The Bride Collector by Ted DekkerGrisly, gruesome and frightening are descriptive terms that don’t do justice to this dive into the demented soul of Quinton Gauld. A serial killer runs amuck in this chilling tale of mental illness and those afflicted with it’s myriad symptoms. Dekker does a masterful job forcing the reader to ponder what truly defines mental illness. Brad Raines is an FBI agent who displays borderline problems of his own. He is captivated by a surprising woman. His character grows in the story. The rambling rationalizations of the tormented psychopath are believably chilling. In addition it is a darn good mystery. I highly recommend the book. ( )

The Bride Collector by Ted Dekker

Grisly, gruesome and frightening are descriptive terms that don’t do justice to this dive into the demented soul of Quinton Gauld. A serial killer runs amuck in this chilling tale of mental illness and those afflicted with it’s myriad symptoms.

Dekker does a masterful job forcing the reader to ponder what truly defines mental illness. Brad Raines is an FBI agent who displays borderline problems of his own. He is captivated by a surprising woman. His character grows in the story. The rambling rationalizations of the tormented psychopath are believably chilling. In addition it is a darn good mystery.

I highly recommend the book. ( )

The Bride Collector is a serial killer novel that follows FBI Special Agent Brad Raines as he tracks the gruesome work of the Bride Collector and Paradise Founder, a peculiar young woman with an extraordinary gift who becomes Brad’s unlikely ally in his mission to stop the killer. The trouble is, Paradise has not left the Center for Wellness and Intelligence (an institution for the brilliant but mentally ill) in the seven years since her family’s murder, and their desperation mounts when the Bride Collector’s clues become personal threats.

Brad and Paradise are captivating characters that get deeper and more complex as Dekker takes breaks them down and builds them up over the course of the novel, and many of the residents of CWI are memorable and endearing with their own quirks and struggles as they give Brad and Paradise everything they can to help the case.

The story was paced well, never lagging in suspense or overly packed with action at the expense of character development, and the transitions between characters’ points of view was smooth. All around, this was a wonderfully written novel with plenty of surprises, originality, and engaging narration.

The jewels of this novel for me were the profound themes of beauty and love, juxtaposed with insanity and hate, woven throughout the story that absolutely arrest the reader without being obtrusive or distracting. This story is an easy, enjoyable read, an excellent page turner that will at the same time take the reader on a personal journey with Brad and Paradise, putting themselves in the characters’ shoes as they try to get inside the mind of the Bride Collector, anticipate his moves, and explore the question, “What is sanity?”, or better yet, “What is beauty?”.

I would recommend this book to anyone, no matter their preference for thrillers, because like much of Dekker’s work this novel seems to break genre barriers by masterfully reaching beyond the formula to tell a deeper story.

*On a personal note, this story spoke significantly to my own heart, and I would make a special recommendation to anyone who struggles with feelings of worthlessness, “ugliness,” the desperate desire to be loved, and who know what it feels like to be paralyzed or debilitated by these fears and desires at some point or another. More powerful than the dark, twisted heart of the Bride Collector, and more gripping than the suspense in this story is the beautiful message that we are all desperately loved and desired by God, and it is to Him that we should look to for our definitions of goodness, beauty, sanity, and love. ( )

This was my first Ted Dekker book and after immersing myself in Mr. Dekker's prose for the last week, I feel like Augustus Gloop might have felt after drinking Willy Wonka's chocolate river - - satiated and happy to have done it, despite the messiness.

The Bride Collector is the type of genre book I have always been drawn to, a mystery/thriller. I don't mind if I solve the mysteries/thrillers before the end (provided that if the clues are obvious the hero or heroine figures it out as well). What I do mind is if the hero or heroine does something completely out of character or something that is so obviously to make him or her have a run-in with the killer or bad guy but is the type of move that defies common sense (such as taking a midnight stroll while a serial killer is on the loose, right smack in the middle of the killer's hunting ground).

Fortunately Mr. Dekker avoids illogical character actions and reveals the identity of the Bride Collector fairly early on. The mystery isn't so much the killer's identity but why he's doing what he's doing and whether or not hero Brad Raines can stop him.

I found Brad to be a hero you can root for. I liked his character and I particularly enjoyed that Mr. Dekker didn't say so much with words that Brad was a faithful and loyal man who was adept at his job, he let Brad's actions shape and mold his character. If you've read my past reviews you know that I like characters with flaws and Brad is no exception.

The Center for Wellness and Intelligence was an interesting and fascinating locale for a portion of the book. Supporting characters Allison, Andrea, Roudy and Cass added extra dimension and flavor to the story and I found the psychiatric and psychological themes to be appealing without being heavy handed or overly academic. These characters on their own formed unusual stories that could have demanded more.

As much as I liked Paradise, I also felt she was a bit weak and I wished her family storyline and connections could have been further developed and identified. I enjoyed her "ability" and I would have appreciated reading more about that.

The Bride Collector himself, however, was a powerful and satisfying character. As much as you root for Brad and hope for the Collector's failure, you also hope that these two strong men will come face to face, a good versus evil, if you will. Mr. Dekker did an outstanding job with fleshing out the Collector and making him more than just "the serial killer".

In short, I found The Bride Collector to be an intense, action-packed, and ultimately very satisfying, read. Mr. Dekker threw one or two unexpected curveballs in the book that kept this reader on her toes and anxiously flipping each page. I thought the story was absorbing, as well as Mr. Dekker's writing, which made me care about the characters and what happened to them. I plan on adding Mr. Dekker to my "must read" list and am pleased that I had this opportunity. ( )

WOW! This book was as insane as it was awesome. The plot of the book grabs you from the start and keeps you wanting more. Dekker's writing is just brilliant and sucked me in. I read the book within a day because I just couldn't put it down.
"The Bride Collector" is definitely a haunting thriller that will keep you glancing over your shoulder. The major lesson from this book? People are not always who they seem!
I give it a five star rating and recommend that you run (don't walk!) and snatch it up when it hits the shelves! ( )

This is my first Dekker novel - don’t really know why I haven’t read anything by him before - but that is definitely soon to change. The Bride Collector was an edge of your seat suspenseful thriller that I really enjoyed. It started off a bit slow for me, but midway through the book I was completely hooked. I just had to know what would happen next. Raines and Paradise were both great. I enjoyed their interactions with one another. But I have to say that I was really taken by some of the residents of The Center for Wellness and Development. I loved the lightness they brought to the novel and I found them quite interesting in their own right.

There were many spiritual questions evident throughout the novel but the religion aspect is not so over powering as to take away from a readers enjoyment. It is not preachy or pretentious in any way, instead I found it to be thought provoking. Mr. Dekker's writing is fluid and I thought he did a fantastic job of blending a really freaky thriller (gruesome at times, but never gory), with Christianity.

All in all, this was a fabulous book that thriller fans should not miss out on. ( )

A part of the full review I wrote for my blog:

Dekker's soon to be released novel is masterfully crafted as only Dekker can, with an assortment of highly unique characters woven seamlessly into the plot along with a few rather unexpected surprises along the way. Without a doubt, The Bride Collector is a suspense-filled page-turner that will not disappoint the reader. ( )

This is the first Dekker book I've read, and I'm not sure I'll pick up another. Though the plot has lots of wonderful elements, they never really gel into a thriller in this book- I get more chills from an episode of Criminal Minds. Though Raines was an interesting and well-drawn character, I never really warmed to Paradise or bought into their interactions. The other patients at the hospital are interesting, more interesting than the spiritual questions they raise for Raines, but do seem to have been added almost as comic relief.

In the end, this book has too much religion and not enough suspense to truly hold my interest. The book was well-written, and there were certainly elements of each character that I enjoyed, but in the end it just didn't pull me in the way I need a thriller to- I was easily able to put down this book which is never a good sign. ( )