The Priest's Graveyard [Hardcover]

`The Priest's Graveyard' by Ted Dekker is a philosophical thriller that follows the troubled lives of its two protagonists whose paths inevitably cross. Danny Hansen is a soul-scarred survivor of the Balkan War and is now a Roman Catholic Priest in the U.S. Renee Gilmore is prostitute and addict from a broken home. Both respond to their respective traumatic pasts by engaging in acts of vigilantism, which they feel are justified by their ends; bad people are no longer able to continue hurting good people.

This is my first Dekker read outside of `The Circle Trilogy' (plus one) and its spin-off books, all of which form a single landmark work that bridges the fantasy-reality gap while employing a masterful analogy of the saga of mankind's Salvation History. This (the analogy/metaphor) is certainly an area of gifting for Ted Dekker, and he once again caught me off-guard in `The Priest's Graveyard.' Though far from the fantasy-laden `Circle Trilogy/Books of Histories' series, I would suspect Dekker fans will not be disappointed with this work. I want to emphasize this fact first before addressing two elements of critique--it is certainly a worthwhile read (for those who have the stomach... some scenes are graphic) and true to his form, the author keeps the reader in suspense throughout. That being said, I do have some areas of concern or even caution.

The first area is in the general presentation of the morality of certain `acts of justice'. It is common in modern fiction to find ways to justify acts of vengeance meted out by a "good" character. Usually the easiest way to do this is have someone he/she loves be brutalized in some form... and just to make sure we make it REALLY okay, let's make it several people he/she loves, and add rape and torture to boot. Surely, that makes any acts of revenge or parallel vigilantism justifiable, right? I feel great lengths are gone to in this story to keep the reader sympathetic to the main characters despite their objectively evil acts. What is further troubling is that the main character is a Roman Catholic priest, who speaks a philosophy/theology so contrary to the most basic tenets of Catholic Moral Teaching--"The end never justifies the means" that it is hard to imagine how this man made it through seminary. We do seem to find that "Danny's" priesthood is very ancillary to his identity/vocation along the way (perhaps it was just to add mystique or additional intrigue to someone who would have otherwise been a fairly one-dimensional character) yet still leaving his character a bit INcredible. Dekker may have been attempting to bring resolution to this flawed moral thinking at the end, but the issue is left so ambiguous, I could not tell, and ambiguity within a Faith metaphor can be a very dangerous thing.

The second area, and this is perhaps more on a personal note, is that it seems that the author has an axe to grind with organized religion (as if somehow "disorganized religion" would make more sense?) He even makes the assertion that the Balkan wars in the 90s were about "religion". Having been there on multiple occasions myself, one would be hard-pressed to find a Croat, Albanian, or Serb who would make that claim; it was about ethnicity, history, and ultimately, power. True religion is a shared belief system and manner of worship which is ultimately centered within a relationship with God--a relationship that is both personal AND communal. Two people agreeing on what they believe and how they worship is different than a billion people agreeing ONLY in number, not in substance.

That all being said, I've purposely avoided speaking much to the plot in this review because it unfolds in a very intriguing and surprising fashion that I pray no other reviewers will give even a hint of. My caveats notwithstanding, this is a great read.

Those who enjoy this and other Ted Dekker books may find the following books of interest:

The Island of the World A fictional story of a young Croat boy running from WWII to the present which provides real insight into the 'Balkan situation'

The Death of a Pope A geopolitical thriller on a plot against the hierarchy of the Church during a Papal Conclave

Dominion I: Seed An apocalyptic/supernatural thriller series (fans of The Circle Trilogy may find this to their liking)

Many of us have judged people, me being one of them. Heard of the saying "Judge lest you be judged?" Best-selling author of The Bride Collector, Ted Dekker, reminds us of this in his latest thriller, The Priest's Graveyard.
Ted says that he thinks that this is his greatest thriller... I agree with him. It is something that you would expect from Ted, yet totally different. Different than all his other novels.
The first thing that readers will notice is that this one is written in the first person female. It is the second time Ted has done the first person point of view, the first one being Immanuel's Veins, but is the first time he has done it in the female perspective. Some of you may wonder if this is doable for a male author to do this and making it believable. Yes, it is believable and Ted did a great job with it that, in fact, it felt like that a female was really telling the story.
The plot was different than any of Ted's other novels. No FBI detective going after a serial killer this time, folks. Oh, no. This time, the main character, Renee, asks him for help when she decides to go after her rescuer, Lamont, disappears.
Renee and Danny are, I believe, some of the most complex and believable characters that Ted has ever penned. Danny is now one of my favorite Dekker characters now. Renee is definitely up there too.
Some people shy away from Ted's books because of the violence and many people stop reading because they believe he has gone to far. Well, if you are one of those people, I am sorry to say that you will not want to read this one. Some of these scenes are very descriptive and gruesome. Not overly so to the point where I had to stop and take a while to resume reading it or skip the parts. I don't think Ted has ever gone that far.
Ted will definitely get a good amount of additions to his already immense fan base when this one comes out.

After years of writing best-selling Christian fiction, Ted Dekker is back with THE PRIEST'S GRAVEYARD. This novel is really good and I highly recommend it. Dekker delivers a book full of great characters and suspenseful action while staying faithful to his roots with the battle between good and evil.

Dekker's novel is praised by bestselling authors such as Tess Gerritsen, Steve Berry, Brad Meltzer and Douglas Preston. That's pretty powerful group of praise.

Danny Hansen is a priest who witnessed unspeakable horrors growing up in Bosnia . Renee Gilmore is a drug addict who is saved from her addiction from a wealthy lawyer named Lamont Myers. Danny and Renee's life eventually meet in a whirlwind of justice, revenge and judgment.

Fans of Dekker's Christian fiction will easily enjoy the strong message of of how being judgmental can destroy a life. Readers not wanting to read a religious novel don't need to worry. Nothing is preachy and Dekker definitely knows the difference between being preachy and delivering a message that would apply to all faiths.

› Go to Amazon.com to see all 159 reviews  3.8 out of 5 stars