Obsessed Audio CD – CD, February 15, 2005

Obsessed by Ted Dekker4 starsThis is the first book I’ve read by Dekker. It was a serendipitous experience. He’s definitely talented in allegorical writing.This book had be laughing, crying and frustrated. At one point I had to stop reading because my heart was pounding. If there ever was a book that I wanted to transport myself into a scene and grab the character to pull him away from a situation, it was this book. He just wouldn’t get out of the building fast enough. And even on further into the story, Stephen frustrated me to the extreme and he caused my heart to race. But his heart was in the right place in spite of the circumstances.The storyline can come across a little far fetched so one needs to read it with understanding that it’s an allegorical story based on Biblical foundations....good vs evil and how we as humans obsess over one or the other.I enjoyed the story vacillating from 1945 WW II concentration camp in Poland to 1973 Los Angeles. The story builds for about the first half of the book and then careens to the ending full of twists, turns, thrill and suspense. Stephen literally stops at nothing to fulfill his obsession...finding the girl for whom he was born. During this pursuit, lives were in danger and many others were hanging by a noose, literally.For the sensitive reader be aware that there is mild gore (blood drinking, though not too detailed), concentration camp hangings, and psychological thrill elements. There is no vulgar language or sexual content.From the story, the reader can recognize that we, humans, either obsess towards the Creator of hope that brings eternal joy or we obsess towards the creator of evil of false hope who diminishes any joy we could experience.May we all obsess for the Creator so we may live that hope and joy will always defeat any evil that befalls us.

Like most of Dekker's books, this was a pretty intense, quick read that alternated between thought-provoking and emotionally gripping with plenty of twists along the way. The book alternates between an German Prison camp where Jewish women are tortured and killed 1944-45 and the aftermath of those events that affected both sides in 1973. The stories from the concentration camp are particularly difficult to read about at times, though I've certainly read far worse. The 1973 story line was a pretty interesting tale of obsession (duh ;)), though at times it's difficult to accept a normal person would get sucked in so completely as the character does. However, once you accept that this obsession has developed and roll with it, it ends up being a pretty interesting cat and mouse game and a pretty enjoyable one at that. The two story eventually come together and the 1973 story eventually provides some surprises and closure to the WWII story which gave the story a nice completeness to it.Like some of Dekker's earlier books this shares both his strengths - intense, action packed, unexpected twists, thrilling - as well as his weaknesses - inexplicable/unrealistic decisions from characters at time, way too fast/neat of an ending. I'd recommend it if you're a fan of Dekker's, but it's not quite on par with Thr3e, The Bride Collector or The Priest's Graveyard.

A very interesting story line. Definitely kept my attention. I was expecting a different twist but still has some shock factors. Very good read!!

This was my 2nd Ted Dekker book. I read Thr3e first and immediately wanted to read more by Dekker. So I bought this, the Circle Trilogy and Blink and read this one first. The book was good, but it wasn't great. I felt like Dekker was pounding the reader over the head with his message (which I won't spoil for those of you who haven't read it). By the time you get to the end of the book, you've heard the message so many times in so many different ways that you just want to be done with hearing about it. It was a great message, but I think it was overdone. So would I recommend the book?? Yeah, but I would recommend reading this one first so you're not let down by his other works.

I'm a big fan of Ted Dekker's books, with "Three" remaining one of my top five all time favorites for the payoff alone. With "Obsessed", we have an uneven but well-told story. The elevating tension felt in Three is not here, settling instead for a slow-burn rise the first few chapters that settles into simmering for the remaining portion of the book. The focus of the book is on the obsession of two characters for the same thing. Halfway through the book, the obsession of one changes, then the other does too, effectively destroying the need of the first half of the story.In all honesty, this isn't Ted's best book. The characters here make truly strange decisions that make no sense given the way they are portrayed to us. Their obsessions become fanatical far too quickly to be believed. The ending of the story doesn't really have a payoff like his previous books, ending with a sigh rather than a bang. Still a good read, but not on par with his previous thrillers.

Not only did I read this book I also purchased the audio book. This is--in my opinion--the single greatest Christian Fiction novel I have ever read! Dekker takes a sensitive subject--such as WWII--and not only humanizes the villain but he also carries the pain that was suffered by the captives of the camps and their families. Offhand I do not recall who read the book on the audio cd but there could not be a better voice to portray the voices of Dekker's characters. I read through some of the "1 star" reviews and I could not disagree more! Although spiritual warfare is a theme in this book I do not find it to be exclusively about spiritual warfare. There are a few scenes in the book that are a little graphic but most defiantly not over the top! The subject matter in this book is not only realistic it is captivating! DEKKER'S BEST BY FAR!

Great novel I could not put it down it draws you in from the 1st page. Had mystery and romance with religion mixed in. You will be in for the ride of your life. So buckle up and read on!

Arrived in very good condition and I am happy to have it. I had the paper back copy and wanted the hardcover.

Arrived in perfect condition, exactly what I wanted! Very pleased. Came in very quickly. One of my favourites of Dekker's, unfortunately I can't find / afford the super awesome textured hard cover I had before.

Another riveting book that keeps you on edge wanting to read to the conclusion. I highly reccomend this book or any other by Ted Dekker

Great book! Love all of Ted Dekker's books. My favourite!

Excellent