Adam by Ted Dekker

Just because we don’t believe in something, does that mean it can’t be true? That is the crux of Ted Dekker’s novel, Adam. Daniel Clark, an FBI profiler, has been hunting a serial killer named Eve who has killed 15 women, and Clark is desperate to stop him. Clark dies in a close encounter with Eve and is resuscitated. He is not the same man as before, and suffers panic attacks and from overwhelming bouts of fear. As the novel progresses, it becomes obvious that Daniel Clark is not one to ever believe in the concepts of God and Satan, and all that is associated with these beliefs. And in this novel at least, disbelief can open you up to a whole world of evil.

The supernatural element aside, the book is a very well done crime novel. The characters are well thought out, interact quite well and Dekker has used some plot devices that came as a surprise to this reader. It was quite easy to get into the skin of whichever character was being portrayed at the time.

The supernatural is, however the main element of this novel. Do we believe? Can we believe in good, without believing in evil? Does disbelief lower our defenses, so we are blind to the reality of evil? In a world as secular as ours, it becomes quite easy to deride religion and believers in general. After all, the only real proof appears to be belief and faith, and in our world, these ephemeral concepts seem just a bit outdated and outlandish. If you disbelieve, this book is well written enough to make you stop for at least a moment and consider your position. If you haven't ever given it much thought, you might be finding yourself considering the possibilities just a bit more often. And if you've come to realize that you do believe in at least the power of good in our world, then you’ll probably find yourself doing a little gut check on your belief in the power of evil.

(Posted on LibraryThing June 13, 2008)