Saint

Ted Dekker

Saint only knows his own recent personal history. His name is Carl Strople. He is an assassin for the X Group, an ultra undercover black ops group that sells its services to the highest bidder. They don't have political or business leanings. Every one is treated the same. Some of their clients pay large fees to prevent them from accepting a hit against someone with the payor's group.

The X Group has extreme methods of conditioning members. Carl was tortured beyond endurance to make him completely break from his past. He doesn't remember anything beyond the last few months. He can focus his senses down to shoot s sniper rifle accurately over longer distances than almost anyone in the world. The only other person who can match him is the Englishman, another X Group operative.

Although Carl has trained himself to not feel any emotions, there is the one exception. He loves Kelly, the woman in the X Group who is his handler. He would do anything for her, even die. Kelly was hired to be Carl's companion and trainer. She didn't expect to fall in love with him. But she does.

When Carl is assigned to assassinate the President of the United States before important hearings can be held in the United Nations. He and Kelly head off to New York City with a careful plan. Then he sees a man that he thinks he remembers. He has a job to do. And now he has some confusion as well.

If there had been anything else to read at hand when I started Saint, I would have thrown it out by the 25th page. It starts with him waking up and having to assassinate a couple within an hour or Kelly will be killed. It is totally creepy and believable. But I was in a situation waiting where there wasn't any other book to start. So I kept going because I know Ted Dekker delivers a good read. It just couldn't be as bad as it sounded.

Once I got past the initial, shocking scene, I was sucked into Saint. It is a tense, at times gruesome, novel full of surprises. It is full of love and hate and manipulation and the unbelievable. Dekker's suspenses can match the best suspense writer going. The difference is his fundamental beliefs. His characters have questions or beliefs in God. Dekker doesn't preach in Saint, just gives the good guys a belief in a Being that sustains them. Of course Carl isn't exactly a good guy. He's an assassin. He's much more as well.

Saint appears to be a follow up from Dekker's Showdown (which I haven't read yet). Project Showdown plays an important part of the background of this novel. The book is a nail biter and keeps the reader on the edge. The start is disturbing and could turn readers away. The end is choppy as well, and a bit confusing in a couple aspects. Be prepared to enjoy and be bothered by Saint.

Notice:  Graphic violence