Why Dekker Remains A Comfort Author

As avid readers, do you have any favorite authors? We could call them “Comfort Authors,” sort of like comfort foods. When you’ve had a long day, or long week, and you just need a break and a different world to escape to, what’s one of the first authors you reach for?

Hopefully, as Horror readers you won’t think I’m crazy when I answer Ted Dekker.

(Trust me, there are plenty of other reasons to think I’m crazy.)

Book after book, the more I lean towards his shelves at the bookstore. The more I read, the faster my fingers type his name in the search bar of Amazon.com.

Don’t worry, the obsession hasn’t reached a creepy status, it’s just that I’m a lover of good writing and a thrilling story. The next book I’ve chosen to review by Dekker is an older one…well older as in 2008. I remember reading this book a few years ago. My family and I were on our way to Washington D.C. for a weekend vacation. I believe I started it either the day before we left, or the day of.

What did I do in the airport? Read Adam.

What did I do on the plane? Read Adam.

What did I do in D.C.? Read Adam.

What did I do on the plane ride home? Finished reading Adam.

I couldn’t have put it down even if I had wanted to. Even the design, the way it feels, it’s just addicting.

Adam is about a Special Agent named Daniel Clark. He’s an obsessive agent who searches after serial killers. Clark claims that his obsessive behavior helps get him in the mindset of the killers. Simultaneously, however, it also causes his divorce with his wife Heather. Clark is a talented agent, but of course, Dekker has created a killer who seems to be just that much better. The killer, known as Eve, has taken the lives a 16 women and is still on the move.

Now, this is beginning to sound like every other serial killer story, isn’t it?

Would I have named Dekker as a “Comfort Author” if ordinary and typical was all he gave us?

Adam does contain the classic serial killer concept, however, combined with Dekker’s ability to confuse, entertain, surprise, and amaze his readers, it’s brought up to a whole new level. The graphics for one thing. If you like being scared, but can’t necessarily take a graphic, semi-gory mental image, this may be a book to weary away from. HOWEVER, the detailed illustrations just add an absolutely needed layer of the story. While it’s not everyone’s favorite aspect, the images Dekker uses are not thrown around willy-nilly. 

These descriptions are thoughtfully placed to not disgust the reader, but to enhance the story.

That is just what they do.

So for those of you with hearts for horror and queasy stomachs, I think you’ll be able to handle this one.

Another layer worth mentioning is how Dekker uses Christian beliefs in this story. The references made are blunt and easy to catch. Yet, the meaning he implies is not so clear. The words Adam and Eve give most people a solid idea of the story. In Adam, the reason Dekker uses them isn’t as easy to grasp at first as we would think.

Since I’m discussing the above-ordinary writing in Adam, the backstory for the killer is also done in an appreciative manner.

The killer is the first character we’re introduced to. Through newspaper clippings we are given the killer, his name, and what has gotten him to the mental state he possesses. Personally, I love when authors can let me know who the killer is and then are still able to create enough mystery to keep me reading.

Adam is truly one book that I will continue to marvel at, even as my list of “Comfort Authors” grows.