The Girl Behind the Red Rope by Ted Dekker and Rachelle Dekker

If this is the first book you've read that was written by Ted Dekker, or Rachelle for that matter, you may find it an incredible book that reveals a truth about many people.

If, like me, you've read everything Ted and Rachelle have written ... then this book is going to read almost verbatim of the last couple books by them.

As I write this it really seems harsh to write about such talented authors, but Ted seems to have become a one-trick pony. I even contemplate deleting that last sentence because of my delight in his previous books; but I can't. I was so disappointed in The Girl Behind the Red Rope.

The disappointment doesn't come from the story because, as I started this review, if this is your first Dekker experience then you will be thrilled. I can almost guarantee it. For me it happened around chapter two or three; when I realized I've read this story before. I read it in Forbidden, Mortal, and Sovereign. I caught glimpses of Outlaw and those chronicles. Absolutely I saw it all before in The 49th Mystic and Rise of the Mystic. It's the same story. You could even make the argument that A.D. 30 and A.D. 33 should be included.

It comes down to the reality that Ted has had an experience, an awakening to a spiritual outlook and wants to share that with his audience. I find no fault in that other than his stories have become repetitive. In all of the previously mentioned story you will read a character basically lecture on the thoughts that Ted has written in his devotional book.

Now here's the thing. The argument can be made that this has been the way Ted writes. And this is true, you could go back to Obsession maybe Black to where he writes about similar themes but from different sides of the story-prism. And I would concede that point.

The difference is that before, those stories were fresh, and each one was different in unique and clever ways. Here lately we're reading the Exact. Same. Story.

I'm afraid I may be done with the Dekkers. And I so wish I could delete that sentence and make it not true.

If you've made it this far, allow me to share about the actual story: this book is a thrill-ride-page-turner. Without a doubt, new readers will want to see who's who and what's what by the end of the story. Even I was pulled in to see if twists were going to pan out or things were exactly as they seem. Ted has such a talent to get readers to question what they're reading.

Near the climax one of main characters goes so nuts it almost pulled me out of the experience. In fact, it did. I remember stopping, sitting back and thinking. "Wow, this person has really gone off the bend. Would that really happen? Would someone like that really go that far?"

The Girl Behind the Red Rope is a Dekker tale through and through. You have thrills and reveals. And unfortunately, for me, you have the same basic story read before.

This book was provided for review, at no cost, by Revell Publishing.