Ted dekker the water walker

My name is Alice Ringwald, but the man who kidnapped me says that's a lie. Thirteen-year old orphan Alice Ringwald has no memory beyond six months ago. The only life she knows is the new one she's creating one day at a time with the loving couple that recently adopted her and gave her new hope. That hope, however, is shattered one night when she is abducted by a strange man. In a frantic FBI manhunt, he vanishes. So begins Water Walker, a modern day parable that examines the staggering power of forgiveness, and reminds us that it's possible to live free of the hurt that keeps our souls in chains.

Life was just settling into normal. Alice was just beginning to understand what normal actually was. She had no memory of the beyond six months ago and had spent those months in an orphanage. Until John and Louise adopted her. Until they gave her a normal. Then the man showed up and shattered that illusion. Nothing would ever be normal.

Claiming to be her father, the man, Wyatt, kidnaps her and takes her deep into the Louisiana swamplands where he lives with his wife, Kathryn, and his mentally disabled son. Alice—her real name is Eden, supposedly—was taken from Kathryn as a baby because Alice’s birth father was a powerful politician who didn’t want to acknowledge an affair. Now Wyatt was appeasing his wife and restoring his family.

But Alice—Eden—soon discovers that things are amiss in her new household…and there’s absolutely no escape from it. Until she meets Outlaw.

As always, the story is nail-biting and page-turning. Dekker h

Eden Lowenstein is 13 the day she’s kidnapped by a man in an old blue truck. She’s always been called Alice Ringwald. At least, that’s who she’s been for the past six months while she’s lived with her foster family. She can’t remember anything before that time. Then a scraggly but kind-eyed man named Wyatt knocks on the door. He tells her in hushed tones that he’s married to her birth mother, and he’s come to take her home. When she won’t comply, he apologetically ties up her foster mother and pleads with Eden to go with him. He promises she can return if she wants but says her mother is desperate to see her.

Confused but curious, Eden goes with Wyatt. They hide out in a cabin for several days while the FBI launches an investigation into the girl’s disappearance. The lead agent, Olivia Strauss, is particularly drawn to the case in light of her own demons. She lost a daughter Eden’s age and still blames herself. Olivia learns that a high-ranking politician had an affair, and Eden was the result. To keep the situation quiet, the man had Eden put up for adoption and her mother, Kathryn, institutionalized. FBI records indicate that Kathryn committed suicide, but Olivia still suspects the birth mother is responsible for the abduction. Olivia also learns that Eden was one of 35 children who grew up in a monastery as part of an experiment. Some of the children could affect the world in ways that border on the paranormal. (When the experiment couldn’t be controlled, it was shut down and the children’s memories were wiped clean.)

Eden and Wyatt finally arrive at “home” in a Louisiana swamp. The house is part of a compound consisting of 11 homes. The landowner, Zeke Gunner, runs a moonshine business and has set himself up as a “god” over the families on his property. From the start, he reminds Kathryn that he’s

I read the 4 separate episodes on ebook and provided reviews on each but I wanted to summarise my overall thoughts on the complete novel. BTW, I love the episodic method of reading a novel and hope it plays a big part in the future of fiction.

Alice Ringwald (or is her name Eden?) is kidnapped from her foster parents by Wyatt, the nicest kidnapper one could ever want to meet. Wyatt was acting on behalf of his wife and Eden’s mother, Kathryn.

The search starts at pace and we meet Olivia Strauss, the agent in charge, who has her own story of losing a daughter.

Kathryn and Eden are reunited and the rest of the novel including a jump of five years in the future revolves around their relationship. Kathryn has a mentally handicapped son, Bobby, who is a delightfully written character reflecting an innocence that has managed to survive much abuse.

The home the family of four live in is really a compound of sorts with the Jim Jones-type character, Zeke, controlling everything they do in the name of Jesus. We soon meet Stephen, the Outlaw, who first appears in Eden’s dream, and plants a seed of freedom within Eden’s mind. Not a lot happens and a good third of the book is spent hearing what’s going on in Eden and Kathryn’s minds.

It is when Stephen reappears for a second time, in another dream (or was it?) and helps Eden realise how bound she is by her fears and the affects of the abuse inflicted upon her and Bobby. She “walks on water” by stepping beyond that that binds her and in forgiving Kathryn, she both frees her heart and enables Kathryn to confront her fear of Zeke.

Letting go and letting God is a powerful message. Further, letting go of all the offence we may have been subjected to through forgiveness breaks the chains around our heart and shatters the scales that cover our eyes. I especially liked how Dekker used Eden’s forgiveness of Kathryn to demonstrate this power.

I enjoyed Eden or is she Alice Ringwald?