Ted Dekker's "Skin" Reviewed

I just finished reading Ted Dekker’s newest book, “Skin.” While the overall book was just as interesting as his other books, I was somewhat disappointed in several aspects of the story line as well as the editing. I will try to share my thoughts without giving away any details of the story.

I always get irritated when reading anything by a well established author that includes “printing” errors, but this went well beyond the dozen or so simple “printing” errors. There were several confusing sentences that I had to re-read in order to understand. The error was most likely due to poor editing. Some apparently necessary edits due to changes the author made in the storyline were not found by the author or editor.

I noticed additional words in several sentences that were not removed in editing process. There was also an entire passage that seemed to be the thoughts of one of the characters, but the end of the paragraph included a quotation mark. I had to pause to consider if the passage was supposed to be spoken out loud or thought. In a mystery novel, this affects your understanding of the clues that each person may or may not know.

The author also brought his Circle Trilogy into this book by mentioning the Horde. It seemed out of place the few times it was used. I wasn’t completely convinced that it fit the storyline. After completing the book and noticing the advertisement for the fourth installment of the Circle Trilogy, I understood that the author was simply plugging his next book.
I still think that Ted Dekker is an awesome writer with some excellent plot-twisting storylines, and I am looking forward to the second trilogy of the Circle series, however, I hope that more time is spent in editing the book before the release date. It may seem petty to others, but my enjoyment in reading a book is just not the same if I keep thinking about the mistakes I keep finding. When I read, I have no desire to be the editor.

Comments

Sam said…
If you've read The Lost Books of History (Chosen, Infidel, Renegade, Chaos, and soon to be Lunatic and Elyon), then you'll understand that references to The Circle are not shameless plugs. It's all part of the Circle. It's also very much connected to the Paradise books as Healy was adopted from the monastary, likely a creation of Black, as was White in House.
5:15 PM
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