Bonemans Daughters by Ted Dekker
 | BoneMan’s Daughters Published by: Center Street Genre: Pages: 432 Author’s Website: Author’s Twitter: Author’s Facebook: Recommendable for people who like: |
Synopsis for BoneMan’s Daughters {from author’s site}:
They call him BoneMan, a serial killer who’s abducted six young women. He’s the perfect father looking for the perfect daughter, and when his victims fail to meet his lofty expectations, he kills them by breaking their bones and leaving them to die.
Intelligence officer Ryan Evans, on the other hand, has lost all hope of ever being the perfect father. His daughter and wife have written him out of their lives.
Everything changes when BoneMan takes Ryan’s estranged daughter, Bethany, as his seventh victim. Ryans goes after BoneMan on his own.
But the FBI sees the case differently. New evidence points to Ryan being BoneMan. Now the hunter is the hunted and in the end only one father will stand.
“A tour de force of suspense that demands to be read in one sitting.” -James Rollins, New York Times bestselling author of The Last oracle
“BoneMan’s Daughters doesn’t just get under your skin. It crawls there, and nests, and raises its head with a bitter tug, like it’s living within you.” -Brad Meltzer, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Lies.
My Thoughts: {reading updates}
Before I start writing my thoughts on BoneMan’s Daughters , I want to really point out that my disappointment in this book was not so much the story. At all. It was more that this book was presented to me as a HORROR novel, and I wanted horror. I really enjoyed Thr3e and Skin by Dekker, so I fully attribute my thoughts on this particular book to just being disappointed it wasn’t what I’d consider to be “horror”.
BoneMan’s Daughters , in my opinion, is NOT horror. I consider it more crime drama/suspense. When you are looking for horror, and all you are receiving is psychological drama you’re just not going to be as appreciative as you would be had you been in the mood for a good suspense novel. Had I not been looking for horror, and had been looking for crime drama etc. I would have enjoyed this one a lot more.
The characters, to me, were dry and not likable. I need to like at least one of the characters in a story to like a book. Ryan, the main character, was kind of a douchebag. The serial killer, the Boneman, didn’t even seem “new” or scary to me. He kidnapped young girls looking for the perfect daughter and when they failed to meet his “expectations” he crushed their bones. Oh, AND, he “rubs the lotion on its skin”. lol. I really got a chuckle at the Hannibal reference, and wondered if Dekker had been watching the Silence of the Lambs films the last day he did he character edits. haha.
The story was kind of slow getting going, and the entire first 150 pages weren’t necessary to the story. I really felt having the main character be in Iraq and tortured was just a play to get a little reader sympathy, due to our real life conflicts over there. Maybe even a little marketing targeted especially to veterans and troops “POW becomes hero in this psychological thriller” type deal. It wasn’t an integral part of the story, did not help establish a rapport with the character, and yet it took up nearly a third of the book.
Ryan finally steps up to the dad plate, after his daughter gets taken by the Boneman. The rest of the story becomes how the Boneman plays games with Ryan, daring him to rescue his daughter.
If you are looking for a “scary” horror novel, this one is NOT the book for you. BUT – if you are looking for more of a crime drama/suspense novel then I say grab it. The premise for the book was plausible, and even interesting. Just be prepared for the first third of the book to be back story, the main character to kind of be a douchey dad, and a bad guy you constantly feel like you have “seen before”.
Read a sample in THE UNDERGROUND, an online exclusive from Ted Dekker’s website!