Kiss, by Ted Dekker and Erin Healy, is a terrific novel that tells the story of Shauna, a politician’s daughter who finds herself caught in a life-threatening drama when she wakes up from a coma with selective amnesia. In her desperation to regain her lost memories, she begins to discover that those memories may not only be unpleasant for her to remember, but that some people would take drastic measures to keep her from remembering. Filled with a suspenseful plot, signature Dekker twists, and vivid imagery, Kiss is guaranteed to keep you ensnared from cover to cover, then leaving you in awe as the book’s deeper themes begin to sink in.

I have been a fan of Mr. Dekker’s books for quite some time now, and Kiss definitely lives up to its billing. While his most recent novels have been quite excellent, Kiss quickly distinguished itself as one of his best. Ms. Healy’s contribution to the work enriched the entire story, and it’s clear to me that as much as Kiss fully belongs to Dekker, it belongs just as fully to Erin Healy. Personally, I felt that the character development was richer in this novel as compared to many of Dekker’s more recent works, which made the character’s discussions even more poignant. The theme of how we deal with our past is one that I believe we all struggle with, and through the story of Shauna McAllister, I feel that Dekker and Healy have brought illumination and encouraging perspective. I look forward to many more future Dekker/Healy collaborations, beginning with Burn (in 2010)!

Rating: 5/5

Barring any surprises, I have bought a house. That is all.

In June, I will be moving to Temple, TX to begin residency at Texas A&M. It’s a really odd sensation to be leaving everything here in Oklahoma and start a new life. I’m excited for the challenge and the training; the people down there are fantastic and I’m looking forward to the new experience. At the same time, this whole process is surreal – Oklahoma’s been my home for the last 20 years, and now I’m going to be leaving. We’ll see how this next chapter of life unfolds for me!

So I’m writing a short story. It should be a pretty cool tale once I finish it. For those who are interested, here is a rough sample of what I wrote today. I’d appreciate comments/thoughts!

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The smell of a lit balsam and cedar candle flittered across Henry’s perception. It was all he could do to keep from rolling his eyes in contempt as Angela continued to whine to their marriage counselor about his insensitivity, his writing obsession, his drinking, and on and on and on. He had heard her nagging almost non-stop for the last four years, and was convinced her “complaining” switch was permanently switched on. If it hadn’t been for their wonderful daughter, Reese, Henry would have left this situation a long time ago. Not that he had anyone to run to, of course – but Angela had effectively brow-beaten Henry’s interest in her to specks of dust that should be blown away.

When was the last time he had felt truly free? Henry mused. Angela hadn’t always been such a sour tart. The first years of their marriage were fantastic, borderline heavenly. They were high school sweethearts, married after Henry’s sophomore year of college and Angela’s freshman year. Life was far from easy – Henry worked two jobs to make ends meet and had to take night classes to finish his professional writing degree. Angela had decided to go to medical school after dabbling in business and engineering with little interest. She had always been the bright one, while Henry was the romantic and poet. Yet, despite the long hours and the stressful lifestyle, Henry reflected, those were the happiest years of their marriage. Maybe it was because of the long hours.

Reese came to them unexpectedly, just as Angela was finishing up her interviews for medical school, but she was a welcome addition to their family. Angela got accepted to the medical school downtown, so they decided to avoid the hassles of moving everything. Since Angela would be in class most of the day and study for several hours during the afternoon and evening, they decided that Henry would work nights so that he could watch Reese during the day. It was still hard, and though they would often joke about how they co-existed and time-shared Reese, they were still pretty happy. The season was almost over, after all – once Angela started making money, Henry could stay at home full-time and take care of Reese while he wrote novels and everything would work out great.

A new voice broke in on Henry’s ruminations.

“Henry, do you wish to comment on anything Angela has said here?” The counselor sounded like a judge in a courtroom. Presiding over his trial, no doubt.

“Not really. What’s the use?” Henry felt resigned to his fate. He was trapped, and even though he was still secretly considering divorce, or faking his own death, the terror of losing Reese forever was enough to keep him chained. He could never abandon Reese.

“Henry!” Angela barked his name like a slap. She turned to the counselor, “You see what I have to put up with every day? He doesn’t listen, he doesn’t say anything…” Henry stifled a sigh. It seemed that there was nothing he could do or say that would improve Angela’s disposition towards him.

“Well, I think that’s all the time we have for today.” The counselor sounded eager to be free of Angela’s grip as well. “Between now and next week, Henry, I want you to write down a list of expectations that you have for Angela. Make two columns, one for the expectations that she has met, and one for the expectations that she hasn’t met. So far all I have heard has come from Angela. I think it would be healthy for you to share your thoughts next time. Angela, I want you to do the same. Focus on the things that he has done well, rather than singling out his faults. And next week, I expect you to be silent and listen to what Henry has to say. Thank you both for coming.” The counselor stood up, her body language clearly steering Henry and Angela to the door.

Angela, clearly peeved by the abrupt halt to her tirade, continued to ramble. How she managed to take care of sick kids for 80 hours a week without sounding like this was nothing short of a miracle, by Henry’s estimation. The door shut behind them. Henry thought he heard the bolt lock as well, as they walked out to the car. Visiting hours are over; every man back to their cells, he thought sardonically.

My friend Ronnica did this blog post where she answered questions that people asked her. As part of her post, she offered to “interview” her commenters with five of her own questions. So, here are her five questions, and my five answers.

1. What is 2 plus 2? (hey, it’s a valid question…I’m “reading” 1984 right now.)
   In 1984 world, I suppose the answer would be “whatever they want it to be” or “5”. I believe that 2 + 2 could also equal 4 or 11. Ask me if it doesn’t make sense.


2. What’s your favorite Dekker book?
   Ooh, that’s a tough one. Really tough. I probably would need to reread all of them to give an accurate answer, but for now I’d say Blessed Child, followed closely by When Heaven Weeps, Kiss, Heaven’s Wager, and Adam. Thr3e and Blink also hold special affection in my heart, and the Circle Trilogy (Black, Red, White) are classic as well. For some reason I don’t care as much for Ted’s extended-world Books of History saga, but I still enjoy them.


3. Looking forward, what’s the scariest part of the whole residency thing?
   The responsibility. While I’ll still be under supervision, I’m going to be directly responsible for caring for people…and that means that the decisions that I make will most likely be the ones carried out. Yikes! Another scary part about residency is living in Texas. :P


4. Looking backward, what’s been the biggest obstacle in getting where you are now?
   Without a doubt, it’s been my own sinfulness. While one could argue whether a certain situation or a particular decision really hindered my journey to where I am, I believe that I am where I am right now because of the unmerited favor of God. I definitely don’t deserve any of what I have before me now – whether that be my chosen profession, my talents and abilities, my terrific family, my countless friends, or anything else in my life. In fact, I fail every day in my ability and choice to do good and trust God for everything. This could be disappointing my friends, compromising my values, or any other sort of hypocritical act or attitude. All of these things demonstrate my inadequacy for sustaining anything of pure good. And despite my personal unworthiness to achieve anything of lasting value in this life, Jesus Christ chose to demonstrate His love for me by dying in my place to pay the penalty for my failures. And in His resurrected life I can rest, empowered in perspective and will to do good as He did perfectly.
   
   This is a long-winded answer, but I passionately believe that I probably could have arrived where I am now by an easier road, had it not been for my own erroneous deeds and attitudes. Still, I probably would not be who I am today, had it not been for the scars I bear from my mistakes.


5. What would you order from Rusty’s if we went right now and they were out of bananas and strawberries?
   I’m very thankful that this question was not asked of me on my interviews…this is probably the hardest question to answer of them all! I think I would go for a plain vanilla concrete. The Crimson and Cream is pretty much the only thing I get at Rusty’s, so honestly I don’t know what else I would get if they were out of bananas and strawberries when we went. But why don’t we find out? Rusty’s date, you and me. Sometime. :)