House by Peretti and Dekker

Teamed up, Frank Peretti and Ted Dekker are somewhat the Christian equivalent of Stephen King. "House" is a horror novel with a Christian message. (Just writing that seems peculiar.) The publisher has labeled it a "supernatural thriller" but I think "horror novel" is also an appropriate moniker - and I don't mean that in any demeaning way. There certainly isn't any gratuitous vulgarity or violence in the book (like you might get in King novel) but the story is scary and the plot abnormal. And that part I like. Fiction should be granted the liberty to color outside the lines of the natural world. And fiction by Christian authors should intimate the reality of the supernatural realm.

I found the book an easy read, and certainly intriguing enough to keep turning pages. Coupled with the intertwined character plotlines there are enough twists and turns to make you want to persevere in discovering how the story ends. But the end is where the story almost became a dud to me.

The final pages felt to me like the way your body is jerked at the end of a roller coaster ride. It's my guess that the authors are trying to portray a compelling message to a wider reading public than just regular church attenders. But I think you have to have a certain amount of churchology to understand what they're getting at. Even then I don't believe the book does a great job at hitting its target. I'm still scratching my head to understand exactly the point of the plot.

The authors have tried to get us to connect the dots that they haven't totally supplied in the book. Other than that, I still recommend the book. Like the previous Peretti and Dekker offerings - "House" makes you remember the unseen elements of our existence. And that is certainly a good thing.