of David?

Dekker is a master at creating suspense with his creepy villains and boy/girl next-door heroes. Stephen is not athletic, his reasoning is skewed at times, and his courage is pulled from the depths of his being. As his obsession leads him into dangerous territory, a battle for his life and for others, the questions of exactly how is he going to prevail keeps the pages turning. The touches of humor in OBSESSED are a new device used by Dekker. But it works.  

OBSESSED explores the question, “how far would you go” to retrieve a treasure? To discover your past? To find the love of your life? To protect the ones you love? To seek revenge on the ones you hate?

The theme in OBSESSED mirrors that in many of Dekker’s books – the obsessive actions of a person in pursuit of his heart’s desire, be that a possession, a person, or a god. Dekker also uses this compelling storyline to introduce readers to the parallel obsession of God in His never-ending pursuit of human hearts. At the end of OBSESSED, another question begs for an answer: How far will God go to woo our love?