Book Review: Black : Birth Of Evil

Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner

Black : Birth Of Evil     Amazon US HC Amazon Canada HC
Ted Dekker
Class/Genre:   Mystery   Fantasy   Religious Fiction
Series: Circle Of Evil # 1
W Publishing, Feb 2004, $19.99, 400 pp.

Multi-billionaire Valborg Svensson craves becoming the most powerful person on earth. To accomplish his objective, he finds a serum that will kill its human host in three weeks if left without a vaccine. Valborg plans to release this weapon of mass destruction on an unsuspecting world. Any nation that fails to capitulate to his demands will die for the vaccine will be limited to those who bow down to Valborg.

Wannabe writer Thomas Hunter learns about Valborg’s terrorist plot to gain global supremacy. He tries to take control of the vaccine, but Valborg’s agents attack him. As he flees a bullet grazes his head knocking him out. When he awakens, Thomas remembers in deep detail his fleeing from Valberg’s thugs, but he is in some alternate realm running for his life from demonic creatures while looking for his beloved Rachelle. That night he goes to sleep only to awaken to a realm in which Valborg wants him dead and Rachelle is part of his dreams. He questions his sanity as each time he goes to sleep in one world, he wakes up in the other.

BLACK starts off as a medical thriller, but quickly spins into an exhilarating science fiction tale that spans two worlds reminiscent of Piers Anthony’s THE APPRENTICE ADEPT trilogy, but with more of a psychological hook. The story line is action packed on both worlds as Thomas struggles with what he perceives is reality vs. a dream fantasy. He is the hero who makes the duality work as his enemies on both globes seem snidely cartoon characters. Fans will appreciate this exciting thought provoking novel that shows how precarious reality is when worlds collide.

Harriet Klausner

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Harriet Klausner