Green by Ted Dekker is subtitled “The Circle – Book Zero – The Beginning and The End.” The book’s description say the reader can begin reading The Circle series with Green, or read it as the end of the series. Maybe it works to end the series, but it doesn’t work as the beginning book.

The opening prologue and chapters introduce a future world that has been brought back to an uncivilized state with bands of people roaming forest and deserts. The reader also meets the religious people and their enemies, along with the deity Elyon. The conflict between good and evil is set.

Suddenly though the scene, setting, characters, and story change. I muddled through some chapters that were set in the present wondering if a chapter from another book had been accidently bound in this hardcover. One character from the beginning is mentioned in this unconnected chapter. Just as quickly, the story goes back to the future.

Throughout the book, the reader is thrown back in time to what seems to be a different story with a few of the same characters. Although I was tempted to skip the present chapters, I keep reading them to try and tie this story line to the main futuristic apocalyptic story. Didn’t happen.

Unlike most series, Dekker doesn’t provide the reader with sufficient context to tie the whole story together. The reader has a few choices: Skip the chapters that don’t fit the current tale. Go buy and read the other three books of the series, which according to Dekker’s website begins with Black. Use the money on another book. I recommend the third option.

Had Dekker left out the pointless time travel, the future tale of good and evil would have been a good read. I guess the time travel is important if you’ve read the other three books of the series. In reading Green as the beginning of The Circle, there is no context for it.

The thin illusions to Biblical references are relevant only to readers who know what they mean. As a Christian I understand “drowning” in the red the lake. A non-Christian may not. I know from my study of the Bible that Elyon is Eloheim of the Old Testament. A causal reader may not.

Not having this knowledge doesn’t ruin the story. However, I couldn’t help but wonder if it was written vaguely to attract a Christian audience while being vague enough to not put off a general audience.

Admittedly this is the first Dekker novel I’ve read. I didn’t find the story or writing so compelling that I’d return for more. If another of his novels floats my way, I’ll skip it unless it is truly the first of a series.

Green
Ted Dekker
Thomas Nelson Publishers
ISBN: 978-1-59554-288-5

Interview

1. How did you come up with the storyline of The Call of Zulina?

While in West Africa working on another project, I toured an old slave fortress and was struck dumb by a set of baby manacles bolted to the wall. The characters of Lingongo and Joseph Winslow, Grace’s parents, are modeled after real people who ran a slave business in Africa in the 1700s.  I “met” them when I was researching Once Blind: The Life of John Newton, a biography of the slaver turned preacher and abolitionists, author of Amazing Grace. The more I thought about them, the more I wondered, “If they’d had a daughter, who would she be? Where would her loyalties lie?”

2. What inspired you to write a book so entrenched with uncomfortable issues?

I used to think that non-fiction was the meat and potatoes of writing and fiction was the chocolate mousse dessert… fun, but not of much value. But I’ve come to understand that truths can be revealed through fiction just as powerfully as through non-fiction. Sometimes, more so! The fact is, for so long we have tried to look away and pretend that this horrible chapter in history never happened. But it did, and we still feel the effects today. Moreover, the roots of slavery–hunger for power and money, fear and diminishment of people unlike ourselves, and humanity’s endless ability to rationalize evil actions–abound today. The time seemed right.

3. How have your travels around the world equipped you for writing such a historical novel?

People ask me where my passion for issues such as modern day slavery come from. To a large degree it is from the things I have seen and heard on my numerous trips to India, African countries, Cambodia, Nepal, Indonesia, and other places around the world.

4. Tell us a personal story regarding modern day slavery.

A most pervasive type of slavery is what is known as bonded servitude, where entire poor families are bound into virtual slavery–sometimes for generations–because of a small debt. This is especially common in India. I visited a village in central India where the women had been freed from bondage and set up with a micro loan that allowed them to raise a small herd of dairy cows. They worked so hard and saved every rupee. When they had enough saved, they persuaded a young teacher to come and start a school for their children. Then they used further profits to make low interest loans to others in the area so they could start their own businesses, too–a little bank. I sat in a circle with the five women who made up the “board of directors.” Only one could read and write.  I asked, “How will the next generation be different because of what you have done?” They said, “No more will be like us. When people look us, they see nothing. But when they look at our children, they see real human beings with value.”

From invisible slaves to human beings… all in one generation!

5. Grace, the lead character in The Call of Zulina, forsakes all to escape the slavery of her parents and an arranged marriage.How common is this scenerio today in other countries?

Horrifyingly common. Slavery today takes many forms. According to UNICEF’s more conservative count, there are about 12 million people living as slaves today–three times as many as in the days of the African slave trade. As for child arranged marriages, I have talked to girls “enslaved” to husbands in many countries. Examples include a girl in Nepal married at 9 to a middle-aged man, one in India married at 11, a 13-year-old in Egypt married to a man older than her father.  I’ve seen it in Africa, Eastern Europe… so many places!

6. What about in America, are there slavery and trafficking issues here?

Unfortunately, there are. The U.S. State Department estimates between 14,500 and 17,500 people are trafficked into the Untied States each year, although it concedes that the real number is actually far higher. And it’s not just states like New York and California that are affected, either. According to the U.S. Justice Department’s head of the new human trafficking unit, there is now at least one case of trafficking in every state.

7. You’ve had 36 books published, and more written and contracted for future release. How has this one impacted your own life?

Some books report, some tell stories. This book has torn my heart.

8. Briefly tell us about the next two books in this Grace in Africa trilogy.

In Book 2, Grace watches her reconstructed life smashed by slavers and revenge, and she is forcibly taken to London. There she faces a new kind of tyranny and another fight for freedom… and for her husband, who is enslaved in America.

Book 3 is set in the new United States of America, in the heart of the slavery. It is a story of slavery at it’s worst and redemption at its best.

About The Call o f Zulina

The Call of Zulina

An arranged marriage, a runaway bride, and an ugly family heritage of brutal and inhumane slavery operations leave no room for a fairytale story. Grace Winslow, daughter of an English sea captain and African princess, finds herself in a horrific position of betrothal. Doomed to marry an obnoxious white man, whom she does not love, Grace runs away to escape the slavery she’s been surrounded by all her life. Instead, her journey from home brings her face-to-face with issues of extreme slavery, abuse and human trafficking. In the end she discovers slavery is more than just chains and finds grace that exceeds a name given to her by her parents.

Written by Kay Marshall Strom, The Call of Zulina links historical slavery issues with the modern-day crisis tainting many countries. On the heels of important legislature regarding human trafficking, Strom tackles the subject boldly as she sheds light on the practices and techniques used by angry slave traders. Seen as an advocate for those who have no voice, Strom finds words to communicate the message of history to today’s readers. While this book shines the light on an uncomfortable subject, the message of hope, freedom, and justice prevail and eternal truths discovered.

Similar to a news story from several years ago, three friends work together to solve the murder of a young Senate page.  The three women, Federal Prosecutor Allison Pierce, FBI Special Agent Nicole Hedges, and Reporter Cassidy Shaw, call themselves the Triple Threat Club because of their shared interest in crime.

The Triple Threat Club works against time to locate Kate alive while each battles her own demons.  Each one, in spite of attempts to remain professionally aloof, is drawn emotionally into the case as well.

Even though the storyline is familiar because of the similarity to the 2001 headlines, it is not trite. Ms. Wiehl’s knowledge as a former federal prosecutor and currently as legal analyst at Fox News allows her to bring details to the behind the scenes investigation.

Face of Betrayal is a simple murder mystery. Unlike many popular mysteries, it doesn’t have complicated sub-plots, which makes for relaxing easy reading. The short chapters lead you easily through the story.

Also, unlike the current trend in mysteries, Face of Betrayal is not laced with crude language, gratuitous sex, or gruesome violence. Ms. Wiehl proves that a story can be riveting without being offensive.

Face of Betrayal is a page-turner that should be on everyone’s summer reading list.

Also, available for Kindle