Showdown (Paradise Series, Book 1) (The Books of History Chronicles) | 
 enlarge | Author: Ted Dekker
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Category: Book
List Price: $7.99
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Avg. Customer Rating:  73 reviews
Sales Rank: 23570
Media: Mass Market Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 496
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 6.7 x 4.2 x 1.6
ISBN: 1595542302
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN: 9781595542304
ASIN: 1595542302
Publication Date: April 10, 2007
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Product Description
Welcome to Paradise.
Epic battles of good and evil are happening all around us.
Today that battle comes to town with the sound of lone footsteps clacking down the blacktop on a hot, lazy summer afternoon. The black-cloaked man arrives in the sleepy town of Paradise and manages to become the talk of the town within the hour. Bearing the power to grant any unfulfilled dream, he is irresistible.
Seems like bliss . . . but is it?
Or is hell about to break loose in Paradise?
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| Customer Reviews: Read 68 more reviews...
 There's More Than Good Story in Showdown January 3, 2009
Showdown. You'll come to know it better as Project Showdown, as Ted Dekker kicks off this series with a premise big enough to reach into the Circle Trilogy and a host of his other works.
Showdown shines in that the story is great AND the allegory is even better. By the time you're finished with Showdown, you'll be thinking of sin in a new, heart-tearing way. Or at least be opened to seeing sin altogether differently.
Sin is ugly, and Ted writes that truth unlike any other author.
Ted also explores the persuasiveness of words in Showdown, especially the words laced with both the good and the bad in them. It's the same idea of rat poison: 99-percent good, 1-percent bad.
But the rat still dies.
In Showdown, the small town of Paradise has plenty of opportunities to eat the poison, big portion or small.
And the town's only hope? Children.
In other words, buckle up. Showdown is a ride worth jumping on.
Great Mystery/Thriller, A Must Read December 25, 2008
Out of no where, Marsuvees Black strolls into Paradise. He says he is bringing grace and hope. Be he is not what he seems. He has a nasty sludge that he is using on himself and the people of Paradise. But he starts encouraging evil behaviors. A young boy, Johnny sees him as the evil he is when he first came to town and tries to get people to listen to him.
A short distance away, the in the hills by the town is a hidden school for young children. This is project Showdown. They idea is that the children will be raised with no outside influence to see how they behave faced with evil choices.
I like how the story goes. Just enough is given out at a time that keeps the reader interested and reading. But there is always more to the story than what is given. I cannot wait to read the rest of the books in this series and others of Ted Dekker. This is a must read for those that like thriller/mysteries with Christian reference.
 A Good "Prequel" July 26, 2008
What I appreciated mostly about this book is the answers to questions raised in some of the other books. The story does grab you and keeps you engaged, but I kept feeling sorry for the characters who didn't understand what was being done to them. It does have some very interesting twists and it definitely keeps you guessing, but I felt there needed to be some sort of explanation or resolution given to the citizens of Paradise part of the story at the conclusion. The monastary side of the story was very good and gave insights to things in other Ted Dekker books. So if you are a Ted Dekker fan, this is a must read as it fits in with several of his other books.
Absolutly Brilliant. May 30, 2008
Ted Dekker has a big three when it comes to his books; a host of good to great books, and handful of bad ones, but only three books which should always be remembered. Those big three are Thr3e (what a surprise), Black/Red/White (The Circle Trilogy 1-3) and this novel right here, Showdown. In anticipation for Dekkers next Novel, Sinner: The Books of History Chronicles, I decided to re-read this book so that I can familiarize myself with its main characters and themes so that I may better understand Sinner. The allegory of Dekkers earlier years shines through with this brilliant novel.
Johnny lives in a small Colorado town called Paradise, nestled in a little valley in the Rocky Mountains. Life is dull and mundane for the most part until a mysterious stranger walks into town garbed in black and bringing a message of hope and grace. His name is Black, Marsuvees Black, and he is no ordinary travailing preacher. Johnny knows that he's dangerous, but can't convince anyone in town. Meanwhile in a monastery far above the town thirty children are being raised in isolation as part of a project funded by Harvard called "Project Showdown" which is designed to raise children outside the influences of society in order to raise "noble savages" who may one day change the world for love. Unfortunately one of the students has decided to disobey the rules of the monastery by going into the forbidden dungeons.
Yes, I know it sounds crazy, but trust me, it's great. The story takes one huge twist after another until reality itself is called into question, and everything you know about love and hope will change. If I were to be picky I guess I could call into question some of Dekkers philosophical views about love and free will and liberty, but the very fact that I can nit pick at these ideas is what makes this book so enthralling. This is a must read book for any Dekker fan, and for all those who simply wish to have a good read.
PS; it might be best to read the Circle Trilogy first as it will defiantly make the book more enjoyable, and easier to understand.
Re-read value; High.
Showdown May 20, 2008
"The sound of his boots crunching into the gravel carried across the blacktop while the man who wore them was still a shimmering black figure approaching the sign that read Welcome to Paradise, Colorado. Population 450"
A mysterious man, named Marsuvees Black whom calls himself preacher, comes to a little town called Paradise saying that he has come to save them and is offering "hope and grace". Little does this small town know that this "preacher" is going to turn their small world upside-down.
Meanwhile in the monastery that overlooks the town a boy named Billy is venturing down into the forbidden dungeons. He is met down there by a mysterious masked man whom encourages him to write. There are also giant worms covering all of the walls. Billy decides that he likes the lower levels and thinks that there is nothing wrong with being in them so he convinces his friend Darcy to come with him. Both of them think that the lower levels are harmless and they challenge the leaders of the monastery on the rules that forbid them from going there. The leaders decide that they should hold a debate. So Billy and another one of the students debate whether they should keep the rule or not. The choice was then up to the students after the debate and they decide that they should be allowed to go into the lower levels.
While all of this was going on at the monastery Paradise is falling apart at the seams. People are going crazy, seeing things, and having crazy dreams, the entire town is being engulfed by black clouds, and this mysterious man is still preaching about the hope and grace that he has to offer. All of the people of the town say that he is a good man except for Johnny. Johnny is confused he isn't sure if Black is there to help or if he is causing all of the problems, but he is becoming more and more suspicious everyday.
I thought that this was a good book for anyone that likes a book that keeps you on the edge of your seat the whole time. It may get confusing at parts but at the end it all becomes clear. I think this book should be read because it is a unique book but yet it still has a classic good vs. evil in it. Also this book is very hard to put down, once I started reading it I didn't want to stop. It had a lot of surprises and action in it and that made it very interesting.
By: Tiffany Depuy
Mrs.Bain
9th grade
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