REVIEW: BoneMan's Daughters by Ted Dekker (audiobook)

Military intelligence officer Ryan Evans is married to his work; so much so that his wife and daughter have written him out of their lives. Sent to Fallujah and captured by insurgents, he is asked to kill children not unlike his own. The method: a meticulous, excruciating death by broken bones that his captor has forced him to learn.

Returning home after the ordeal, a new crisis awaits. A serial killer is on the loose, and his method of killing is the same. Ryan becomes a prime suspect, which isn't even the worst of his problems: Ryan's daughter is BoneMan's latest desire.

In a story that is devastating in its skill and suspense, - Ted Dekker brings to bear his ability to terrify and compel in BONEMAN'S DAUGHTERS.

My Review

This was my first fictional audiobook, and I've found that it is much harder to review an audiobook than a traditional book. Why is that? In my case, I suspect two things: (1) I have something of an "audio ADD" issue. I can't focus my auditory sense for too long of a stretch. My mind tends to wander. People will sometimes notice this when speaking with me in person for extended periods. My eyes begin to wander around the room as I think of other things, and secondarily (2) I listen to audiobooks while at work, distracted by computers and phones and people coming into my office and asking me questions. No matter how good I am at multi-tasking, even I have to admit to my limitations, and I can only stretch my auditory senses so far!

So this book. You're probably heard all about it before, as it has been out for awhile now. Ryan is a military intelligence officer and serving in the middle east. He has been separated from his wife and daughter for the better part of his marriage and daughter's life. Needless to say, both his marriage and his relationship with his daughter is strained to the breaking point. And he doesn't really care. Due to Ryan's line of work, he has developed a certain coldness and detachment about him. He doesn't seem to care about too much beyond his duty.

This all changes when Ryan's daughter is kidnapped by the infamous BoneMan, who is known for kidnapping young girls and then killing them by breaking every bone in their body without breaking the skin. From there it becomes a father's quest for his daughter, and a chance at redemption for all of the mistakes he's made.

I enjoyed this story. It was a unique experience for me to listen to a fictional audiobook. I was not expecting the voices-- to have the narrator using different voices for the different characters. At first this was distracting and comical to me, but then I got used to it.

There was pretty good character development for the primary characters. The BoneMan wasn't quite creepy enough for me, but I have a pretty high "creep factor" bar. I expect a lot of my "bad guys". But he was acceptably creepy, and the narrator used an acceptably creepy and disturbingly calm voice for the BoneMan. This is an audiobook I'd recommend if you're looking for a good thriller.

Product Details

* Hardcover: 416 pages
* Publisher: Center Street; BCE edition (April 14, 2009)
* Language: English
* ISBN-10: 1599951959
* ISBN-13: 978-1599951959

My Rating: 7 out of 10