Reacting

I chose to read Skin because I was assured by my sisters that I would love it. Even after researching and choosing it for my project, I still wasn't necessarily sold on whether or not I would like it. I love reading, but typically my books of choice are more lighthearted. I love love stories, and books that make me laugh. I read books like Harry Potter and Twilight over and over again, because you don't have to think while reading them. My favorite movies are very low key; I don't really watch intense nail-biters. Skin is really none of those things. All of the descriptions that I read about this book talked about how intense it was: not my usual cup of tea. I was very intrigued by it though. I thought it might not hurt to try something new. This desire to try something new combined with the fact that both of my sisters (who don't enjoy reading) loved it was enough to make me decide to try it. I definitely did not regret my decision to go forward with reading this book.

How did your interest develop?

I was intrigued and interested by this story from before I even cracked the book open. After reading the reviews and descriptions on this book, I was pretty confident and somewhat excited about what I was getting myself into. Despite my hesitance to read a book full of suspense, I got just a little bit more intrigued once I saw the front cover. The cover looked so creepy, and I was curious what the sand was all about. My interest and intrigue was only increased the moment I opened the book and began to read.

Skin opens with these paragraphs:

When the rain isn't so much falling- be it in bucket loads or like cats and dogs- but rather slamming into the car like an avalanche of stone, you know it's time to pull over.

When you can't see much more than the slaphappy wipers splashing through rivers on the windshield, when you're suddenly not sure if you're on the road any longer, and your radio emits nothing but static, and you haven't seen another car since the sky turned black, and your fingers are tense on the wheel in an attempt to steady the old Accord in the face of terrifying wind gusts, you know it's so totally time to pull over.
(page 1)

As soon as I read these paragraphs, I knew I was going to like this book. I could already tell that this was going to be one of those books that I wouldn't want to put down. What a perfect setting for a mystery! A dark stormy night with rain so dense that you can barely see in front of you; it just doesn't get any more mysterious than that. As I read, I only got more interested. In the next few pages we are introduced to our main characters and to our killer. Before she has a chance to pull over, Wendy runs into a deserted truck that is sitting on the side of the road. She then gets out to see if anyone is in the car only to find bullet holes in the truck. The book then switches to another main character, Colt, and just takes off from there!

"You're saying three tornadoes have actually been spotted, or the weather service is warning of the possibility that-"
"Spotted, not speculated."
(page 8)

Pouring rain, the possibility of tornadoes, a small desert town... now all that's missing from this mystery is a murder.

"Officer down, officer down!" ... "We got us trouble. There's someone out here with a gun, and he's shot the chief. Request backup." ... "Right now!"
(page 10)

Well, we got that murder; and thirteen others along the way. Within the first few pages, this book managed to completely grab my attention. It made me want to know what was going to happen next. My interest in this book was firmly established in those first few pages. Whatever doubts I had about his book were thrown out the window once I read the first two chapters.

How was your opinion formed?

Despite the fact that my interest was peaked in the first few chapters, my opinion wasn't truly formed until I went to bed the night I started reading Skin. I climbed into my bed, and decided to read just one more more chapter before I went to sleep. After I read that one more chapter, I decided to read just one more. Those chapters turned into many more, and before I knew it, it was one in the morning. My opinion was made right then and there. I love this book. Any book that I don't want to put down automatically goes on my list of favorites. There aren't that many books that make me want to stop everything and read, but Skin was one of those books. Skin reminded me of 24 in some ways. It leaves you hanging, and constantly wanting more.

Investigating

Reviews

Ted Dekker is not an incredibly famous author, but he is still a well respected and entertaining author. Skin is a New York Times best seller, and has been very popular with fans. Ted Dekker is an author known for his twists. I have read other books of his, and I his stories never cease to amaze me. As one review says,

By the end of the book Dekker managed to surprise me yet again with a twist I didn't see coming. He also employs an excellent technique--revealing a small twist, to which you say, "I saw that coming," only to reveal an even bigger twist that catches you by surprise. It's misdirection at its best"

A review by a blogger:

This book delivered what I love about Ted Dekker's books: plenty of suspense. Toward the end of the book, I was so into it that my heart rate had risen fairly high, I was sweating, and I couldn't put the book down.

Dekker had some great twists that I never saw coming! :) Which is great, because I was afraid I had gotten to the point where I could somewhat guess where he was going. But these were totally unexpected. And, just when I thought it was all over and I could (somewhat) relax, he pulled the biggest twist of all! I'm still going back and reading to find the clues and try to figure this thing out! It's great! :)

I highly recommend this book to readers of speculative fiction, suspense, thrillers, etc. :D

Skin is also popular with fans. On Barnes and Noble, Skin has a four star rating (out of 89 reviews), but on Amazon it was given three and a half stars (with 89 reviews). One reviewer, who gave the book a two-star review had this to say about Skin,

I have read all of Ted Dekker's books and thought that his insight into the human condition is exceptional. I loved the way he was able take a story and weave an examination of how I relate to God. For example, the children eating the worm slime in Showdown as an allegory for our appetite for sin despite how it destroys our lives. Another example is the whole Circle Trilogy. His description in White when people have to inhale the water, i.e. give up their lives in order to live.

Lately, Dekker has rushed to put out books every couple of months and has lost his originality. He is stuck in a rut. His last three books have suspense and gore but lack the originality that led me to list him as one of my favorite authors.

Skin is a rehashed story of Showdown and Saint. Revealing the killer at the end left me flat with no impact.

The teaser at the end of the book revealing an upcoming 6 book series based on the Horde seems more like a threat than a promise.

I hope he changes his mind and takes a sabbatical to work on a new storyline. The sad part is that I am a Ted Dekker fan but wish he would get back to being a creative writer instead of continuing to try capitalizing on the success of Black, Red and White.

I agree with this reviewer on some points, but while I can see where they are coming from, I have to disagree with them on some other points. I completely and totally agree that Ted Dekker is absolutely exceptional at writing about the human condition. He weaves in wonderful glimpses of who we are as human beings; sinners who desperately need God to save us. I agree with everything the reviewer had to say on this. I do however disagree that he is stuck in or rut or becoming unoriginal. I can see where they might think this; some of his books pull on themes from others or even tie them in with others, and yes, in some ways they are similar. I don't think that he has lost his originality. Skin is still just about the most unique book that I have ever read, and I have read some of Dekker's other books. So, while I understand where this reviewer is coming from, I still highly recommend anyone and everyone to read this book.

About the Author-

Ted Dekker is a New York Times best-selling author of more than twenty novels. He was born to missionary parents who lived with the headhunter tribes of Indonesia. Dekker says that his unusual childhood forced him to use and cultivate his imagination, therefore laying the groundwork of his amazing stories. Ted's books have sold over five million copies worldwide and two of his books, Thr3e and House, have been made into movies. There are plans to turn more of his books into movies as well. Dekker is an author known for his amazing twists and turns, and is popular for his suspense thrillers.

I found a great interview with Ted Dekker on CBN. In this interview, he talks about growing up, why people label him controversial, and about his writing style. This interview really helped me understand why he writes the way he writes and it made me like him even more than I already did. If you are at all interested in this book or Ted Dekker as an author, I highly recommend that you watch the video.

Tracing

Skin is unlike any of the mystery stories we have read this term. In my opinion, it is more of a suspense book, or even a thriller. Despite it's uniqueness, I would still say that it does fall into the three main mystery sub-genres we have studied this term: amateur detective, private investigator, and the police. In my opinion, Skin somehow falls into all three categories.

At the start of the book, the Summerville police department is attempting to discover who this serial killer is. One of the main characters, Colt, is a police officer, and throughout the entire story he and the whole police department try to figure out who this killer is. About halfway through the book, an ex-FBI agent and current small town detective is brought in to help solve this incredibly complex and seemingly unsolvable case. This character might be considered part of the police department, but because he is a respected detective I decided to think of him as a private eye. In some ways, Skin could also be considered an amateur detective mystery novel. Throughout the whole book, the main characters try to put together the pieces. None of these characters, with the exception of Colt, are any form of a detective.

Despite the fact that this story could probably fall into any of the categories, I would have to say that it would most likely be put into the "private-eye" sub-genre of mystery fiction. The reason that I decided on this particular sub-genre was because it is the private eye detective guy that finally solves the case. Each of the characters contribute in some way to the case, but it is the detective that solves the majority of the case for us.

Analyzing

In week 3, we were asked to listen to a podcast on The Moonstone, pick a literary convention (Literary conventions are defining features of particular literary genres, such as novel, short story, ballad, sonnet, and play.) , and then show how that convention related to one of the novels that we had read so far. When I read the description for this part of the final project, I immediately thought of that week. I went back and read through that week's forum and decided to relate those conventions to Skin.

The very first convention mentioned in our discussion was the narrator or the main character reconstructing the crime (Ginny). In Skin one of the main character, Wendy, puts together what happened in her head and then repeats it to Colt. In my mind, this is similar to reconstructing the crime scene.

Another convention mentioned in this forum was red herrings (Cassy). Skin is full of countless red herrings. It seemed that every couple of pages there was a new person who could possibly be Red. Dekker had me going down many different goat trails before he finally said who the killer really was.

In this forum, Jesse mentioned to "inside job" as another convention. I had never really though of this as a convention, or tool, but it definitely is. Skin is a great example of this convention; unfortunately, I can't go into detail on this one. I don't want to spoil the story for you!

The inclusion of a group of suspects is another convention that was mentioned during this discussion (Tyler). This is a major convention in Skin. The entire story, the main suspects are people in the group, not an outside person. I think that stories that use this convention are sometimes more interesting than others because you get to know the people, you aren't just randomly introduced to them.

Evaluating

As I was writing this post, I kept coming back to one question: what makes a good mystery novel? I came up with a few things on my own, but I decided to google this question to see what other people thought about this. I came upon several different answers, but there was one blogger that I completely agree with. The bookdiva has this to say about what makes a good mystery novel:

1. Believable, sympathetic protagonists. For example: Robert Parker's Spenser is the perfect hard-boiled private eye, a gourmet cook, and an appreciator of classy women and loyal dogs. His often monosyllabic relationship with his sidekick Hawk is one of the most enjoyable partnerships in fiction. On the other hand, Robert Parker's Sunny Randall, female dick, is a product of male wishful thinking who doesn't speak, think, or act in a way any woman would recognize.

2. Smart bad guys who still get caught. In reality, most criminals are stupid, but that wouldn't make for very long or enjoyable novels. So it's OK for the crook to lead the detectives a merry chase... as long as he gets caught in the end.

3. Enough clues so that an observant, reasonably intelligent reader can at least hazard a guess at who did it, and have a chance at being right.

4. A wealth of correct and interesting, well-researched period or location detail and authenticity. The best mystery plot is worthless when details like an 18th-century character saying "No kidding?" throw you for a loop.

5. Sequels. Discovering a good mystery novel is enhanced by the knowledge that many more await.
(I debated adding sequels to my list of what makes a good mystery novel, but in the end I chose to include it because it really does make a story that much more interesting knowing that there is more to the story)

I would add one more quality to what makes a good mystery novel. It has to have red herrings; it has to keep you guessing until the very end. If you can solve a mystery in the very beginning, it is far less interesting than a story that could go many different ways.

Because of these qualifications, things I feel makes a great mystery novel, I think that the best story we read this term was Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Silver Blaze. I chose this story as the best because I think it excels in each of these categories. The protagonist(s), Sherlock Holmes (as well as Watson) are very believeable, likeable, and realistic. Yes, Sherlock is a little out of the ordinary, but he is still incredibly likeable and a great hero. I also think that this story does have a "smart bad guy who gets caught." The killer, was smart enough that he almost got away with it, but he still got caught; something that makes the story much more enjoyable. Silver Blaze also gives you plenty of clues; it allows you to make your own conclusions, conclusions that could very well be right, but often are wrong. Silver Blaze, is also believable in that it there aren't any issues that stand out and make you say, "No way that happened then." Silver Blaze also keeps you guessing the whole time; it gives you countless red herrings (gypsies, the other horse owner, the stable boy, ect.) and keeps you guessing the whole time.

I feel that Skin also fills all of these categories; meaning that it is a good mystery novel. Don't get me wrong, Skin is is no way your average mystery book; it is an interesting melding of the sci-fi, thriller, and mystery genres.

1. Believable, sympathetic protagonists.
-Yes. The protagonists is Skin are all very believable. They seem like everyday people; people that you could know in your life. It could be said that their stories are just a little too far fetched, and I might agree with that, but I think that, in this case, it adds to the story. I don't think it takes anything away from the story at all; it makes it better. The characters also fill the sympathetic category; they all have their issues. You feel somewhat sorry for all of them.

2. Smart bad guys who still get caught.
-Sterling Red is as smart as they get. No one can seem to catch him, or even figure out who he is. Everyone is after him; the FBI, the local police, and his five captives. In the end, like any good mystery novel, he gets discovered. He was smart, but just not smart enough.

3. Enough clues so that an observant, reasonably intelligent reader can at least hazard a guess at who did it, and have a chance at being right.
-This story has so many clues. At the end, you realize that the clues were there all along. This story, like any good mystery, gives you enough clues that you can draw your own conclusions yet leaves enough out that you're probably wrong.

4. A wealth of correct and interesting, well-researched period or location detail and authenticity.
-While this is a good judge of a mystery, it really isn't relevant to this novel. Skin takes place in modern day, and nothing stands out as "that shouldn't be there."

5. Sequels.
While not technically sequels, Skin is one part of a very interesting series within a series. There are many other books that are connected to Skin, even if they don't really deal with the same characters.

6. Red Herrings.
Skin has so many red herrings. At one point in the story you think one person is Red, but a few pages later you have another option about who it might be. (I would say more, but I don't want to spoil it)

Synthesizing

Skin is drastically different than any of of the other stories that we have read so far this term. The only way that I can think to describe it as is a cross between the mystery, sci-fi, and suspense genres. Even though it is so different than any of the stories that we have read, there a few that it is maybe somewhat similar to.

In some ways, Skin is similar to House in the Goblin Wood by John Dickinson Carr. Despite all of their differences, I say that these two are similar because they both make you wonder, "How is this even happening?" In House in the Goblin Wood you wonder the whole time how Vicky disappeared from the cabin. In Skin, you wonder how an entire town keeps disappearing and reappearing again. Both of these stories involve seemingly impossible circumstances, and you are left wondering until the very end how these circumstances are even happening. Skin is also somewhat similar to The Haunted Policeman by Dorothy Sayers. Both of these stories keep you wondering how they characters are seeing what they're seeing. In The Haunted Policeman you have to wonder how an entire house seemingly disappears, and in Skin you have to wonder how an entire town can disappear. Even though this book is different from almost all of the stories we have read, I would have to say that this story is most different from Deborah's Judgment. Honestly, they really have nothing in common.

This novel has a very prominent theme throughout the story. While on the surface, this story is simply about solving who the serial killer is, if you look a little deeper Skin is really about mankind's obsession with beauty. It's about how none of us are any better than anyone else, and how no matter how hard we try no one is really beautiful; we are all ugly in some way. We try to pretend like we are better, or more beautiful, than other people, but underneath the skin we are all ugly, no matter how good we are. The theme of skin is obvious in these quotes (all of which are found at the end of the story, once the characters have put together the "mystery"):

"That we're all born ugly. That we all have evil in our bones. That you can never judge a book by its cover or a person by their skin. And what's born ugly can't make itself beautiful." ... "That you're no better than he is . He, on the other hand, believes a lie, which is that he's better than you." ... "You have to embrace the truth. He is faster than you, but you can be faster. The truth is stronger than his lies." (page 387-388)

They'd poured out their hearts and bared their souls. In a terribly unnerving way it all mirrored the fall of Lucifer, Lucifer being the best at the game, the most beautiful, like ____ (I'm omitting the name so I don't give away the ending). Thing of it was, however demented he was in his obsession to bring them all down with him, he had proven one thing: They were really as ugly as [omitting to save ending]- this Horde whose disease was visible. ... they had proven themselves incapable to make what was ugly, beautiful. ...

All of this because beauty wasn't about the skin, either the skin of their flesh or skin of this world. For that matter, what they could see with their eyes-the desert, the town, the library, Nicole, even Timothy Healy- had turned out to be very different than the way they'd seen it. The mind was easily deceived by seemingly obvious perceptions.

Instead beauty was found beyond the surface. It was there, beyond the skin of this world, that a cure of ugliness could be found, she thought.
(page 391-392)

You see, throughout this entire story our serial killer, Red, tried to force our main characters to kill the ugliest among them. Throughout the entire story, you are given glimpses into Red's mind; glimpses that show you that he really feels like he is beautiful, and that ugliness must be destroyed. Ugliness must be purged from the world, and he was forcing our characters to rid the themselves of the ugliest among them. At the end of the story, they realize that ugliness isn't on the outside; it isn't on the skin. Ugliness is on the inside, and no matter how hard we try to convince our selves otherwise, we are all ugly. As I was reading the part about the truth being stronger than lies, I was reminded of John 8:32: "Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." As a Christian author, I feel that Ted Dekker did this intentionally; he somehow managed to put Biblical principles and values into a murder mystery novel.

This theme really hit home for me. It's so easy to get caught up in the skin of this world, the skin of people. No matter how many times I am told to not judge a book by its cover, that's always the first thing I do. The same goes for myself as well. It is so easy to look in the mirror and convince yourself that you are beautiful, or that you are ugly. Just this morning, I literally stood in front on the mirror and thought, "Well, this is as good as it gets today." I try to be positive, but sometimes I just don't feel pretty. The theme in this book is a great reminder. I could be the most beautiful person on Earth, and still be ugly; I could be the ugliest person on Earth, and still be beautiful. The outside shouldn't be what matters; the inside is what makes us beautiful. It isn't the skin that makes us beautiful.

1 Samuel 16:7 (NIV)
But the Lord said to Samuel, "Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart."

The videos below are of three songs that I absolutely love. I went back and forth trying to decide whether to include them in this post or not, but in the end I chose to include them because they fit perfectly with the theme of this book. Beauty isn't simply skin deep; it is so much more.

Reflecting

On Using Blogger-

When I started this project, I immediately planned to use GoogleDocs to make a slideshow presentation. However, once I started I realized that it would be a never ending slideshow; I just had too much information to make slides worthwhile. I looked at different ideas, but in the end I decided to use Blogger because I am somewhat familiar with it. My family has a blog to update people on the progress of our adoption; a blog that I occasionally post on. I am so glad I decided to do my project this way, because it was fairly simple for me. Despite the fact that I knew how to use blogger, I still learned new things about what I can do on a blog. With David's help, I learned how to add pages to my blog; something that I had never known how to do. All in all, I really recommend using blogger. It is very user friendly. You can do more complicated things, such as adding different backgrounds, but even that is somewhat simple. I highly suggest using blogger; I don't think I had a single problem using it (with the exception of some italics not turning off).

On The Novel-

Before this class, especially this project, I had never put much thought into what I was reading before. I have always just read a book and then turned around and read another. I love that this project made me think. I never thought about WHAT makes a book good; I just knew when I liked something that I read. I had never really thought of the similarities between authors and stories; I had never thought of books in terms of conventions before. This class and this project really made me think; because of this, Skin and the other stories we read this term became so much more enjoyable.

Looking back, my favorite thing about this project was examining the theme of my book. While I was reading Skin I could definitely notice a prominent theme throughout the story, but I didn't stop and think about it before typing up the Synthesizing section of the assignment. After spending some time actually THINKING about what the story is really about, I discovered an even deeper love for the story. I found that I could relate it to myself and what I was feeling; sometime challenging with a murder mystery novel. The story became personal for me. It made me realize that no matter how I feel about myself on the outside, it's what is on the inside that really and truly counts. We are all ugly in out own way, but looking at other people and thinking that they are more beautiful than me doesn't mean a thing. The most beautiful person in the world might really be the ugliest, and the ugliest person in the world might be the most beautiful. You have to look past the skin of this world, past the skin of people, before you can really see the truth. I love that this story made me think about my own life.