Obsessed

The novel obsessed consists of two separate stories, the first is about a man named Stephen and the second is set in a Nazi concentration camp in World War II. Ruth and Martha are both pregnant and on a train to a work camp run by the ruthless Gerhard Braun. At Torun, they live in brutal conditions and are at the whims of Braun. Braun is an evil man who kills Jewish women. When Braun finds out Ruth and Martha are pregnant he wanted to kill both them both. Dekker submerses the reader into the fear and desperation felt by all of the prisoners, as well as the agony of having hope stripped from them. The other story is about Stephen, a real estate agent. One day he receives a letter through a friend. The letter is from an old woman saying her son has a unique burn mark on his chest. Finally knowing who his mother is gives Stephen a purpose in life. He searches his mom's property and also finds out she is wealthy. She even donated an ancient Jewish artifact worth millions to a museum. But before Stephen can search his mom's property further, it is bought by Roth Braun, the ruthless son of Gerhard. You could probably say that they end up enemies, but you have to read the book to find out what happens. I recommend this book to anyone.

What to say? T3d's done it again. I'm usually not much of a fan of modern works. Classical literature is my passion, and I'm often somewhat skeptical of contemporary author's ability to write well. And then, I read Black. My entire mindset underwent a paradigm shift so dramatic, so utterly complete, that I began to devour any and all books by Ted Dekker. Now, several months later, I have had the incredible privledge of reading his latest offering: Obsessed. As has become his trademark, Dekker seamlessly weaves spiritual depth into a genuinely captivating tale. Gone are the days when a parable sounded like a parable and nothing more. In Obsessed, the imagination has been given full freedom to invent and create and illuminate in the tradition of the Inventor and Creator and Illuminator. Tolkien's idea of "subcreation" has rarely been capitalized upon so richly and rewardingly. Others have already given a basic synopsis of the plot; I shall not bore you with recitation of the book's moving story. Rather, I seek to spark some thoughtful, reasoned consideration of the book's main premise - Obsession. Ted makes a shrewd observation near the beginning of the book. A wise, kindly old antiques dealer tells Stephen - the protagonist - that man was created to obsess. Value is often not so much intrinsic as ascribed. For example, diamonds are shiny, compressed carbon. Yet, they are valued and sought after world-over. Why? Because people percieve value in them, and are willing to pay copious amounts of money to obtain them. The price a person is willing to pay determines the worth of the diamond. We know that people obsess over such petty things. Indeed, entire wars have been waged over less. And Ted Dekker has the audacity to posit that humans act in such manner because they were created to do so!!! In fact, he goes so far as to say that our obsessive tendencies are a reflection of God's character, because He is obsessed with us. Moreover, and much more importantly He is obsessed with Himself. Due to His infinite worthiness, His obsession is not petty or narcissitic, but wise and proper. And in the midst of His obsession is one great and glorious goal, one end to which His obsession must lead: He longs to lavish the extravagance of His love upon His children - to the praise of the glory of His grace! The problem is, mankind has collectively shifted focus from what should be the object of their affection and obsession - God Himself - onto worthless baubles and meaningless floccinaucinihilipilification. To combat this, Ted has carefully crafted a brilliant expose of our spiritual unfaithfulness and wrapped it in the guise of a fascinating, compelling, oft-disturbing novel. And for that I am thankful. By the end of my read, I finally understood - and longed for! - the need for obsession. My earnest prayer is for Christ to be my all. I desire to be obsessed with Him as He is obsessed with me. May you who read this become consumed with the same obsession. O

There's nothing like a book that distracts me from all the things I'm supposed to be doing, be it taking notes in class, homework, chores, etc. There's nothing like a book that has me on the edge of my eat from cover to cover, keeps me guessing, or tempts me to peek ahead in anticipation of what's to come. There's nothing like a book that makes me read Scripture in a completely new light. Obsessed was such a book. Obsessed takes Jesus' parable of the pearl of great price and gives it flesh, so to speak. It's the story of a treasure hunt - not only of a man's obsessive hunt of proverbial pearl, but also his journey to discovering what that pearl is. Like many Dekker books, Obsessed rings with the theme of God's desperate love for His children. Yet in this book, Dekker goes a step further, to man's proper response to God, to His love. The question of Obsessed is one that few dare to ask: is God obsessed with us? And if so, the question proceeds, can we obsess over Him? If He is the pearl of greatest price, what is He worth to us? What are we willing to pay for Him and for His kingdom? Obsessed is, in a word, thrilling. Buckle up and enjoy the ride.

How far would someone go to satisfy their all-consuming obsession for the ultimate treasure? In Ted Dekker's novel 'Obsessed' we meet Stephen Friedman and Roth Braun who are about to find out. Stephen is a wealthy Jewish immigrant who came to America from an orphanage in Russia. Having searched to years with no success, he has come to believe the mother he never knew is lost forever. Roth, the son of a Nazi Commandant, is determined to finish what his father started decades ago in a Nazi labor camp, no matter what the cost. The adventure begins when an article in a newspaper convinces Stephen that he is the son of Rachel Spritzer, who had recently died, leaving behind one of the very valuable Stones of David, believed to be one of the five Stones chosen by David to kill the giant Goliath. Obsessed with finding the rest of the Stones, Stephen will go to any lengths to secure the treasure and discover his past. To complicate matters, Roth has also learned of the Stones and is able to buy Rachel Spritzer's house before Stephen is able to. Convinced that clues to what they seek are hidden in her house, both men are working feverishly to find them before the other can. I would highly recommend Obsessed as a great read. As those who have read his books before would already know, Ted Dekker writes a novel that keeps you at the edge of your seat the whole time. The pages are filled with twists as unexpected as always, action, adventure, mystery, and a bit of romance. If you enjoy this is book, I'd also suggest Blink, Thr3e, and his Circle Trilogy.

I was fortuntate enough to read a galley of this wonderful novel. If you liked Thr3e, you'll love Obsessed. Gone are the days when very basic, stale plots gave us yet one more book to waste our minds on. Dekker has a unique knack for combining plot elelments that make you laugh and think at the same time; give you chills and thrills back to back. Obsessed is the story of an Obsession that is born in a Nazi prison camp and finaly plays out in all of its glory in the mid seventies. I won't give away the plot except to say that the protagonist, Stephen Friedman, and the antagonist, Roth Braun, are both after the same invaluable relic. But as with all of Dekker's books, in the end it's so much more. It's edgy, maybe more so than PW would like good old fashioned Christian fiction to be. As for me, I'm keeping my fingers crossed for the day that there are another ten authors who write books like this.