The Priest's Graveyard

Ted DekKer
Center Street

Danny Hansen came to America with hopes of escaping haunted memories of a tragic war that took his mother's life.  Now he's a priest, incensed by the powerful among us who manipulate the law for their own gain, uncaring of the shattered lives they leave behind.  It is his duty to show them the error of their ways, even if he must put them in the grave.
Renee Gilmore is the frail and helpless victim of one such powerful man. Having escaped his clutches, she now lives only to satisfy justice by destroying him, regardless of whom she must become in that pursuit.
But when Danny and Renee's paths become inexorably entangled things go very, very badly and neither of them may make it out of this hunt alive.

If you read through this blog, you will see that I am a fan of Ted DekKer.  In fact, his work is the reason I even started this blog in the first place. His books have pulled me in and set me into a place of truly loving the written word.  Because of that, I get excited when I see a new book from DekKer. The Priest's Graveyard is no exception.  DekKer has such a masterful way of drawing the reader into the story that you literally become the character, and experience what they feel.  The one thing that will never cease to amaze me is DekKer's uncanny ability to create a twist that is unforeseen.  After having read 20 DekKer titles, I still didn't see this twist coming!

The story itself is incredibly well written.  Not once did he ever lose me, nor did any scene falter in it's realism.  I truly felt the character's passion and disgust, love and hate, euphoria and sorrow.  At a scant 360 pages, it's shorter than a typical DekKer novel, and this is sad because the pages fly quickly.

I am always impressed with the different ways that DekKer approaches love.  He seems to find it everywhere, in every scenario, and in every person he sees.  The Priest's Graveyard takes that to a place I never would have suspected.  I think we all have a little bit of Renee's tendencies when it comes to love, it's just that ours are more hidden than most.  I would really love to delve into the topic and explore how we are similar, but that would give everything away.  You'll just have to read the story to find out.

If you love thrillers, get this book.
If you love love stories, get this book.
If you love action, get this book.
If you love the written word, get this book!