The Priest's Graveyard by Ted Dekker Book Review & Blog Tour

The Priest's Graveyard
Two abandoned souls are on the hunt for one powerful man. Soon, their paths will cross and lead to one twisted fate.
Danny Hansen is a Bosnian immigrant who came to America with hopes of escaping haunted memories of a tragic war that took his mother's life. Now he's a priest who lives by a law of love and compassion. It is powerful men and hypocrites who abide by legal law but eschew the law of love that most incense Danny. As an avenging angel, he believes it is his duty to show them the error of their ways, at any cost. 



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.

Judge not, or you too will be judged.

I received a copy of this book for review and to participate in the Blog Tour for it's release. I was thrilled to get to the opportunity and let me tell you,  I was rewarded with a great read. After a year of fantasy and paranormal genre reading, it was refreshing to read a good old fashion thriller. Don't get me wrong there is nothing old fashion about this book. Dekker has a knack for fast paced, page turning, thrill a minute writing and he didn't let us down with this one. It's more than just a thriller. Each chapter builds the suspense and you never see the twists and turns that come. I didn't see the end coming as it did and quite honestly I'm still not sure how I feel about it. It's good. It fits the life of the story and saying that, I think when my emotions over the book come to a rest I'll completely accept the ending. 

The story is told from the heroine's point of view. I use the word heroine loosely because she is a very unlikely hero. She's flawed and at times annoying in her weakness. But in that weakness is a realist strength I think many of us can relate to. She tells her story and then in the next chapter the story of the hero, Priest Danny Hansen's story is told. This goes on until their paths cross and as they say  the plot thickens!  I don't want to give too much away. This book is great. I really enjoy Dekker's style. It has some violence and at times some may think a little to graphic in that area but I found it appropriate. You quickly build a relationship with these two unlikely heroes and find yourself cheering them on in their vigilantly style justice. You could dig into the pages and find all sorts of allegoric meaning but for me this was simply an entertaining, thrill a minute book. There aren't too many places in this book that you can rest without a twist or shock coming at you. I loved it and will probably reread it. It was that good. 

Here's a run down: Ex-Bosnian Danny Hansen, now Father Hansen is a priest who dispenses his own brand of justice to right the wrongs done to woman and children. Renee Gilmore is an ex-heroin addict who was rescued only to lose the man that saved her to mysterious circumstances. Their paths cross while after the same evil man. Nothing seems to go as planned. What happens next you won't see coming. 
I recommend this book highly. I've read other Dekker books (mostly the fantasy ones) and enjoyed them but this was the best I've read of him. I'll be looking into some of his other thrillers. He has an excellent command of language and emotes emotions through pages of the book. You don't feel that you are reading words but feeling the events take place. I look for this book to quickly become a best seller like many of his other books. He's a got a gift for finding not only the right words but also an imagination that keeps you riveted. 

For a little peak, check out the BROWSE INSIDE THIS BOOK section below.




ted dekkerTed Dekker is the New York Times bestselling author of more than twenty-five novels, including BoneMan’s Daughters, Thr3e, Adam, andThe Bride Collector.

New York Times bestselling author Nelson DeMille calls him “a true master of thrillers” and NPR readers chose Ted as a Top 50 “Killer Thriller” author of all time alongside Dean Koontz, James Patterson, Harlan Coben, and Brad Meltzer.

His critically acclaimed storytelling has kept millions worldwide tearing through the pages late into the night, always with the lights on and the doors locked.

For more information on Ted Dekker, check out his website at:

4 comments:

shelly said...

I will put him on my list to read. Sounds like something I'd read. Love thrillers.

Jane said...

Great review! You're totally right when you say that the end isn't predictable. I posted my review on my blog, http://goo.gl/l7cpG

Tyrean Martinson said...

Thanks for this review! I'm never sure if I'm going to like Dekker's books or not . . . some of them I love, and some I'm not sure about. I'll have to check this one out.

Cat said...

I'm glad everyone enjoyed the review. It was really worth the read and a great book that takes the same ol' same ol' and really gives it a new twist.

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