Also by this author: The Promise, The Drummer Boy, Sinner, Green, The Dream Traveler's Quest, Into the Book of Light, The Curse of Shadownman, The Garden and the Serpent, The Final Judgment, Millie Maven and the Bronze Medallion
Published by Thomas Nelson on September 30, 2007
Genres: Fiction, Christian, Thriller
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The future changes in the blink of an eye . . . or does it?
Miriam is a Saudi princess promised to another, a pawn in a political struggle that could shift the balance of power in the Middle East.
Seth is a certified genius with a head full of numbers, a life full of baggage, and an attitude born on the waves of the Pacific.
Cultures collide when they find themselves thrown together as fugitives in a high-stakes chase across Southern California. A growing attraction and a search for answers fuel their fight to survive . . . but with no sleep and a massive manhunt steadily closing in, their chances of surviving any future are razor thin.
Say…doesn’t this one seem familiar? And the answer is yes. After the success of the Circle Trilogy, Thomas Nelson immediately got to work reprinting Ted Dekker’s early novels. Most of these books just got a new cover, but Blink’s update was more than just cosmetic. The primary reason for this was because Dekker, along with editor Erin Healy, had adapted Blink into a screenplay called Blink of an Eye.
In what may be a good example of counting chickens before they’re hatched, Dekker reworked the novel to match the screenplay. The cover of Blink of an Eye even boasts “With New Content Based on the Upcoming Major Motion Picture.” And then there was no major motion picture. The book released in November 2007. The movie was slated for a release in 2008, but like a lot of sold screenplays, stuff happened and the movie was never made.
However, it wasn’t all for naught. Dekker’s attitude toward Islam and the Middle East shifted from the original writing of Blink in the early 00s and the rewrite to Blink of an Eye in 2007. The rewrite doesn’t paint all Islam as a stereotypical villain. Dekker has a better grasp of Islamic culture and religion. In the book’s afterword, he writes:
In many ways my overall attitude toward the Middle East has changed since 9/11 and that change is reflected in this rewrite. I think love is the order of the day, more so than some of the antagonism that slipped into the first version.
For that alone, the update is a good one and would later serve him well when Hachette purchased the rights and reprinted it in mass market paperback for a secular audience.
Blink of an Eye is best termed a philosophical thriller. The plot itself, though improved in this version, is still a fairly generic extended chase scene. It’s the philosophical underpinning that makes the novel stand out. Blink of an Eye is an exploration of what theologians call middle knowledge. Developed by Luis Molina and espoused by philosopher-theologians like Alvin Plantinga and William Lane Craig, middle knowledge (also called Molinism) posits that God not only knows the future, but all possible futures. This provides a way of reconciling God’s absolute sovereignty with human free will.
Miriam Al-Asamm is a Saudi princess turned fugitive on the run. Forbidden from marrying her true love and instead forced into an arranged marriage with an older man, Miriam flees to the United States and finds herself in the company of super-genius Seth Border.
Seth isn’t an average genius. He’s got an IQ that would make Einstein blush and has no qualms about showing it. But then something begins to happen that’s even weird for him…he begins to see the future. And not just the future, but possible futures. When one of those futures is Miriam’s kidnapping, the two go on the run using Seth’s supernatural prognosticating to avoid capture.
Behind the scenes, the political machinations within the Saudi royalty are at work and a coup is imminent. Miriam is the missing piece that’s needed. Her marriage to a key figure will cement a partnership that’ll bring new power to the Saudi throne.
Then, underneath that all, is the book’s tagline: love changes everything. When all hope seems lost, will God answer prayer? Will he create a way where there was no way? Will his love change the future? It’s a Christian fiction novel, so you can pretty well guess the answer, but the journey made to that answer is thoughtful and poignant. I’m still a bit salty the church scene was cut in this version, but I’d still watch a movie based on it. Blink of an Eye is a worthy update to an early Dekker favorite.