Brief reviews: Death of a Salesman; Skin

Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller, AF, 1949, 139p, rating=3
Penguin Play edition

"The tragedy of a typical American--a salesman who at the age of 63 is faced with what he cannot face: defeat and disillusionment." (Goodreads)

The inner workings of the Loman family relationship was intriguing here ...old fashion, endearing, and frustrating.  There's a social class moral going on about the American dream ...will you really go far if you work hard?

by Ted Dekker, AF, 2007, audio CDs, 11.5hrs, rating=3

"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. Wendy Davidson is caught in the middle. She’s 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..." (CD blurb)

Listening to this over a two week period may not have been a great idea.  I think I missed the heart pounding effect it would have had, had I read it.  Nonetheless, I still sensed the twisty thriller that I'm becoming aware of Mr. Dekker's writing.  This one played on the core of reality and beauty.  It was a bit psychologically gory for me though.  And I'm not sure about the ending too ... I want a definite game over!  ~BTW, I will get to the highly recommended Dekker book, Blink. some day ...I just keep forgetting to check it out when I'm at the library!! :)

"Thr3e"

by Ted Dekker, AF, 2003, 401p, rating=5
Winner of:  The Christy Book Award; Best Mystery Thriller

"By all accounts Kevin Parsons is leading a virtuous life.  But like all people, Kevin has his secrets.  And someone wants them revealed.  While driving home from graduate school, Kevin receives a call from a deluded stranger who calls himself Slater.  Slater demand that Kevin confess his sin in the next tree minutes or the car he's driving will be blown to pieces.  With the threat, he offers a riddle:  What fall but never breaks, what breaks but never falls?  Thus starts a harrowing chain of threats with progressively higher stakes.  Another riddle, another three minutes.  Confess your sin, Kevin.  The problem is Kevin has no idea what sin.  And Slater's cycle won't stop until he's dead.  Now only Samantha, the woman he once loved more than life itself, can help him uncover the secrets of a mysterious past.  But Samantha may soon be dead as well."  (book's synopsis)

Oh Brenda, oh Brenda at WV Stitcher, you reminded me not to judge a book by its cover.  I would have bypassed this book because the cover's too freakin' scary!!  But you were so kind to offer it to me and since it traveled over 3,000 miles to get to me and three being one of my favorite numbers, well, I took a deep breath and avoided looking at the cover as much as possible.
 
Wow, talk about edge of your seat thrilling!  I was hooked from the beginning.  My heart rate finally went down during the initial background scenes but that didn't last!  Holy Moly, things escalated and you were put into a wring of twists.  Just when you think you have a guess on what's going on, you're thrown a curve ball ...not once, twice, but umph times.  My heart is racing right now at trying to describe it.  Anyway, I so enjoyed this psychological thriller.  Mr. Dekker is the bomb!!

When I read the part in the beginning about having to solve a riddle in three minutes or the car (that you were in) would blow up, a couple of things crossed my mind.  First, I said to myself, "Hey, wasn't that a movie?".  Second, had such a thing happen to me, I would have died!  End of the book!  Good thing, Kevin was sharper under pressure and the book took on a run.

This was not a ghostly-chop the bodies to pieces kind of horror that I thought it would be.  Can you blame me?  Look at the man in the cover ...glassy evil eyes ...the hairs on the back of my neck took a military standing attention.  Instead, it delved into the nature of good vs evil that I haven't come across yet in novels.  Very interesting take on the angel on one shoulder and a devil on the other shoulder ...not forgetting the person in the middle.

By the way, Mr. Dekker addressed my movie question on the Author's Note section.  There was a movie called Adaptation starring Nicolas Cage that seemed to have similar premise but it turned out that it was really nothing like his book except for one detail.  I liked the lesson that he pointed out that he learned from that experience of watching a movie that he initially thought might have been ripped from him.  He said, "Truly there are no completely new ideas, but rather old ideas made completely fresh ... What's magical about ideas is how they are brought to life, not their inception.".

This will not be the last book that I will read of Mr. Dekker's works.  I understand there are others more exciting ones.  I better prepare because this was truly gripping!

Thank you Brenda for the book!!  You are wonderful!!!