Forbidden

By: Ted Dekker, Tosca Lee

Narrated by: Henry Leyva

Length: 11 hrs and 27 mins

Publisher's summary

New York Times best-selling author Ted Dekker teams with Tosca Lee to create this gripping thriller set in a desolate future.

Many years have passed since civilization's brush with apocalypse. The world's greatest threats have all been silenced. There is no anger, no hatred, no war. There is only perfect peace... and fear. But a terrible secret has been closely guarded for centuries: Every single soul walking the earth, though in appearance totally normal, is actually dead, long ago genetically stripped of true humanity.

Fleeing pursuit, with only moments to live, a young man named Rom stumbles into possession of a vial of blood and a piece of cryptic writing. When consumed, the blood will bring him back to life. When decoded, the message will lead him on a perilous journey that will require him to abandon everything he has ever known and awaken humanity to the transforming power of true life and love.

But the blood will also resurrect hatred, ambition, and greed.

Set in a terrifying, medieval future, where grim pageantry masks death, this tale of dark desires and staggering stakes peels back the layers of the heart for all who dare to take the ride.

©2011 Ted Dekker (P)2011 Hachette Audio

Worth the time investment.

I really enjoyed this audio book. storyline was good and didn't have dull spots in it. I enjoyed the characters, for the most part.
I struggle with some audio books because of the narrator but I did enjoy this one. Good tones and voices changes helped to keep the flow going and easy to follow along.

Starts great, but forgets its origin

Forbidden begins with a fantastic concept: mankind (either willingly or unknowingly) elects to suppress (through some sort of viral gene therapy) emotions, except for fear. Nearly 500 hundred years later, we can see the society that has evolved. As can be anticipated, violence and aggression are gone and society is a rather docile shell of its former self. Emotions like love have been morphed into a sense of duty or obligation with fear dominating potential dereliction of duty. Fear keeps everyone in line and religion offers an afterlife / heaven of "bliss" where fear would be removed.

Into this mix, our hero is exposed to a secret cult of the "Keepers" who have a dream of resetting human emotions. Most of the story is the journey to realize this dream. Unfortunately, the story loses its way from what begins as a clear biologically based sci-fi, into a quasi-fantasy tale. Given all the possible modes that could have been proposed to restore emotions, its sad that the original scientists who created the virus therapy in the first place went on to predict (without explanation) that exactly 471 years in the future, a crippled boy would be born of regal origin that holds the key for humanity. They also provide vague and cryptic clues as to exactly how all this is supposed to work out. The biblical thrust is none too subtle.

The narration is good and the pacing is excellent. The listening is easy and the story itself is enjoyable.

Classic Deker!

Another captivating story and sensational performance. Highly recommend! Well worth the listen and time. Enjoy!

PARABLE

I think that the best way to describe Ted Decker's books is that they are wonderfully creative Parables for Biblical truths. With that understanding, his novels are almost always excellent and inspiring.

Don't miss out on a great book!

I have read most of Ted Dekker's books and love them. I almost didn't get this one due to some of the negative reviews. I am so glad I didn't listen and went with my heart. It is now one of my favorites! I can't wait for the next in the series!!!

great :]

The story was typical Dekker-esque thrills and plot twists; my only nag is the narration. Mr. Levya just doesn't seem to capture the gravity in the change from a world of death to a living world of emotions; his voice remains flat with the characters' new experiences with feeling. That being said, the story was still great though!

Great Story

I love how Ted Dekker uses otherworldly places to show how both truth and deception work their ways into our lives.

This story makes one stop and think.

Forbidden from 4 stars

To me this book was just average. I really wanted to like it, but so unbelievable and just seemed to fall flat nearing the end. It was fast and easy read, but not a book I was engrossed in or felt connected in any way.

If you liked the Circle Trilogy, you'll love this!

This book lived up to my expectations for a Ted Dekker novel more so than most of his latest books since the Circle Trilogy. I am hoping for many more in this series!

Catching thought process

Where does Forbidden rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

About in the middle. This is not one of his best, but I still love this book!

What did you like best about this story?

I liked the intriguing world that was created.

Have you listened to any of Henry Leyva’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Dare to drink the blood?

Any additional comments?

I really love Ted Dekker, and in this book is another intruiging world that was created. I found however, certain parts were just very odd, and disturbing. I don't know why, but I never really warmed up to this book like I have with countless othe Ted Dekker books. I will say though, it still ranks higher than many other books. It is a great work of art, just not my kind of art on this one.