A Man Called Blessed »

TED DEKKER is the author of twenty-two novels, with more than 3 milllion copies of his books sold to date, 1 million of them sold in 2007 alone.

Known for adrenaline-laced stories packed with mind-bending plot twists, unforgettable characters and confrontations between good and evil, Dekker has earned his status as a New York Times bestselling author. 

One man holds the key to finding the ark of the covenant.

In this explosive sequel to Blessed Child, Rebecca Soloman leads a team deep into the Ethiopian desert to hunt the one man who may know the final resting place of the Ark of the Covenant. But Islamic fundamentalists fear that the Ark's discovery will compel Israel to rebuild Soloman's temple on the very site of their own holy mosque in Jerusalem.

They immediately dispatch Ismael, their most accomplished assassin, to pursue the same man, but the one in their sights is no ordinary man. His name is Caleb, and he is also on a quest--to find again the love he once embraced as a child.

The fate of a million souls rests in the hands of these three.

Publishers Weekly

In their second outing together, evangelist Bright and bestselling novelist Dekker team up to spin an interesting but sometimes sloppy sequel to Blessed Child. The sacred Ark of the Covenant is rumored to be hidden in a remote monastery in northern Ethiopia, and 25-year-old Caleb, a Christian blessed with special powers, is believed to hold the key to the ark's location. When word leaks out that discovery is imminent, Middle Eastern politics rapidly slide toward meltdown. "Everything that makes us Jews is held in this chest," says David Ben Solomon, leader of the Temple Mount Advocates, about the ark. He has a passion to see Jewish prophecies fulfilled through its recovery. His daughter, Rebecca, is a Jewish soldier who's tired of killing and longs for love. When Rebecca meets Caleb in the desert, the results are all too predictable. Unfortunately, readers' enjoyment of the tale is hampered by careless mistakes (Rebecca is 10 in the prologue and a decade later she's 25), strange descriptions ("dread floated through his chest like a hollow bullet") and awkward phrases ("He felt God's will like he felt his clothes"). However, with current events focused on the Middle East, the topic is timely, and there are moments of real poignancy and suspense. The conversion of one Jewish character to Christianity, and Caleb's assertion that "The Spirit of God dwells in the heart, not in a golden Ark," will also play well for the intended audience of evangelical Christians. (Sept.) Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.