The Returning

It all boils down to the ultimate show-down between good and evil in a Christian Dystopian look into the future with Rachelle Dekker's Seer series in her final novel The Returning. Ancient prophecy has always pointed to a future event that most thought would never happen. A thing written about with no basis for coming true, at least to those living in Authority City. Anyone who opposes those in power or has any idea other that confirming to the well-being of all citizens is simply sent to the re-education center to be administered with a serum known as the Genesis Formula. It makes them comply without thinking for themselves and now they become part of the collective minds of those running the city.

However, there is a band of rebels who have managed to leave the city despite all attempts to capture them. Within this band of fugitives are seven individuals who have been called to fulfill the prophecy of returning those in Authority city back to the way God had intended. Led by a man named Aaron who has shown them the ultimate way of living, no one knows if he is really a man or simply a figment of their over active imaginations. He has always shown them the real purpose of their lives and how those in power in Authority City have forced those in opposition to be re-educated or eliminated. He has uncovered the darkness that has been led to breed uncontrolled by those who have a sinister purpose in mind.

Now Carrington and Remko Brandt have to put their trust in Aaron to lead this team of prodigals on their higher purpose to release those in bondage using their unique specialized gifts granted to them by God to redeem those who are lost in an effort to set them free and restore the city back to the grand vision God has for them. However it is a difficult decision for the Brandt's since their oldest daughter, Elise, was captured during a raid outside the city and it has been years since that day. Not knowing if she is dead or alive, they trust that their youngest daughter Kennedy whose has vowed to find her if she is still alive and bring her back home. Just when this team heads out back to the city to fulfill their prophecy, an army marches against those living in sanctuary waiting for their return to take them captive and force them to submit to the darker authority now controlling Authority City.

I received The Returning by Rachelle Dekker compliments of Tyndale House Publishers and Net Galley. For fans of such series like Divergent and the Hunger Games, you will love this Christian take on a similar story line. Out of the entire series, I have to say my all-time favorite was The Choosing, the first novel. I love the different twist on the value people place on their looks and self esteem and how some were chosen and others who aren't are forced into a life of serving others within the city as outcasts. Dekker does an exceptional job at reminding readers between each novel what had happened prior so it is easy to pick up the action as you immerse yourself into each subsequent novel. This one was a bit predictable in some ways as you could figure out how things would need to be resolved before the series reached its conclusion. I would give this one a 4.5 out of 5 stars in my opinion however.

For more information about The Returning, Rachelle Dekker or where to pick up a copy of this novel today, please click on the links below:

The Returning by Rachelle Dekker 

You can find Rachelle Dekker on Facebook to stay up to date on her latest novels.

To read more reviews on The Returning, please visit Tyndale House Publisher's website. 

The Calling

It seems the apple never falls far from the tree and in this case Rachelle Dekker is giving her father, Ted a run for his money. Genetics must place a role in the success of her Seer series which is a blend of Logan's Run meets Divergent. A suspenseful series involving a group of people who live under the Authority in the city and they decide who is successful and those who aren't that will spend their lives living in a servant subclass to those in the city. In the first novel in the series, The Choosing, readers got a chance to meet Carrington Hale, a young girl who was raised and groomed to hopefully make a successful match in the Choosing ceremony. But her future was not to be as bright as she had hoped and was left without being 'chosen.'

Now living a life as a Lint, the subclass who serves those in the city, she has been feeling as if there should be something more to this life and when she meets a wise old man named Aaron, who offers to show her another "way," she believes in a life of freedom that the Authority wishes to curtail. If everyone started to "think" for themselves, they might not adjust to the life that had been the way of life for all who serve the Authority.

Now Carrington and her group of people known as Seers, those who see with the true eyes of the Father, must work as fugitives to try and offer people an alternative to that of the Authority. It is a race against time as the Seers, now referred to as rebels and outlaws, must be hunted down until every last one of them is transitioned into the Genesis program. It is an experiment that the Authority has tested on its own citizens in order to reprogram them through a series of injections to reprogram their neural pathways and erase all memories of freedom and choice in the second novel, The Calling.

I received The Calling by Rachel Dekker compliments of Tyndale House Publishers for my honest review. I did not received any monetary compensation for a favorable review and the opinions contained here are strictly my own personal ones. Fans of Christian Dystopian fiction will love this series as an alternative to Divergent, Hunger Games and others, and still provides readers with that same sense of suspense and heart stopping adrenaline you would expect as you are turning pages as fast as you can read. You just never know who are the true heroes and enemies in this series and wonder just where it will all go by the time the third novel rolls out. Truly had me guessing and reguessing all the way to the end. Well worth another 4.5 out of 5 stars in my opinion. A Reader's Discussion Guide is included at the conclusion of this novel that is perfect for book clubs.

For more information about The Calling, Rachelle Dekker or where you can pick up a copy of this novel today, please click on the links below:

The Calling by Rachelle Dekker

You can find Rachelle Dekker on Facebook, to stay up to date on all her latest novels.

For more reviews on The Calling, please visit Tyndale House Publisher's website.

The Choosing

"Truth Six: Not to be chosen would yield a cruel fate of my own making."

You are nothing.

The statements stuck  on repeat and Carrington couldn't turn them off - because they were true, because she was nothing. This was of her own making. As her mother reminded her before she left, she was not chosen. She is nothing.

Carrington Hale, thought despite all her efforts and that of her mother, that she would be chosen. That even right now, she would be with a man who would choose her as his future wife and the mother of their children, instead of where she is right now. Stripped of everything she was before arriving at the Stacks, her new home and wearing the new label of Lint. One who now serves the rest of the city doing whatever trade she would be assigned. She couldn't go back. She would have to accept her new fate. She must remember "As God set forth the law, so the law must be obeyed." This is her new life.

In the debut novel from author Rachelle Dekker, The Choosing is a Christian dystopian novel that combines what I would call a cross between The Divergent Series and The Hunger Games, but with a definite Christian twist. This is one series you won't want to miss and you are immediately hooked from page one.

Girls that are 17 find themselves preparing for what is called the Choosing Ceremony. They have planned for this moment their entire lives. Hoping to catch one man's eye since women were seen as having to submit to man's authority and thus to serve in the capacity of starting a home and family by being chosen! For Carrington Hale, she was at the top of her class and never for one minute did her family ever dream that she wouldn't. Now faced with no longer being able to see or visit with her family, she has been relegated to dwell as a Lint in one of many assigned trades that serve the Capital. It is the last place any one would want to live. Lints are the lowest form of citizen in the city and no one was allowed to interact with them.

Issac Knight is known as the Authority, the ruling class that sets the example of law and order for those that live in the city. Since the Ruining, he has been able to create a way of life that everyone in the city deems is appropriated following the examples laid out in the book of Veritas. His word is law and anyone who conflicts with the laws are punished. No one dares question the Authority as that is how they have all managed to survive. Now with his wife passing away, he hopes to convince the Council that he should take another wife, since he has no son to pass along his position as heir. Will Carrington get another chance at redemption or will this be a fate worse than death?

I received The Choosing by Rachelle Dekker as a self purchase from Tyndale House Publishers and received no monetary compensation for a favorable review. All I know after reading this one, is Ted Dekker has competition in his daughter's amazing ability to pull on the heart strings of what every woman faces, the need for affirmation of our self worth. I absolutely LOVE the science fiction flair that she incorporates this theme that Carrington struggles with in resolving who she really is outside from what others believe she is. The twist to this one is one you won't want to miss as someone is killing Lints in hopes of redeeming them to holiness from the level that have fallen as societies lowest form of life, while another named Aaron is convincing them that there is another way outside of what the Authority deems is righteous and true. I literally inhaled this novel in one sitting because it is that engaging and one that provides such interaction with the reader, you have to keep going to see how it will all play out. The only downside is the sequel to this isn't available until spring of 2016. This is the first novel in the Seer series and one this reader will definitely be waiting for. 5 out of 5 stars in my opinion!!!

For more information about The Choosing, Rachelle Dekker or where you can pick up a copy of this novel today, please click on the links below:

The Choosing by Rachelle Dekker

You can find Rachelle Dekker on Facebook to stay up to date on all her latest novels.

To read more reviews on The Choosing, please visit Tyndale House Publishers.