The Bride Collector

This is my first Ted Dekker book. The man is an excellent writer--intriguing weaving story lines and scenes that are explained in captivating detail. The killer is a very well-drawn demented character. But I did have some trouble with the MC Brad, the FBI special agent. I honestly thought he was the murderer; his ruminations about these 'angels' was a bit strange and the way that he interacted with others seemed so off. The romantic element also didn't belong and I am not sure why it was put into the story; it really took away the possibility for the suspense to fully build itself. Instead, this aspect felt out of place. Also, Allison, a mental asylum leader, Paradise, a mental patient, and Nikki, Brad's partner, seemed alike in some ways, especially with their intuition that Brad struggled with falling in love--how could they all possibly know this? What should have been a crime thriller turned into a strange hybrid of the feeling of falling in love from a teen perspective yet shown through a thirty-something old man and a mental patient. This relationship only confused the story line as it wasn't bridged with the rest of the plot in any useful way, which is a real shame because Dekker's style in every other way is striking.