Embarking on a new book regime is a little like jumping into the deep end of the pool; you’re never quite sure if you’re gonna sink or swim. I guess that’s how I feel about Frank Peretti and Ted Dekker’s religious fiction novel House is a definitely the unworn path that I do not usual take.
I liked the horror of this novel. It involved an ominous evil force within a house in the middle of nowhere. There are main elements of this book that I didn’t like, but the one thing that I really associated with was the house itself. I enjoy books where a place is another character. The house is part of the evil of Peretti and Dekker’s book. It changes constantly in form and design. It is never the same as it was the scene before. It confuses the characters as well as the reader.
The house is the setting for a game; a creepy and horrible game that traps people in order to test their strength. Jack and Stephanie are suffering from a dying marriage and taking one last trip together as husband and wife but are caught out in the middle of the woods stranded with another couple, Leslie and Randy. The owners of the house are archaic and seemingly inbred and fanatical.
Betty, Stewart and Pete are the family that owns the house and they are little less than accommodating. The two couples are forced into a game of cat and mouse against the evil Mr. White. White has challenged the people in the house with three rules. The first says that he has killed god, the second says that he will kill everyone in the house, and the third is that if the players can produce a dead body he will let the second rule slide.
The game is an elaborate maze and in true horror fashion Peretti and Dekker create an elaborate setting for suspense and human triumph. Even though there is a religious theme to Peretti and Dekker books there is a classic horror genre at work here that is genius. This book is a heart gripping book that will challenge the ideals of good and evil and the pain we can inflict on ourselves as well as everyone around us. So whether or not you are a religious person or not this book is action and horror and a wonderful read.