Burn [Hardcover]

Janeal Mikkado has lived her life among her Gypsy family and friends, but has always longed for a way out. One fateful day an answer to her dilemma arrives in the form of a mysterious man named Salazar Sanso. It seems Janeal's father is working with the DEA to bring down Salazar, and if Janeal will do just one favor Sanso promises not to take her father's life. He also offers Janeal the opportunity to leave once and for all to chase her dreams. Janeal seizes the opportunity, but things go horribly wrong and a fire destroys the Gypsy community and everyone she loves.

Fifteen years later, Janeal has made quite a life for herself, but nevertheless feels empty and broken because of her past. Out of the blue she discovers that her two best friends survived the fire and have recently reconnected. She fears they will discover the truth behind what happened that day and Janeal's connection to it all. To make matters worse, Sanso once again has her in his crosshairs and will do anything to get her, even if it means destroying the lives of her friends. Now Janeal enters into a deadly game where the past and truth come face to face and her life hangs in the balance.

Ted Dekker and Erin Healy once again display their collaborative prowess and even outdo their previous novel, Kiss, in the process. Going into this story I honestly wasn't expecting much. For some reason the premise didn't grab my attention, but it only took a few chapters to discover how wrong I was. The plot is masterfully executed, giving us just the right amount of suspense at the right times to keep the narrative flowing along. As in Kiss, we are treated to another strong female lead in Janeal Mikkado. Her journey is a captivating one, often times dizzying and unsettling, but always engrossing as we delve into her hurts and secrets.

In true Dekker fashion we are treated to a nice little twist that will no doubt drive some readers crazy. Nevertheless, I found this plot device worked nicely with the overall theme that is interwoven throughout. At its heart, this is a story about the darkness and light that abides in us all and the battle that rages within. I'm excited about what this writing team has accomplished and I'm especially looking forward to Erin Healy's upcoming solo debut, Never Let You Go.

I really wanted to like BURN. The cover looks super-cool, the blurb on the dust jacket sounded interesting, and it's Ted Dekker; you just can't go wrong...right? A couple of years ago I would have given this book a 5-star rating simply because it had Ted Dekker's name on it. And let's face it, there were really only two good Christian-suspense-thriller-type of authors at the time; Ted, and Frank Peretti. With authors like Robert Liparulo, and Eric Wilson entering the scene, Ted's material has lost some of its luster. I can't exactly pinpoint the moment it happened, but I fear Ted has gone the way of Stephen King; high demand, thus cranking out less-than-stellar stories, thus quality of story begins to suffer. Throw in a relative "unknown" like Erin Healy, in the hopes of igniting her career (or breathing fresh life into his), and it had the potential of being an interesting story. But here's where BURN fails to deliver:

The story starts out well enough. Janeal is the 'misfit' gypsy among her gypsy peers and family members. She's a strong character - as far as female characters go - but lacks social maturity. She's rebellious, jealous, and a bit of a mean girl. I found it interesting that Janeal is motherless. It's not something that gets a lot of "press" in the book, and yet, I feel that it is the central reason that Janeal turns out the way she does. She never really has a soft place to land. She is an outcast among gypsies due to circumstances beyond her control. And as a result, she's had to live a life behind the walls of her heart. Sad.

She lives her life surrounded by her gypsy boyfriend, Robert, and her gypsy BFF, Katie. The three of them do everything together...or so we're led to believe. Unfortunately, this relationship isn't really fleshed out, and we just have to rely on the authors' words.

Enter the BAD GUY; Salazar Sanso. I won't get too much into the plot, but suffice to say that Sanso had all the makings of being a really bad dude. Unfortunately, I feel like the Dekker/Healy duo fell flat. Instead of loathing Sanso, I was apathetic. I only knew he was the BAD GUY because they told me he was the BAD GUY. He definitely wasn't a "Marsuvees Black" BAD GUY. Marsuvees was the real deal. Sanso...not so much.

Salazar offers Janeal a deal she can't refuse - involving an insane amount of money and double-crossing her father and the DEA. Janeal, of course, tries to figure out a way to double-cross Salazar, make off with the money, and have her father live. And predictably, it all goes wrong.

So this is where it loses me.

Salazar and his thugs shoot down innocents, and set the camp on fire. Janeal is trapped in the fire, along with her BFF Katie. She can save herself and make off with the money, or she can save her friend and lose it all. That's all I can say without giving away crucial plot twists.

By the time some things are revealed, I was so irritated and disappointed that I wanted to just throw the book across the room.

Really, Ted? Really, Erin? THAT is the best you two could come up with?

I think what annoys me the most is that this particular story had the potential to be something really intense. The basic plot was believable, but the characters were not. It's a shame too, because I actually enjoyed KISS (the first Dekker/Healy collaboration). I had higher expectations for their sophomore novel. Unfortunately, BURN just left me cold.

Recue her best friend, Katie, and possibly die, or flee with one million dollars? That was the question facing Janeal Mikkado as she stood in the midst of a consuming fire. Half wanted to help, but the half jealous of Katie and greedy for money resisted. When the fire investigation ended, the total body count was over 130 and Janeal's boyfriend, Robert Lukin, was the only known survivor of the Mikkado massacre. Fifteen years later, with the arrest of the man responsible for the fire, Robert would learn he was not the only one to survive. In fact, there are two more. In a supernatural thriller, that explores the depth of selfishness and the extent of grace, Burn is a great improvement over the first Dekker/Healy collaboration.

Kiss was one of the more boring, predictable books I read in 2009. If I had not read every other book Dekker has written, the odds are very high I would not have picked up Burn. However, I'm a completionist, and therefore had to at least give it a try.

For the most part, Burn is a thriller. It has a few surprising parts, but generally follows a predictable story line, that relies on action. It would have been nice to have a few more surprises and for the suspense to be stronger, but it was able to progress quickly enough to remain an entertaining story. The characters were a great improvement over those in Kiss. Janeal was expertly written to invoke strong emotions at just the right time. The supporting cast was also created in a way that kept the story interesting. Though not all the characters were well balanced, for the most part, they were not a distraction to the story and managed to keep the slow parts from dragging.

While Burn has a lot of detail, too much in some areas, particularly internal thoughts, it glossed over some story elements that would have been nice to have fleshed out. For example, we never find out exactly how Janeal's father became involved with Sanso. It would have been nice to read a little bit more about the mysterious Mrs. Markovic. Exactly what happened to Janeal's immediate family prior to the fire was alluded to, but no details were given. I would have liked less time spent on the minute details of what a person was thinking and more spent filling in details of a character's past.

I would like to say I absolutely loved this book, but while it was much better than I was prepared for, I still wanted more. I realize this is not a book written by Dekker, but a book written by both Dekker and Healy. However, I see very little Dekker in this book. With the exception of characters changing locations rapidly, it doesn't feel like his writing style or his storyline development. Things are predictable and unfortunately follow too closely to standard Christian fiction. There are certain expectations that have when I pick up a book with Dekker's name on it and most of those elements are missing from this book. The results were a story that's good, but still lacking in many areas.

The story did have a great point. While there is a need to do some serious suspension of disbelief and accept a rather implausible story line, the point made was a very good one. The symbolism was well constructed with the division of our hearts and who will ultimately reign depicted with startling clarity. This is the highlight of Burn and makes it worth reading.

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