Meet Brad Raines, the Denver-based FBI agent who is on the hunt for a killer unlike any he’s seen before.
Meet Quinton Gauld, the Bride Collector, who is on the hunt for seven beautiful women. They’re the chosen ones, God’s favorites, the most beautiful women in the world. And for that, they must die.
Gauld, a mentally ill psychopath, believes he’s been chosen as God’s messenger to deliver him the seven brides. He carefully handpicks the most beautiful women in the Denver area and hunts them, stalks them like the prey they are. Gauld attacks them, drugs them and drains them of their blood by drilling holes in their heels, posing each victim in an angelic pose on a wall, with a bridal veil covering their faces.
Raines’ rush to stop the killer’s reign of terror delivers him to an unlikely place, a facility for mentally ill patients who have proven themselves to be highly intelligent. It’s there that Raines meets an odd foursome whom he leans on for help in cracking the case.
One of the four, Paradise, may just be the key to the whole case. A schizophrenic who sees hallucinations when touching dead people, or a highly intelligent young woman with an extremely rare gift for seeing the last moments of a dead person’s life, Paradise could be the only person to lead Raines to the Bride Collector.
It’s not long, however, before the case turns personal for the FBI agent, as the Bride Collector taps Raines’ partner as one of his victims, and then sets his sights on a woman who’s stolen Raines’ heart as the seventh, and ultimate, bride for God.
Ted Dekker has developed a reputation over the past several years as one of the premier fantasy and thriller authors around. From his initial thriller successes Blink and Thr3e to some of his later successes such as Adam and Boneman’s Daughters, Dekker has mastered the fast-paced thriller novel.
But for as much success as Dekker’s found – and he’s found plenty as a New York Times best-seller – The Bride Collector is clearly his finest work yet.
From the opening pages, Dekker dispenses with the formalities, introducing his readers to both the protagonist, Raines, and the antagonist, Gauld. The readers know, by the third chapter, who is the villain and who is the hero. The only thing left is to hold on tight for a thrilling ride of hunter vs. hunter to see who will win.
The Bride Collector is perhaps Dekker’s most mainstream novel to date, and while Dekker continues to excel at pitting good against evil, this book stays pretty far away from any Christian themes – other than the generic look into how every person is essentially God’s favorite because of his infinite love for everyone.
What Dekker does brilliantly is challenge his readers to think about mental illness, as Raines’ eyes are opened the more time he spends around Paradise and her cohorts, to the point where Raines essentially resigns himself to the fact that, at their essence, all people are at least a little bit ill mentally.
It’s not hyperbole to point out this novel is clearly Dekker’s best yet. He’s at the top of his game, hooking readers in early and not letting them go throughout the 400-page thrill ride.
The Bride Collector catapults Dekker from his current position as one of the top Christian authors into a pantheon of the greatest contemporary literary minds such as Stephen King, John Grisham, James Patterson and Tom Clancy.
It’s clear with each passing novel that Dekker is continuing to hone his craft and churn out top-notch novels, and The Bride Collector is no exception.
