Predator by Terri Blackstock
May 24th, 2010 | 
Author: ABOUT THE BOOK
The murder of Krista Carmichael’s fourteen-year-old sister by an online predator has shaken her faith and made her question God’s justice and protection. Desperate to find the killer, she creates an online persona to bait the predator. But when the stalker turns his sights on her, will Krista be able to control the outcome?
Ryan Adkins started the social network GrapeVyne in his college dorm and has grown it into a billion-dollar corporation. But he never expected it to become a stalking ground for online Predators. One of them lives in his town and has killed two girls and attacked a third. When Ryan meets Krista, the murders become more than a news story to him, and everything is on the line.
Joining forces, he and Krista set out to stop the killer. But when hunters pursue a hunter, the tables can easily turn. Only God can protect them now.
This book is highly relevant in today’s world and very believable if you’ve had any interaction with social media. With the popularity of social sites such as Facebook and Twitter, the simple rules (or suggestions, if you don’t like the word “rules”) of protecting your identity and private details came to life on the pages of Predator.
I remember reading a blog post over a year ago concerning online privacy. The writer talked about how she carefully crafts her Facebook and Twitter status updates to not reveal details about her life, specifically her comings and goings. The example I remember her using dealt with trips to the grocery store. She never posts beforehand that she is going, but she will state afterwards that she had been there. If she writes a post about her savings at the grocery store, she’ll mention the retail chain but not the specific store in her city. Why? If she says beforehand that she is going, that tells strangers that she isn’t home. If she tells which store she frequents, they can seek her out through other little details (hair color, car type, photos) she may have accidentally revealed about herself.
Is she paranoid? If you read Predator, you will understand. The tiniest details that we reveal about ourselves to strangers can lead them to us and help them learn our patterns.
Before you think the entire book deals with online stalkers, it doesn’t. There’s a budding friendship between Krista and Ryan, the pressures that Ryan deals with as a CEO of a company run by a board of directors, the grief and trauma experiences not only by Krista and her father but by the predator’s other victims, plus the spiritual battle Krista endures as she tries to reconcile why God would let her sister be tortured and killed.
I highly recommend this book to any parent of a tween or teen who is active on Facebook and MySpace. You need to know how your children use those sites and what they tell about themselves to strangers. They may not talk to strangers on the street, but online is a different story. Middle school and high school teachers also need to read this book and become involved in teaching their students about online safety.
Would Predator interest a teenager? Possibly. He or she may not pick up on the seriousness of the book’s message, but the information will be there when he or she is ready.
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If you would like to read the first chapter of Predator, go HERE.
Watch the book trailer video!
Terri Blackstock’s books have sold six million copies worldwide. Her suspense novels often debut at number one on the Christian fiction best-seller lists, and True Light, published last year, was number one of all Christian books—fiction and non-fiction. Blackstock has had twenty-five years of success as a novelist.
In 1994 Blackstock was writing for publishers such as HarperCollins, Harlequin and Silhouette, when a spiritual awakening drew her into the Christian market. Since that time, she’s written over thirty Christian titles, in addition to the thirty-two she had in the secular market. Her most recent books are the four in her acclaimed Restoration Series, which includes Last Light, Night Light, True Light and Dawn’s Light. She is also known for her popular Newpointe 911 and Cape Refuge Series.
In addition to her suspense novels, she has written a number of novels in the women’s fiction genre, including Covenant Child, which was chosen as one of the first Women of Faith novels, and her Seasons Series written with Beverly LaHaye, wife of Tim LaHaye.
Blackstock has won the Retailer’s Choice Award and has appeared on national television programs such as The 700 Club, Home Life, and At Home Live with Chuck and Jenny. She has been a guest on numerous radio programs across the country and the subject of countless articles. The story of her personal journey appears in books such as Touched By the Savior by Mike Yorkey, True Stories of Answered Prayer by Mike Nappa, Faces of Faith by John Hanna, and I Saw Him In Your Eyes by Ace Collins.
This book was sent to me through Christian Fiction Blog Alliance for its book tour. The words contained in “My Thoughts” are my own and I have no affiliate links in this post.
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Ms. Blackstock is coming to one of our local Christian bookstores this Saturday for a book signing. I’m thinking of taking my daughter who likes to write fiction to meet her. I’ve read her Restoration series and enjoyed it.