The Bride Collector by Ted Dekker, Pre-publication Book Tour and Review!

Sometimes being a Bride isn't all that it's cracked up to be...

The Bride Collector by Ted Dekker is a psychological page turner! A demented Serial Killer, a great pair of detectives, a bit of sexual tension, and a group of mental patients deciphering the clues along with the police department... how much more do you need in a great mystery/thriller?!

Back of the Book... FBI Special agent Brad Raines is facing his toughest case yet. A Denver serial killer has killed four beautiful young women, leaving a bridal veil at each crime scene, and he's picking up his pace. Unable to crack the case, Raines appeals for help from a most unusual source: residents of the Center for Wellness and Intelligence, a private psychiatric institution for mentally ill individuals whose are extraordinarily gifted.

It's there that he meets Paradise, a young woman who witnessed her father murder her family and barely escaped his hand. Diagnosed with schizophrenia, Paradise may also have an extrasensory gift: the ability to experience the final moments of a person's life when she touches the dead body.

In a desperate attempt to find the killer, Raines enlists Paradise's help. In an effort to win her trust, he befriends this strange young woman and begins to see in her qualities that most 'sane people' sorely lack. Gradually, he starts to question whether sanity resides outside the hospital walls...or inside.

As the Bride Collector picks up the pace-and volume-of his gruesome crucifixions, the case becomes even more personal to Raines when his friend and colleague, a beautiful young forensic psychologist, becomes the Bride Col

lector's next target.

The FBI believes that the killer plans to murder seven women. Can Paradise help before it's too late?

What did I think? I Loved it! Ted Dekker slowly builds the story, setting the stage and fleshing out the characters. When everything is set in place, it's a thrilling ride! The Bride Collector is obsessed with collecting brides for God. 7 is the lucky number because 7 is the number of perfection. Brad Raines is grasping at every possible lead trying to beat the clock and stop the serial killer before he kills again and again. He and his partner believe that the killer has a connection with the with The Center for Wellness and Intelligence, and this is where they gain the help of a group of patients, one of which is Paradise. With the help of Paradise, a schizophrenic, the case goes in an interesting direction...

Some of the things I enjoyed about Ted Dekker's book The Bride Collector were the characters. They were so interesting, so well developed, and realistic... Flawed but human. We are allowed to get inside the head of Brad Raines, the detective, and witness his thought process- whether it's figuring out clues or dealing with his growing attraction to a most unusual girl. We also get inside the head of The Bride Collector, and get a taste of his motivations and thought process. Most interesting was getting to know Paradise and the other patients from the psychiatric center. Instead of dealing with cliches, the author puts a human face on mental illness and shows a different side to the patients and how they deal with their problems.

I kept turning those pages trying to figure out the clues right along with everyone eles in the story! Even though this is a story with a serial killer, the blood is kept to a minimum. The story is more psychological versus graphic. If you are familiar with the writing of Ted Dekker, you won't be disappointed! If you haven't read this author yet, you enjoy a good psychological thriller with great characters, and a good helping of unexpected twists & turns, The Bride Collector is for you!

About the Author... Ted Dekker is a New York Times best-selling author of more than twenty novels. He is best known for stories which could be broadly described as suspense thrillers with major twists and unforgettable characters, though he has also made a name for himself among fantasy fans.

Early in his career he wrote a number of spiritual thrillers and his novels were lumped in with ‘Christian Fiction’ a surprisingly large category. His later novels are a mix of mainstream novels such as Adam, Thr3e, Skin, Obsessed and BoneMan’s Daughters, and Fantasy thrillers that metaphorically explore faith. Best known among these is his Circle Series: Green, Black, Red, White and The Paradise Books: Showdown, Saint, and Sinner.

The Bride Collector is going to be released April 13th! Learn more about Ted Dekker at teddekker.com. AND as a special treat for anyone who pre-orders The Bride Collector from Amazon.com, Ted is also giving a pdf copy of his first never before published book, To Kill With Reason. Get all the details on what you need to do at Ted Dekker's facebook page.

I want to thank Miriam at Hachette Book Group for sending me a copy of The Bride Collector for review! Thanks Miriam it was a great read!

Paul Martin Midden Virtual Book Tour for Toxin and a Giveaway!

Toxin by Paul Martin Midden

The Book Tour, Interview & Giveaway!

About Toxin...

Jake Telemark, a junior senator from Wisconsin, enjoys his position as a moderate, common-sense legislator in Washington, D.C.—until the phone call that changes his life forever. Isadore Hathaway, daughter of the late Frank Hathaway, a renowned senatorial powerhouse, demands to see Jake immediately. During a mysterious meeting with Isadore, Jake learns an uncomfortable truth: a group of fanatical right-wing evangelicals, who call themselves The Bookkeepers, are planning to destroy the US democracy.

Shocked by Isadore’s revelation, but initially unwilling to get involved in something he can scarcely believe, Jake soon learns why Isadore Hathaway singled him out for this clandestine meeting: she’d uncovered a part of Jake’s past that he’d fought to keep hidden, not just by law, but by of the demands of his sanity. Isadore’s plea is both startling and matter-of-fact: she wants Jake to kill the men involved in this sinister plot—because if Jake doesn’t kill them, they will kill him.

When parts of Isadore’s scenario begin to come true, Jake becomes ensnared in a dangerous and deadly plot. With the country at risk and freedom hanging in the balance, Jake is thrust into excruciating circumstances. Forced to confront the demons of his past, and the demons that threaten the future of the country he serves, Jake inconveniently falls in love with Isadore. As this burgeoning relationship plays out against the backdrop of the most tumultuous time in US history, Jake Telemark must wage an intense tug-of-war between his promise to never harm another human being, and his duty to the country, and woman, he loves.

A gripping first person novel that reads like non-fiction, Toxin is briskly-paced and filled with urgency. Part provocative political thriller, part powerful psychological narrative, Toxin delivers a terrifyingly-real storyline that deftly blurs the lines between fiction and reality. Novelist Paul Martin Midden displays remarkable dexterity in his extraordinary character development, exquisite understanding of the texture and complexity of human relationships, and ability to keep the pages turning in this powerful thriller.

I had the wonderful opportunity to read Toxin recently and enjoyed it immensely. Toxin has all your usual political thriller elements- government conspiracy, secret societies, terrorism, deaths of government officials. But Toxin is so much more than that. Toxin reads more like a psychological thriller as we get inside the characters and see their motivations. The main characters of the story, Jake the jr. senator and Dora the daughter of the a powerful deceased senator, almost become the story themselves because they are so well developed.

I also had the pleasure of interviewing Mr. Midden, here's what we "talked" about...

Can you tell us a little about your background.

I am a psychologist with thirty plus years experience in clinical practice. Most recently—for the past seventeen years—I’ve been the Clinical Director of a treatment program for Catholic priests and religious. I got into writing fiction as a hobby and surprised myself by liking it a lot.

You have very impressive career in the medical field, with not only your clinical practice, but you've also been on the medical and academic staffs of major hospitals. What prompted you to begin a career in writing?

The specific incident which led to writing my first book was preparing for a talk. I have some anxiety about doing presentations, so I decided to write the whole thing out and practice reading it aloud. I discovered that I actually enjoyed the writing part, if not the presenting part. I had been thinking about fiction for awhile, so I decided to give it a go.

Your novel Toxin is a political thriller, but it feels more like a psychological thriller because of the way you get under the surface of your characters and their underlying motivations. How would you classify your novel?

This is a good question. It did not occur to me that Toxin might be a thriller (or mystery or suspense) work until the reviews starting coming in. I just thought it was a way of writing that was different, since it is a first-person narrative. Once I got going on the writing of it, I had to admit it had a lot in common with political thrillers and the action did go in that direction. So a lot of the reviews made sense along those lines. I would say it’s a thriller with perhaps unusually strong character development.

Speaking of motivations, your character Isadore Hathaway is the daughter of a deceased powerful senator. She approached our protagonist Jake Telemark and revealed to him her belief that there was a conspiracy of right- wing fundamentalists trying to take over our government. She wanted his help. Jake was immediately attracted to "Dora", do you think this influenced his decision to help her? do you think that the relationship between Jack and Dora was a necessary part of the story?

To answer the last question first: I think the relationship between Dora and Jake was central to the story. They were thrown together in extraordinarily intense circumstances; they were both attractive and available; and it would have been incongruous for there not to have been an erotic tie. On the other hand—and to answer the first question—Jake knew right off that he was drawn to Dora. But he was also put off by what he saw at first as her lunacy. I think he would have helped her in the end anyway, but the attraction helped him along.

Jake, the senator/sniper, was particularly well written. He easily was able to switch roles between the junior senator from Wisconsin and his role as killer soldier. How did you develop the character Jake?

I don't really know how I develop characters. Since I write every day on a project, they come to life slowly, one and a half pages at a time. He's a quirky, unconventional guy who looks 'normal' on the surface, as many of my characters seem to be. I don't have to look too far to do 'research' on those types of people.

Toxin explores the tensions between the right-wing fundamentalists and secular America. It's about conspiracy and ultimately makes us wonder "Is the U.S. vulnerable to an attack from within?" where did you get your idea for this book? And did the present day political atmosphere influence your writing Toxin especially with the U.S. concerns with terrorism?

When I write, the first ‘inspiration’ comes with the opening chapter or two. I start writing and a dramatic scene presents itself. Then the story takes on a life of its own. I am sure, at the same time, that the current political situation had a great deal of influence. The minister who is referred to in the book, J.D. Rushdoony, is a real person who actually espoused the notion of turning the US into a religious oligarchy. And there are many who espouse this idea directly or indirectly even today. Those elements who want to tear down the wall of separation between Church and State and who want to legislate morality; those who are fanatical about single issues; those who long for some imagined past time of peace, tranquility and righteousness: all of these people are out there and have followings. Perhaps they are small, but as both the Oklahoma bombing and 9/11 reminded us, it doesn’t take a lot of people to do major damage or to disrupt the business of the nation.

Toxin is written with Jake Telemark telling us the story. Do you think writing a novel in the first person gets the reader more involved? Why first person?

I do think there is a tendency for the reader to get more involved with the narrator, since he looms so large over the entire book and all the action is filtered through him. It’s impossible to get away from him: he’s on every page.

How do you write your stories? Idea for a plot first, characters first, characters develop as the story does?

When I was a young psychologist starting out in practice, I asked an older colleague where patients came from. His response was that they “. . . came from God.” Ideas for stories seem to come in the same inexplicable way. I love playing with opening lines and opening paragraphs. If an idea is potent or fecund enough, it can blossom into a story. But then the day to day writing takes over and allows that to happen. I am a psychologist, so the people (read ‘character’) part is especially intriguing to me.

Would you like to share with us about what your next novel is about and when we can look forward to seeing it on the shelves?

My next novel, One Voice Too Many, is about a man who struggles to stay sane. He’s an average-seeming guy, but he has a dark history and some powerful internal struggles. I hope to have it published within this next year.

What was the last book you read? And what's on the nightstand now?The last few books I’ve read have been nonfiction: A Voyage Long and Strange was my last. Wonderful story. Right now I’m working on The Indifferent Stars Above, the story of the Donner party. Another great read. Neither of them is fiction.

If you could spend an afternoon with any one person, dead or alive, who would it be and why? There are a number of candidates, but I’d have to say Lao-Tsu. He was one of the first humans to comprehend the flow of life. I’d like to know how he got there so quickly.

Anything else you'd like to share with us? Only that I thought answering your thoughtful questions would be a chore, but it was actually a pleasure. Thanks for hosting this interview.

A BIG Thank you to Mr. Midden for his time in answering my questions and sharing a little bit of himself with us! To learn more about Paul Martin Midden, please follow the link to his website HERE.

Paul Martin Midden is giving away a signed copy of his book, Toxin, to one lucky tour visitor! Go to his book tour page : Toxin Tour Page, enter your name, e-mail address, and this PIN: 6371, for your chance to win. Entries from Chick with Books will be accepted until 12 noon (PT) July 26th! No purchase is required to enter or to win. The winner (first name only) will be announced on the book tour page next week.

This is the last day on The Toxin Virtual Book Tour... Here are the other stops Paul made...

Bookish Ruth , Jen's Book Thoughts, Allie's Musings, The Book Zombie,

Wendi's Book Corner, Petit Fours and Hot Tamales, Café of Dreams,

Mystery Reader Discussion, Bookish Ruth