What would you do with a million dollars? More importantly, what would you do for a million dollars? Beautiful Gypsy girl Janeal Mikkado is faced with a choice, and her father's fate rests in her hands. She makes a choice and lays her plans, but something went wrong. Terribly wrong. Retribution is swift and terrible, the whole kumpania is burned to the ground, and Janeal's entire life is turned to smoke. She flees and sets up a new life for herself, wanting nothing more than to forget the past. Fifteen years later, though, old ghosts begin to rise from the ash. Janeal was not the only survivor of the Mikkado Massacre as she had believed. Her boyfriend Robert and her best friend Katie also survived, and between them they have the power to destroy Janeal's new life. They know her secret. What lengths will Janeal go to to protect her carefully crafted hiding place? What will she do to be able to forget? And is there any second chance for Judas?
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I've read a lot of reviews on this book, and almost every one said it was better than Kiss, Ted and Erin's other co-authored book. I was a little skeptical myself, because Kiss had a more instantly gripping plot line to my view. Having actually read Burn now though, I find myself having to eat my words. Burn is indeed even better than Kiss was, hard to believe as that may be. Burn is a tale of regret, loss, and second chances; a story of three friends suddenly faced with their past and with the present, and with what to do with the future and each other; a story of the struggle between the John and the Judas in all of us. A beautiful novel, seamlessly weaving the fast-paced thriller we've come to expect from Ted with the slower, deeper emotion we were introduced to in Kiss.
I can't wait for more from these two! There are no planned colabberations in the future as far as I'm aware, but Erin's first solo book, Never Let You Go is due to come out in the coming months! Hooray for new books! I'm very excited for this, if you can't tell. I'm very interested to see what what Erin has up her sleeve.
Burn is set for general release in January 2010. Find Ted Dekker's fan page at href="http://www.teddekker.com"> and Erin Healy's at href="http://www.erinhealy.com">
And of course, can't forget Facebook. If you're a fan of either author or both, or just a little bit interested, you can't miss these links. Find Ted at href="http://www.facebook.com/teddekker"> and Erin at href="http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/pages/Erin-Healy/59683195940">
And definitely read all the books you can by these guys. Very cool stuff :)
Redefining Beautiful is about.. well.. just that. Learning to see ourselves as beautiful, and exploring what beauty really is in a world turned upside down by unrealistic standards. Jenna says that a foundational beauty secret is a fathers love, and shows us that whether we have devoted dads or not-so-great dads, we already have the perfect Dad, who can make us whole.
I really enjoyed this book, though I wasn't sure what to expect at first. Christian 'beauty' books so often emphasise spiritual beauty to the exclusion of physical beauty, and I find that unsatisfying. Yes, inner beauty is greatly important, but I want to BE beautiful, on the outside. Redefining Beautiful had a beautiful balance and perspective I've never seen elsewhere, and I'd say it's definitely the best book I've read on the subject.
At one point in this book, Jenna says that she is sometimes afraid she'll be defined as 'Max Lucado's Daughter' rather than 'Jenna Lucado'. To be perfectly honest, I did in fact prejudge her as 'Max's daughter' and expected her book to be like his books. I was proved wrong, and I'm glad of it. So, if you ever read this Jenna, I'm sorry. Thanks for the reminder.
I definitely would recommend this book to all girls, and to all their dads. I think it's a message we all need to hear.
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