Skin- Ted Dekker

So I've been somewhat busy this past year or so studying for the LSAT and haven't had time to go to the library.  I am now gloriously near a library and have been indulging in all kinds of books.  For much of the past year I'd been sustaining myself off of books from my small bookshelf in my dorm...which is not much.  You can only read a book so many times before each phrase is etched in your mind.

Skin was a thrilling relief.  The book follows Wendy Davidson as she finds herself trapped in a small town besieged by a storm and a serial killer with amazing skill and a horrific imagination.  Even worse, she quickly becomes entangled at the center of the conflict with four other strangers, any of which might be the killer.

Dekker is clearly excellent at crafting a thrilling story...characters are well fleshed out and believable if not particularly likeable.  However, about three quarters of the way through the book the plot suddenly takes a wild change in direction that I was somewhat confused by.  I had never read a book by Dekker before and so had no idea that this whole time he'd been referencing another series of his throughout the entire plot, so was not prepared for this twist.  I later read online that he'd done it as a sort-of/almost tie in with a series he'd written, which was well lost on me.

Then he ends the story with yet another problem for the surviving characters to solve.  A puzzle that could make or break the characters' sanity and is as yet unresolved.  This is frustrating, but somehow feels right in this book.  Overall I would recommend people read it, but only after checking out some of the other books in the series - The Circle Series and/or The Lost Books being a good place to start.  I certainly intend to look into the books later this week when I hit the library again.