Tosca Lee and Ted Dekker

Dear Readers,

What kind of world would it be if none of us had any emotions but fear?  Fear that if you didn't live correctly you would not get to Bliss in the afterlife.  Fear that if you screw up at work you could be immediately fired.  Fear that if you disobey the Order you could disappear, to never be heard from again.  You don't love your spouse, you just marry because it is expected of you.  You don't love your children, they are just a bi-product of your marriage.   Perfection is craved and less than perfect is gotten rid of. 

That is the setting for the first book, Forbidden, in the new series, The Book of the Mortals by Ted Dekker and Tosca Lee.  They are two authors who are among my favorites.  I was so excited to hear they were writing together and could hardly wait to see what they came up with.  Now I already have my order in for book two.

I think I was worried that I would get a cross between the Circle series and Demon, but that is not the case.  Yes it is a fantasy and yes it is a thought provoking book, but it is also very different.  I will have a hard time discribing it without giving something away, so I will be very careful not to. 

Rom is leading a very normal life.  He quietly goes about his job of singing at funerals.  He obeys the Order.  He is planning on marrying soon to the woman that he has been paired with.  He just does what is required of him.  Which is easy to do if you have no emotions to mess that up. 

That all comes to a screeching hault when an old man chases him into a dark alley one night and thrust a vial into his hands.  Shortly after that Rom watches the man get murdered and his life is turned upside down. 

The book leaps off at a running pace and does not slow down.  I was able to read it in one weekend and that is while being quite busy.  So once again Ted shows that he is the master of slight of hand.  With Tosca's help they are very good at keeping everyone guessing. 

Happy Reading.