Skin

Just a couple of days I ago, I finished reading the book Skin, by Ted Dekker. I now have it ranked among my favorite books. I found it to be suspenseful and exciting, and although it had a plot that was sometimes hard to follow and might leave a reader behind if they were not paying attention, it was enjoyable. The story begins with one of the main characters, Wendy, struggling to arrive at a town before three raging tornadoes hit her. She is traveling to answer a call from her mother. Her mother is part of a cult that Wendy escaped from at the age of 18. The leader was cruel, and claimed her for his own. She received a beating each time she made contact with any person outside of the tribe. She is still mentally scarred, and afraid of touching men after the leader broke her fingers for touching another boy. As she drives through the tormenting storm, she sees a car with bullet holes. Worried, she get out to investigate. She finds not the shot person, but a woman with a snake bite and her anxious brother. She brings them to town in hope of finding a doctor, but apparently everyone has gone into hiding from the storm. She stops a cop and get him to take them with him to the doctor's home. The cop, Colt, is in pursuit of a gruesome killer named Red. The doctor is not home, but the manage to break the woman, Nicole's, fever. Once the storm ends, strange things happen. The town mysteriously vanishes, replaced by sand. A man named Jerry Pinkus shows up as well, with a finger severed by Red. All five of them are forced to remain in the house, threatened by Red, who seems like a maniac determined to kill the ugliest of the group. Outwardly, that would be Colt, but inside...who knows? Tensions begin to run high as Nicole plays with Colt's heart and Wendy herself likes him, because she is not afraid of him. Also, Colt is the only man in the group with a loaded gun and the knowledge to use it. They play with the idea of killing the ugliest, because Red says that is the only way they will live. However, time runs out, and Red kidnaps Nicole and permanently brands her beautiful face. Although Colt says he still will love her, something inside Nicole has changed as well, or maybe, as wise Wendy sees it, it has always been that way...In the end, the ugliest is killed, and another, and Red does not stop there. Everything pieces into place as Jerry and Wendy discover they are in a virtual reality game along with the others, and Red is the son of the director, but he turned against them. Who died? Did Wendy overcome her fears? Did Colt love her back, or did he still love Nicole? Do they all make it out, or does death in the game mean death in real life? Read, and you will find out!