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Veritas Project #2
Nightmare Academy
The Veritas Project team has a new assignment: To find the truth behind the mysterious disappearance of two runaways. Nightmare Academy is a great thriller with a realistic look at right and wrong.
He was once a normal fifteen-year-old boy. He had a name, a family, a school, and a life-and he thought he knew something. But that boy, and that time, and that life, have become . . . nothing. His whole mind seems to have been erased.
There's no boy here anymore. No knowledge, no thought, no reason. Nothing but terror, endlessly repeating cycles of it, layer upon layer, in swirling sounds, images, and sensations. Now he only stares into nothingness and whispers two ominous words: Nightmare Academy.
The Springfield twins--Elijah and Elisha--go undercover, posing as runaways. What happens next will keep readers on the edge of their seats as the twins end up in a strange academy where Truth is continually challenged, a gang-like war develops, and Elijah is taken to an ominous mansion from which no one has ever returned.
311 pages, Hardcover
First published July 7, 2002
134 people are currently reading
2712 people want to read
About the author
Frank E. Peretti
85 books3,857 followersFROM HIS WEBSITE:
With more than 12 million novels in print, Frank Peretti is nothing short of a publishing phenomenon and has been called “America’s hottest Christian novelist.”
Peretti is a natural storyteller who, as a youngster in Seattle, regularly gathered the neighborhood children for animated storytelling sessions. After graduating from high school, he began playing banjo with a local bluegrass group. He and his wife were married in 1972, and Peretti soon moved from touring with a pop band to launching a modest Christian music ministry. Peretti later spent time studying English, screen writing and film at UCLA and then assisted his father in pastoring a small Assembly of God church. In 1983, he gave up his pastoring position and began taking construction jobs to make ends meet. While working at a local ski factory, he began writing This Present Darkness, the book that would catapult him into the public eye. After numerous rejections from publishers and a slow start in sales, word-of-mouth enthusiasm finally lifted This Present Darkness onto a tidal wave of interest in spiritual warfare. The book appeared on Bookstore Journal’s bestseller list every month for more than eight years. Peretti’s two spiritual warfare novels, This Present Darkness (1998) and Piercing the Darkness (1989), captivated readers, together selling more than 3.5 million copies. The Oath was awarded the 1996 Gold Medallion Award for best fiction.
For kids, Peretti wrote The Cooper Kids Adventure Series (Crossways and Tommy Nelson), which remains a best-selling series for children with sales exceeding 1 million copies. In August 2000, Peretti released the hilarious children’s audiocassette series titled Wild and Wacky Totally True Bible Stories, reprising his role as Mr. Henry, the offbeat substitute Sunday School teacher found in two Visual Bible for Kids videos.
Peretti released his first-ever non-fiction book, The Wounded Spirit in 2000, which quickly became a best-seller. The book addresses the pain of “wounded spirits” and was written as a result of painful childhood experiences.
Frank Peretti and his wife, Barbara Jean, live in the Western U.S. In spite of sudden fame and notoriety, Frank still lives a simple, well-rounded life that includes carpentry, banjo making, sculpturing, bicycling and hiking. He is also an avid pilot.
With more than 12 million novels in print, Frank Peretti is nothing short of a publishing phenomenon and has been called “America’s hottest Christian novelist.”
Peretti is a natural storyteller who, as a youngster in Seattle, regularly gathered the neighborhood children for animated storytelling sessions. After graduating from high school, he began playing banjo with a local bluegrass group. He and his wife were married in 1972, and Peretti soon moved from touring with a pop band to launching a modest Christian music ministry. Peretti later spent time studying English, screen writing and film at UCLA and then assisted his father in pastoring a small Assembly of God church. In 1983, he gave up his pastoring position and began taking construction jobs to make ends meet. While working at a local ski factory, he began writing This Present Darkness, the book that would catapult him into the public eye. After numerous rejections from publishers and a slow start in sales, word-of-mouth enthusiasm finally lifted This Present Darkness onto a tidal wave of interest in spiritual warfare. The book appeared on Bookstore Journal’s bestseller list every month for more than eight years. Peretti’s two spiritual warfare novels, This Present Darkness (1998) and Piercing the Darkness (1989), captivated readers, together selling more than 3.5 million copies. The Oath was awarded the 1996 Gold Medallion Award for best fiction.
For kids, Peretti wrote The Cooper Kids Adventure Series (Crossways and Tommy Nelson), which remains a best-selling series for children with sales exceeding 1 million copies. In August 2000, Peretti released the hilarious children’s audiocassette series titled Wild and Wacky Totally True Bible Stories, reprising his role as Mr. Henry, the offbeat substitute Sunday School teacher found in two Visual Bible for Kids videos.
Peretti released his first-ever non-fiction book, The Wounded Spirit in 2000, which quickly became a best-seller. The book addresses the pain of “wounded spirits” and was written as a result of painful childhood experiences.
Frank Peretti and his wife, Barbara Jean, live in the Western U.S. In spite of sudden fame and notoriety, Frank still lives a simple, well-rounded life that includes carpentry, banjo making, sculpturing, bicycling and hiking. He is also an avid pilot.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 254 reviews
March 6, 2024
Frank Peretti takes the Springfield family, whom we were introduced to in Hangman's Curse, and sends them on an even crazier adventure that will have your head spinning and your mind thinking. My only complaint? That this is the series' finale! The Veritas Project had such potential; there could have been at least four or five novels instead of just two! Still, Nightmare Academy is worth reading for all fans of Christian literature, whether or not you fall into the "young adult" category.
EDIT: Funny story about this book: When I was reading it for the first time nearly two decades ago, the father of a kid my mom was taking care of saw me and asked me what I was reading. I said, "This book, Nightmare Academy." He got a funny look on his face and said, "It's not scaring you too bad, is it?" I'm sure he would have been shocked to know it was actually Christian fiction.
ANOTHER EDIT: I've lost track of how many times I've read this book. Even before Goodreads, I read it more than once; not only have I checked it out of two different libraries, but, I also found paperback copies of both of the Veritas Project novels at a garage sale for a mere ten cents each. Not only is it a great story, but it's the kind that makes you think, and is eerily prophetic about our modern world. I considered buying eBooks of both entries in this series from Apple, but, when I saw the sample lacked the illustrations at the beginning of each chapter, I decided against it; call me a purist, but, those photo-esque images made the story more fun.
YET ANOTHER EDIT: This paperback edition, which came from eBay's Thriftbooks store, contains the same illustrations as the original hardback...but everything--even the print--is so scaled down, reading this is like watching a video on your iPod Touch or iPhone that you've previously only seen on a television or computer monitor. If you have the option, seek out the original hardback; it's easier to read.
EDIT: Funny story about this book: When I was reading it for the first time nearly two decades ago, the father of a kid my mom was taking care of saw me and asked me what I was reading. I said, "This book, Nightmare Academy." He got a funny look on his face and said, "It's not scaring you too bad, is it?" I'm sure he would have been shocked to know it was actually Christian fiction.
ANOTHER EDIT: I've lost track of how many times I've read this book. Even before Goodreads, I read it more than once; not only have I checked it out of two different libraries, but, I also found paperback copies of both of the Veritas Project novels at a garage sale for a mere ten cents each. Not only is it a great story, but it's the kind that makes you think, and is eerily prophetic about our modern world. I considered buying eBooks of both entries in this series from Apple, but, when I saw the sample lacked the illustrations at the beginning of each chapter, I decided against it; call me a purist, but, those photo-esque images made the story more fun.
YET ANOTHER EDIT: This paperback edition, which came from eBay's Thriftbooks store, contains the same illustrations as the original hardback...but everything--even the print--is so scaled down, reading this is like watching a video on your iPod Touch or iPhone that you've previously only seen on a television or computer monitor. If you have the option, seek out the original hardback; it's easier to read.
March 7, 2023
VIDEO RANT: https://youtu.be/tQwKseieHtY
As usual with fundie Christian fiction, this is a book making disingenuous arguments in bad faith by a person who writes quite poorly. I feel bad for all of us who were subjected to reading Frank Peretti and Ted Dekker at a young age, all of us who were indoctrinated to believe that public school was the real indoctrination, communism bad, “Truth” with a capital T only comes from fundieland, blah blah blah blah
As usual with fundie Christian fiction, this is a book making disingenuous arguments in bad faith by a person who writes quite poorly. I feel bad for all of us who were subjected to reading Frank Peretti and Ted Dekker at a young age, all of us who were indoctrinated to believe that public school was the real indoctrination, communism bad, “Truth” with a capital T only comes from fundieland, blah blah blah blah
June 26, 2018
Yikes.
I read this book as a kid and it gave me a lot of messed up ideas about public education and class discussion and how to cope with new ideas. It's a terrible book (like, written poorly and cheesy as hell), but more troubling is the overblown caricature of secular education and how not having the christian faith taught in public schools leads to the outright denial of reality and complete dissolution of truth (which is hilarious, coming from a young earth creationist author).
I had to re-read this book as an adult to settle my feelings about how it influenced me as a kid and, honestly, I'm legitimately mad about how much it prejudiced me against learning or interacting with new ideas and ways of thinking. It's like Peretti attended one unproductive undergrad philosophy class (and omg all undergrad philosophy classes are unproductive) and then decided to write a book about how the "liberal-biased education system" was trying to brainwash kids and teach them not to believe in reality (which, apparently, is only the Bible). Like, omg, I went to Bible college for a few years and we still discussed moral relativism and nihilism. It's ok, dude. That's what school is FOR.
It was so bad. So, so bad.
And, omg, Peretti, don't refer to kids as "the Hispanic from the volleyball game". Yikes.
I read this book as a kid and it gave me a lot of messed up ideas about public education and class discussion and how to cope with new ideas. It's a terrible book (like, written poorly and cheesy as hell), but more troubling is the overblown caricature of secular education and how not having the christian faith taught in public schools leads to the outright denial of reality and complete dissolution of truth (which is hilarious, coming from a young earth creationist author).
I had to re-read this book as an adult to settle my feelings about how it influenced me as a kid and, honestly, I'm legitimately mad about how much it prejudiced me against learning or interacting with new ideas and ways of thinking. It's like Peretti attended one unproductive undergrad philosophy class (and omg all undergrad philosophy classes are unproductive) and then decided to write a book about how the "liberal-biased education system" was trying to brainwash kids and teach them not to believe in reality (which, apparently, is only the Bible). Like, omg, I went to Bible college for a few years and we still discussed moral relativism and nihilism. It's ok, dude. That's what school is FOR.
It was so bad. So, so bad.
And, omg, Peretti, don't refer to kids as "the Hispanic from the volleyball game". Yikes.
March 20, 2017
Deep and thought-provoking.
March 20, 2012
This also Is a great book.
I wish there were more in this series.
I wish there were more in this series.
May 27, 2025
This story always low key terrified me because of how real and dangerous yet easy it would be for humanity to fall into this kind of trap in thinking and acting. Which makes it all the more sobering to see exact things this “academy” was teaching its fictional students pop up years later in real, modern society—it’s wild and sad, not to mention scary. But even now in the real world, just like then in this story, there are always those who will stand up against this type of teaching and thinking and fight for Truth and justice for all and that’s an encouraging thought.
As a thriller this story delivers in spades, as I’ve read this book three times now and every time I still hold my breath, on the edge of my seat, and hope they get out alive even though I already know how it ends.
My favorite in this duology for sure! The only thing I’m disappointed about is that the author didn’t make this series longer, but at least it ended on a strong note, which is not something I can say about a lot of series, so best that it stopped while it was ahead.
‼️Content‼️
Language: hell (to describe a place)
Violence: a teen boy is murdered (not shown or detailed); a boy’s head is slammed into his desk; a man threatens to hit teens with a yardstick; teens raid other teens’ dorms and attack each other (not detailed); fighting hand to hand (not detailed); injuries and blood (not detailed); teens are locked in a building and are nearly blown up
Sexual: teen girls wonder if raiding boys would have broken into their room and “done something/whatever they wanted” to them (nothing happens)
Drugs/Alcohol: teens are drugged
Other: teens are kidnapped or are runaways; teens have been “brainwashed” by a technological, illusion/mind bending simulation and act “insane” as a result of it; plans are made to blow up a place with teens left inside it
As a thriller this story delivers in spades, as I’ve read this book three times now and every time I still hold my breath, on the edge of my seat, and hope they get out alive even though I already know how it ends.
My favorite in this duology for sure! The only thing I’m disappointed about is that the author didn’t make this series longer, but at least it ended on a strong note, which is not something I can say about a lot of series, so best that it stopped while it was ahead.
‼️Content‼️
Language: hell (to describe a place)
Violence: a teen boy is murdered (not shown or detailed); a boy’s head is slammed into his desk; a man threatens to hit teens with a yardstick; teens raid other teens’ dorms and attack each other (not detailed); fighting hand to hand (not detailed); injuries and blood (not detailed); teens are locked in a building and are nearly blown up
Sexual: teen girls wonder if raiding boys would have broken into their room and “done something/whatever they wanted” to them (nothing happens)
Drugs/Alcohol: teens are drugged
Other: teens are kidnapped or are runaways; teens have been “brainwashed” by a technological, illusion/mind bending simulation and act “insane” as a result of it; plans are made to blow up a place with teens left inside it
August 15, 2012
When an group of twisted misguided individuals bring children together to form an messed up utopian society with no right or wrong, no winning, no losing, everybody "equal", no either\or, only both\and. Did I mention no right or wrong? Did anyone actually think it would end up all right!? Not I. Elijah and Elisha are brother and sister and when their family goes undercover to try and find out what "Knight-Moore" Academy is, Elijah and Elisha are separated from their parents and taken to Nightmare Academy with no memory of how they got there, where exactly on a map they are, no way to contact their parents, and no way out. Truth is a big part of this book; hence the Veritas Project. Elijah and Elisha believe in God and the existence (duh!) of right and wrong. There is no way that a society could survive the way that is portrayed in the book and I liked that the author tried to show how when government messes with God-given rights and the natural order of things; tries to impose rules that shouldn't be there; lies to people; leads them to believe that things are one way and then does the exact opposite; things are never going to work out. Ever. Interesting and thought provoking. I would recommend this book.
November 27, 2017
This book was not as good as the first. It was kind of disappointing. So I would rate it 2 and a half stars.
December 27, 2022
I feel bad for giving this a 3 stars because I'm genuinely just comparing it to how good "Hangman's Curse" was. I think it's fair, considering it is in the same series with some repeat characters but if I had read this as a one off novel I might have enjoyed it more. The twists and turns happen so fast you almost miss it, so paying close attention is very vital to keep up with the storyline. This one was more YA psychological thriller and the first one in the series is more YA paranormal/suspense.
September 12, 2011
Once again, I thoroughly enjoyed this book! Of the two in the series, Hangman's Curse and Nightmare Academy, I think Nightmare Academy is my favorite. I'm not sure why...maybe because Elijah and Elisha are taken and have to depend on their own wits to get themselves out.
What an adventure! Frank Peretti presented an awesome story plot with memorable characters. I loved the lesson you learn about truth in this one.
Peretti needs to write more on this awesome team!
What an adventure! Frank Peretti presented an awesome story plot with memorable characters. I loved the lesson you learn about truth in this one.
Peretti needs to write more on this awesome team!
September 2, 2025
The crazier, yet somehow more believable version of its predecessor.
3.4 🌟
3.4 🌟
October 22, 2010
"Nightmare Academy" is a young adult suspense/horror novel. It reminded me of "Lord of the Flies," but Peretti is more heavy-handed in making his point. This novel is the second in the series, but you don't have to read the first one ("Hangman's Curse") to understand this one. However, I liked "Hangman's Curse" better.
The novel was fast-paced and a fast read. The twins were clever and engaging characters who were willing to stand up for what's right and to protect others. The suspense was created by the increasing physical danger to everybody and from trying to discover why this academy was created and by whom.
While the story was exciting, I was disappointed by the ending. The bad guys revealed their motive, but it didn't make sense to me. As I understand it, they didn't even believe in what they were teaching. And, thinking through their evil scheme, I don't see how they could manipulate things to get their desired results in a large, general population scenario. So they came across as rather cliche, unrealistic villains.
The twins and their parents were Christians, and the twins speak out at the academy for absolute truth and protecting the weak. There was a very minor amount of "he cussed" style bad language. There was no sex. Overall, I'd recommend this exciting novel to Christian teens.
The novel was fast-paced and a fast read. The twins were clever and engaging characters who were willing to stand up for what's right and to protect others. The suspense was created by the increasing physical danger to everybody and from trying to discover why this academy was created and by whom.
While the story was exciting, I was disappointed by the ending. The bad guys revealed their motive, but it didn't make sense to me. As I understand it, they didn't even believe in what they were teaching. And, thinking through their evil scheme, I don't see how they could manipulate things to get their desired results in a large, general population scenario. So they came across as rather cliche, unrealistic villains.
The twins and their parents were Christians, and the twins speak out at the academy for absolute truth and protecting the weak. There was a very minor amount of "he cussed" style bad language. There was no sex. Overall, I'd recommend this exciting novel to Christian teens.
May 5, 2018
I read this ages ago, directly following Hangman's Curse - which I loved as a tween, a view I have since reconsidered out of frustration - and I quit reading it a few chapters in. It just didn't hold my attention. Having just reread the first book, I won't be making another attempt to find out why I didn't finish this book. The first book was frustrating enough to reread as an adult.
March 23, 2016
Pretty intense! The message was really deep and I'm quite sad because there are no more books of this series.
July 4, 2017
I love Peretti's writing, if not as the most realistic, but as very illustrative of a point.
-More to come-
-More to come-
March 10, 2023
I wasn't expecting a Sherlock Holmes level mystery solving book and I definitely think that that drove me off a little bit. Sherlock Holmes and Jesus is definitely not my usual book breakfast either.
Don't get me wrong, the schooling system is atrocious, but not for any of the reasons actually in this book. Like does this actually address the fact that teachers are neglectful and don't pay attention to students? Not really. Does this address the teacher on student abuse and how teachers often mistreat or even groom kids? Not really.
Does this book address that special education and special education students are regularly trapped in rooms, beaten, or locked up, or even tied up for entire School days? Absolutely not none of the actual things that happen in public schools are addressed.
This is a very simple propaganda book that tells you basically public schools are bad, Christian (private) schools are good. But it doesn't use anything that we know of public schools. Not even going as far as to be unbiased and say homeschooling can lead to abuse, or anything else. It's not even humble enough to tell you that some Christian private schools and Christian public schools have equal to more incidents that go unreported. This is pure Frank's bias.
This man does not know what actually makes a school system bad or that the neglecting teachers and stuff are to be focused on. It has slightly that oh teachers are evil kind of energy, but it doesn't go anywhere with that. And even when it does, yes it does, it's full ham and nothing near any case he could have lifted off of.
Frank doesn't understand communism or capitalism or how to tell the difference between the two of them, but thanks capitalism is good. That's an entire section of the book. Don't give in to Communism but give in to consumerism.
"There's no winning or losing, this is just a game of basketball." This is supposed to be liberal propaganda, where it's supposed to make the liberals look bad, but basketball is just a game, especially practice basketball. So it went right over my head what the purpose of this was because yes? Basketball is just a game and who wins and who loses doesn't actually truly matter. Am I supposed to be mad that participation trophies exist and that it doesn't really matter who wins and who loses because no matter what ninety percent of the team will not get a trophy only the first person and the second and the third?
There are actual games of basketball where there are no winners or losers, you just shoot hoops. This scene alone had me dissecting it too deep, it's not objective morality, it's literally a bad comparison.
The teacher offers to let the students pick their names and because Frank cannot understand LGBT or dead names, he has a character who changes her name every day and we're supposed to be bothered by this character even though I have no problem with a character changing their name. I've read so many books where characters have five different nicknames and we cannot commit to them. This is a staple of most literature in real life I have five different nicknames and it's okay because different people can call me different things. Frank, trans people are not a threat to you. In fact my great grandpa was called by his nickname and never his actual real name. This guy was not a trans person he was just my great grandpa.
You can change your name at any point during your life, and changing your name doesn't automatically equal changing your gender. I knew immediately what he was going for but it's not the same thing. I changed my name at a young age because I hated my name and I was named after something stupid. That doesn't mean anything. One of my best friends changed their name to a nickname they liked more. They weren't trans.
"Was the walkman really yours? If nobody owns anything, is it really stealing?" This isn't how Communism works.
People still have their own possessions and communism, it's just a lot of things are more public and available to everyone. This reminds me oddly of when a republican told me that Canada was Communist because it had free healthcare. And obviously if everybody can access the healthcare it's communism. Anything that isn't America is obviously a threat in this situation because if it's an outside system of working people make it into this big scare. And this book is no exception, it's trying to make it into a big scare.
Robbie Zachariah quotes are in here and that makes me unhappy. Nothing like including a '''Christian man''' who regularly molested massage therapist and died before you could get any comeuppance into your book.
This book loves to say "relative truth" but this truth can't correlate to science, physics, anything that isn't in the bible. The truth is whatever the Bible says and everything else is not relative truth in this book. So if anybody else is believing otherwise to this Christian belief or faith they are not correct and this book is saying that.
"The little Hispanic from the volleyball team". Um.
You can't just refer to people as the little hispanic, the brown girl, all of those things because that is so icky to read. Not only is it clunky, it reads very harsh and judgmental. To say "the little Hispanic girl" sounds racist and like you're looking down on them.
Global = bad. One Earth Society says so.
I couldn't understand because most of the time I was imagining the teacher who said that winning didn't matter and all of that as the cloud guy from Amazing World of Gumball. I mean what else am I supposed to imagine him as? This story is so ridiculous it doesn't really fit in a real world setting. It's a Wayside School Is Falling Down. But broken and corrupt. It's all corrupt.
This is the stuff that teaches us that slavery is okay because some of the slaves turned to Christ and became religious. But these are also the religions that tell us because somebody has melanin in their skin that that's a representation of their sin forming in their own flesh. It's a terrible racist pile of filth.
"Every six seconds" don't you dare.
"Sixes began appearing" no thank you.
The number of the beast is assumed to be 666, but we've had multiple people break down why that wouldn't be it. It's basically the same thing as the pentagram is a sign against God when it's not, I don't know why people don't research deeper into this. The Jesus fish a lot of people put on their cars is actually a symbol of a vagina. These are simple Google searches people can do.
"What we've learned here will live on and movies, and videos, and books" except then he says the world will end but if the world ends, the chances of any of that surviving is exponentially low. Literally if you are doing all of this to live on forever, you want to ensure that your stuff will be preserved and you won't have it destroyed, so if the world is going to end, then chances are your stuff is going to be destroyed.
Boy I can't wait to find out what the secret combination is, what do you mean at 666, what do you mean this author is that generic? I guess he just doesn't know what he's doing. Weird.
It's such an obvious combination that honestly when I realized it was that I was mad that I hoped against everything that it wouldn't be that. It was probably the massive amount of 666 that made this go from a two star to a one-star to half a star. Because I could have handled all of this propaganda just fine and fiction but the idea that they don't do any research and build this up more definitely killed that star.
It's even more confusing because I don't get the point of this book, the story wasn't good, the characters weren't good, what was I supposed to take away with from this book?
0.5 stars.
Don't get me wrong, the schooling system is atrocious, but not for any of the reasons actually in this book. Like does this actually address the fact that teachers are neglectful and don't pay attention to students? Not really. Does this address the teacher on student abuse and how teachers often mistreat or even groom kids? Not really.
Does this book address that special education and special education students are regularly trapped in rooms, beaten, or locked up, or even tied up for entire School days? Absolutely not none of the actual things that happen in public schools are addressed.
This is a very simple propaganda book that tells you basically public schools are bad, Christian (private) schools are good. But it doesn't use anything that we know of public schools. Not even going as far as to be unbiased and say homeschooling can lead to abuse, or anything else. It's not even humble enough to tell you that some Christian private schools and Christian public schools have equal to more incidents that go unreported. This is pure Frank's bias.
This man does not know what actually makes a school system bad or that the neglecting teachers and stuff are to be focused on. It has slightly that oh teachers are evil kind of energy, but it doesn't go anywhere with that. And even when it does, yes it does, it's full ham and nothing near any case he could have lifted off of.
Frank doesn't understand communism or capitalism or how to tell the difference between the two of them, but thanks capitalism is good. That's an entire section of the book. Don't give in to Communism but give in to consumerism.
"There's no winning or losing, this is just a game of basketball." This is supposed to be liberal propaganda, where it's supposed to make the liberals look bad, but basketball is just a game, especially practice basketball. So it went right over my head what the purpose of this was because yes? Basketball is just a game and who wins and who loses doesn't actually truly matter. Am I supposed to be mad that participation trophies exist and that it doesn't really matter who wins and who loses because no matter what ninety percent of the team will not get a trophy only the first person and the second and the third?
There are actual games of basketball where there are no winners or losers, you just shoot hoops. This scene alone had me dissecting it too deep, it's not objective morality, it's literally a bad comparison.
The teacher offers to let the students pick their names and because Frank cannot understand LGBT or dead names, he has a character who changes her name every day and we're supposed to be bothered by this character even though I have no problem with a character changing their name. I've read so many books where characters have five different nicknames and we cannot commit to them. This is a staple of most literature in real life I have five different nicknames and it's okay because different people can call me different things. Frank, trans people are not a threat to you. In fact my great grandpa was called by his nickname and never his actual real name. This guy was not a trans person he was just my great grandpa.
You can change your name at any point during your life, and changing your name doesn't automatically equal changing your gender. I knew immediately what he was going for but it's not the same thing. I changed my name at a young age because I hated my name and I was named after something stupid. That doesn't mean anything. One of my best friends changed their name to a nickname they liked more. They weren't trans.
"Was the walkman really yours? If nobody owns anything, is it really stealing?" This isn't how Communism works.
People still have their own possessions and communism, it's just a lot of things are more public and available to everyone. This reminds me oddly of when a republican told me that Canada was Communist because it had free healthcare. And obviously if everybody can access the healthcare it's communism. Anything that isn't America is obviously a threat in this situation because if it's an outside system of working people make it into this big scare. And this book is no exception, it's trying to make it into a big scare.
Robbie Zachariah quotes are in here and that makes me unhappy. Nothing like including a '''Christian man''' who regularly molested massage therapist and died before you could get any comeuppance into your book.
This book loves to say "relative truth" but this truth can't correlate to science, physics, anything that isn't in the bible. The truth is whatever the Bible says and everything else is not relative truth in this book. So if anybody else is believing otherwise to this Christian belief or faith they are not correct and this book is saying that.
"The little Hispanic from the volleyball team". Um.
You can't just refer to people as the little hispanic, the brown girl, all of those things because that is so icky to read. Not only is it clunky, it reads very harsh and judgmental. To say "the little Hispanic girl" sounds racist and like you're looking down on them.
Global = bad. One Earth Society says so.
I couldn't understand because most of the time I was imagining the teacher who said that winning didn't matter and all of that as the cloud guy from Amazing World of Gumball. I mean what else am I supposed to imagine him as? This story is so ridiculous it doesn't really fit in a real world setting. It's a Wayside School Is Falling Down. But broken and corrupt. It's all corrupt.
This is the stuff that teaches us that slavery is okay because some of the slaves turned to Christ and became religious. But these are also the religions that tell us because somebody has melanin in their skin that that's a representation of their sin forming in their own flesh. It's a terrible racist pile of filth.
"Every six seconds" don't you dare.
"Sixes began appearing" no thank you.
The number of the beast is assumed to be 666, but we've had multiple people break down why that wouldn't be it. It's basically the same thing as the pentagram is a sign against God when it's not, I don't know why people don't research deeper into this. The Jesus fish a lot of people put on their cars is actually a symbol of a vagina. These are simple Google searches people can do.
"What we've learned here will live on and movies, and videos, and books" except then he says the world will end but if the world ends, the chances of any of that surviving is exponentially low. Literally if you are doing all of this to live on forever, you want to ensure that your stuff will be preserved and you won't have it destroyed, so if the world is going to end, then chances are your stuff is going to be destroyed.
Boy I can't wait to find out what the secret combination is, what do you mean at 666, what do you mean this author is that generic? I guess he just doesn't know what he's doing. Weird.
It's such an obvious combination that honestly when I realized it was that I was mad that I hoped against everything that it wouldn't be that. It was probably the massive amount of 666 that made this go from a two star to a one-star to half a star. Because I could have handled all of this propaganda just fine and fiction but the idea that they don't do any research and build this up more definitely killed that star.
It's even more confusing because I don't get the point of this book, the story wasn't good, the characters weren't good, what was I supposed to take away with from this book?
0.5 stars.
March 13, 2018
It was a good book. Clearly geared toward a younger audience but still had a good story. I remember my kids listening to "Mr. Henry" a storytelling series that Frank Peretti did several year ago. I feel like this is the next level for kids. Peretti has a fantastic imagination and I bet he and I would have been fantastic friends if we met when we were kids. Don't get me wrong I have never met Mr. Peretti, but his stories are fun and quirky. NOW, his adult series of books are not at all like that but still are filled with wonderful images and fantastic outlooks. I enjoyed this book.
August 14, 2025
15/10
I had forgotten how well he writes. Love him and every single thing he writes.
Frank Perreti could write equations on a wall and I would be sat, reading, going “Riveting…” every 5 seconds 🫶🏻
I had forgotten how well he writes. Love him and every single thing he writes.
Frank Perreti could write equations on a wall and I would be sat, reading, going “Riveting…” every 5 seconds 🫶🏻
January 24, 2024
Not as good as the first but still enjoyable!
February 6, 2020
I really enjoyed this book, but I found it really weird (as all the other Frank peretti books I have read are) Personally, I enjoyed the first Veritas Project book 'hangmans curse' more. But this book was just as enjoyable.
Read
November 2, 2024Nightmare Academy
Nelson Farmer arrives at Harborview Hospital trying to find a certain victim that was found on a highway in Idaho. Dr. Cal Madison leads him to a curled up boy on the floor. He’s 15, has no ID, and has to be helped with dressing. The only answer he seems to be able to give is “I don’t know”. He has no memories of anyting. Farmer says he’ll arrange for transportation. He wants to put him under protective custody but Madison says they can’t release him. He’s underweight, malnourished, and unable to even dress himself.
A week later, Cal Myers confides to a friend that he found out the boys name is Alvin Rogers. He and a friend Harold Carlson ran away a month ago and Harold is still missing. The people he contacted about Farmer knew of him but had no knowledge of the policy he stated. He left urgently for Seattle but they said they hadn’t received any records yet.
They’ve found his parents. They can’t get anything out of him though but non-sense (ramblings about nothing being real, gravity turned upside down, time running backward, all sheer lunacy-and someplace he keeps referring to as Nightmare Academy). The man (Morgan) says he’ll check into it. The President sends him a message not to, but he also gets a DVD-which he shows to the Springfields- of Alvin. So, the Springfields are assigned to find out what happened to Alvin and Harold, where Harold is, and what Nightmare Academy is.
Elijah and Elisha spend their nights on the streets where a lot of runaways are said to be found. One night, their approached by Margarett Jones who invites them to come and stay at the Living Day center -a charitable organization that provides runaways with food, shelter-their own rooms- and conseling (no questions asked). Sarah and Nate-nearby in a car listening-look up the place and can’t find anything on it.
The kids make an impression on Mrs. Jones because of they don’t steal so she shows them a brochure for “The Knight Moore Academy”-which she describes as a cross between summer school and summer camp-. She says it’s up in the mountains not far from there. It’s a free program-paid for by the government as an experimental program-. You can receive high school credit but it’s optional. You don’t have to give a real name-like at the Youth Center-.Coincedently a bus leaves in the morning.
We see a cook take “Sally” and “Jimmy’s” bowls and spoons and dust them for finger prints. There’s a disturbance at a hospital of orderly’s struggling with a man whose screaming about “assasins”. While this is going on a man in the shadows sneaks into Alvin’s room and starts to look through his bag for the right tool. Sara and Nate loose the kid’s signal-from Nate’s headphones- and go to track them down but when they get to the address… it’s a hotel. The man behind the reception desk informs them this is the Dartmoor Hotel.
Listening to the recording, they hear Mrs. Jones give Elijah and room number 305 but when they go back a man and woman are in the room. Mr, Morgan calls and tells them Alvin is dead. When Elijah wakes up he’s at summer camp-with no knowledge of how he got there-. He’s “introduced” to Mr. Sterm, reunited with Elisha, and taken to Mr. Bingham. He learns that there are wild bears and cougars on the grounds and to stay away from the woods and mansion in the distance. The twins are given schedules and KM money and told they’re free here to discover their truth. There are no telephones to permit them access to the outside world.
=He also tells them about a mandatory circle meeting at 1 given by Mr. Easley. Elisha meets some of the other campters (Brett, Alex, and Macy-formerly Alice-) at a volleyball game-where they’re all taught no one loses if they enjoy the experience. The discussion is about whether stealing is wrong or is it considered “sharing”. Elijah and Elisha get chastised for pointing out that stealing is just wrong.
Sarah and Nate find out Alvin’s records have been deleted from the data base. But one of Charlie and his wife’s former residents-they also are over a teen run away house called Living Way- (Tyler) says he meet “Margaret” only she called herself “Suzanne” in Portland. She gave him the same brochure and he stuck it in his backpack. Only he turned the offer down because it sounded too good to be true. He remembered the brochure when he was talking to Charlie. They call the number but it’s disconnected. So, they just decide to go look for the address.
There’s a pyscho English teacher whose name is Booker that slams Alex’s head on the desk over expressing his truth about what his desk is. He also attempts to hit Elisha with a yard stick when she won’t recite-not knowing what to recite since it’s her first day-. They get into it because he says he’s seen her everyday. Luckily Elijah jumps in -earning him respect from the others-. They see Booker going up to the manion with the other teachers. The other kids tell them don’t try to sneak into the mansion. Another boy attempted it but nothing was heard of him afterwards and they assume he got sent home.
During a raid, Elijah comes close to finding a road by the mansion but a bear appears. Meanwhile, Nate and Sarah find that the campsite that was once there has been torn down by the government. Speaking to others they find out it was only there two weeks and the lady over it called herself Katie or Kathy. The raids, violence, and looting get out of control, Mr. Booker offers Elijah 40-and then 80- dollars a day to maintain order-along with another guy named Rory- and a pipeline to more KM’s. Elijah tho turns him down and says it’s not about control for him but truth and following God. (He also offers him access to the mansion’s power).
Alex and a lot of the students get punished. Then for not wearing complete uniforms. Him for skipping and having to get dragged in. He gets it worse because he mouths off and gets all his KM’s taken-one of them being a former “friend”. Brett and Alex get into it and Easley lets them fight it out. Since Alex is winning, Easley tells him he can be a kind “king” and make Brett his luteinant. Together they agree to each return the others -and the other students- things. Mr. Easley breaks open the drink machine and they all have free pop. Alex immediately tries to abuse his power as “king” and starts to push up on Elisha. This causes him to want to fight Elijah but the rest talk him out of it. Alex tells Elijah it’s not over.
Later that night, Elijah figures out a way to get out and he and Elisha make plans to leave the next night. The next day, Mr. Easley has gotten fired for stealing pop out of the machine and the kids are holding a strike. Meeks and Stern are for the strike. They said someone didn’t approve of his teaching methods and told on him. Everyone knows it’s Booker. The students come up with a list of demands (rehire Easley, fire Booker, free pop, and phones) Booker’s side appears, he admits he did it, and restricts them for a day from the rec room and food. Before he leaves, Booker says he enjoyed their chat and pats him on the shoulder. This makes him look like he’s the one that told. This causes Alex to shove and punch Elijah.
After the fight, Elijah is taken away-behind the iron gates to the mansion- while Elisha kicks and screams crying out to take her inside. He moughts to her to go. He’ll be ok. Elijah is left alone in a room in the mansion He steps into the bathroom and when he goes back into the bedroom there’s no longer wood paneling. It’s all blue! Even the hallway looks different. Even the coordinates her wrote are different. Alex somehow gets Booker’s thugs and police squad to turn to his side. With this he’s able to over power Booker. Then it gets crazy! Kids start chasing the teachers and spraying them with pop and the teacher’s run for their lives.
Elijah finds himself in an odd series of rooms that seem to be illusions. Elisha and (Mariah formerally Cher and Alice) search Bingham’s office for a phone but everything inside is fake (only for show). Alex later holds a meeting where he declares himself in charge and threatens the other students if they’re not on his side he’ll break their arm (curtesy of Rory). He makes then wear their neck ties around their head or arm to show unity. Elisha doesn’t bow down to his dictatorship. These use Warren as a demonstration to Elisha what happens to those who defy him. Weirdly, he acts as if he hasn’t heard of Easely or Jerry.
Wherever it is that Elijah is, he leans against a tree and starts to fall and fall and fall. There’s a black out and when Elisha finds her way to her room, she discovers someone has sabatauged her radio. She realizes the people in the mansion must know she and her brother aren’t runaways. Mariah realizes the people have cut the power and reveals her name is Joan. Then she tells her about a boy that’s name was “Mick” but she and Alex called him “Alvin”. Elisha tells him his real name was Harold. Then Elisha tells her (her) real name. It turns out “Alexander” is Harold.
She and Mariah find a phone that works, but Alex finds them. It’s a trap. Joanne has led Alex straight to Elisha. While Elisha fights off Rory and Alex, she’s able to reach her dad’s phone and give the coordinates to their location. She heads for the mansion to find her brother. Elisha escapes a bear and finds a room. Before long, she’s reunited with Elijah. But when she tries to follow him she finds herself in a control center and Mr. Bingham, Mr. Booker, and Mr. Easely are there. Their viewing the tool room and Alex, Ramon, and some of the others.
They say they’ve picked certain types that think but only follows and will do anything as long as their pleasure. There’s also a audience in the book. They were choosen to see if their truths could be broken -Elisha and Elijah that is-. They have vido’s and play back certain scenes to demonstrate their points. Bingham says they’re ready for the final phase. The teachers use a hologram of Elisha to play mind games with Elijah. Nate and Sarah track down the man who ran the front desk and Nelson Farmer. While Sarah assaults Nelson-with his own gun- the other man gets away. Nate gives chase but the little man has been caught by a bunch of deputies. They also have Nelson who they say lured them there to kill them like he did Alvin. The red-haired woman Marian Winger-was an associate.
He's been using data to get runways for experimentation. Elisha sends her brother a message through finger taps. Bingham watches in hopes that by this point his mind will be erased and ready to accept the input from his sister. If this happens it will be the first step to global control. Elisha tho continues to tap out the message Truth is just what you make it, whatever you want it to be, and no matter what you choose, it isn't wrong if you sincerely feel it . Bingham sees a mob forming at the gates of the mansion-made up of the other students-. He tells them they’ve reached the end of the experiment and to get ready to evacuate.
Elijah appears to go crazy on screen and starts to sing. This means the experiment was a success-or so the teachers think- but he’s figured out a pattern from his sister’s tapping. Six seconds. If he acts in an unpredictable way there’s a blink coming from a projector. He spots the projector and breaks it. Then he finds a way out of the room holding him captive and the illusions vanish.
As the students storm the mansion, Elisha realizes it’s a fake. They’ve been lured there and locked in. Elisha is thrown in too. She and the others watch as the campus around them goes up in smoke. Elijah is able to see past the fog and finds the control center. He eventually figures out how to stop the building his sister and the others are in just in time. Nate thanks to the hotel owner finds out there’s a tunnel that’s the only exit to the campus. He gets a man with a bull dozer to get the kids out of the trapped mansion. Oh and the wild bears turn out to be robots.
My Thoughts:
“We are free people because we live according to what we know is right or wrong. If Truth is taken from us, then Right and Wrong are taken from us as well. If we don’t know Right and Wrong then we can’t we won’t control ourselves but will look to some one else to bring order though brute force and raw power. We will be controlled by a tyrant and we will no longer be free and don’t count on that tyrant to be kind or merciful, He has no sense of right and wrong either and will do to us whever he wants.”
“The Knight Moore project was an experiment to discover what would happen to people when there is no truth, to observe and record what people can do when pushed to the extreme with no ultimate moral foundations. It was an attempt by people hungry for power to find the most effective way to rob people of their freedom: The conclusion: Take away the truth and a tyrant will rule.”
While I was thinking about what to say about this book, I read the last chapter a second time and this statement stuck out to me the most. It really describes the whole book. It made me think of something very important. It really is something to think about. Then oddly I kept thinking of this old cartoon. I think the episode was called “One Jem Too Many” Where in the episode Jem was taken to a fake mansion for “her birthday”. And it was an elaborate hoax to find out her real identity. But the mansion was sit up just like the Starlight Mansion and there was also a control room where the Misfits where watching. Lots of similarities.
Rating: 7
Nelson Farmer arrives at Harborview Hospital trying to find a certain victim that was found on a highway in Idaho. Dr. Cal Madison leads him to a curled up boy on the floor. He’s 15, has no ID, and has to be helped with dressing. The only answer he seems to be able to give is “I don’t know”. He has no memories of anyting. Farmer says he’ll arrange for transportation. He wants to put him under protective custody but Madison says they can’t release him. He’s underweight, malnourished, and unable to even dress himself.
A week later, Cal Myers confides to a friend that he found out the boys name is Alvin Rogers. He and a friend Harold Carlson ran away a month ago and Harold is still missing. The people he contacted about Farmer knew of him but had no knowledge of the policy he stated. He left urgently for Seattle but they said they hadn’t received any records yet.
They’ve found his parents. They can’t get anything out of him though but non-sense (ramblings about nothing being real, gravity turned upside down, time running backward, all sheer lunacy-and someplace he keeps referring to as Nightmare Academy). The man (Morgan) says he’ll check into it. The President sends him a message not to, but he also gets a DVD-which he shows to the Springfields- of Alvin. So, the Springfields are assigned to find out what happened to Alvin and Harold, where Harold is, and what Nightmare Academy is.
Elijah and Elisha spend their nights on the streets where a lot of runaways are said to be found. One night, their approached by Margarett Jones who invites them to come and stay at the Living Day center -a charitable organization that provides runaways with food, shelter-their own rooms- and conseling (no questions asked). Sarah and Nate-nearby in a car listening-look up the place and can’t find anything on it.
The kids make an impression on Mrs. Jones because of they don’t steal so she shows them a brochure for “The Knight Moore Academy”-which she describes as a cross between summer school and summer camp-. She says it’s up in the mountains not far from there. It’s a free program-paid for by the government as an experimental program-. You can receive high school credit but it’s optional. You don’t have to give a real name-like at the Youth Center-.Coincedently a bus leaves in the morning.
We see a cook take “Sally” and “Jimmy’s” bowls and spoons and dust them for finger prints. There’s a disturbance at a hospital of orderly’s struggling with a man whose screaming about “assasins”. While this is going on a man in the shadows sneaks into Alvin’s room and starts to look through his bag for the right tool. Sara and Nate loose the kid’s signal-from Nate’s headphones- and go to track them down but when they get to the address… it’s a hotel. The man behind the reception desk informs them this is the Dartmoor Hotel.
Listening to the recording, they hear Mrs. Jones give Elijah and room number 305 but when they go back a man and woman are in the room. Mr, Morgan calls and tells them Alvin is dead. When Elijah wakes up he’s at summer camp-with no knowledge of how he got there-. He’s “introduced” to Mr. Sterm, reunited with Elisha, and taken to Mr. Bingham. He learns that there are wild bears and cougars on the grounds and to stay away from the woods and mansion in the distance. The twins are given schedules and KM money and told they’re free here to discover their truth. There are no telephones to permit them access to the outside world.
=He also tells them about a mandatory circle meeting at 1 given by Mr. Easley. Elisha meets some of the other campters (Brett, Alex, and Macy-formerly Alice-) at a volleyball game-where they’re all taught no one loses if they enjoy the experience. The discussion is about whether stealing is wrong or is it considered “sharing”. Elijah and Elisha get chastised for pointing out that stealing is just wrong.
Sarah and Nate find out Alvin’s records have been deleted from the data base. But one of Charlie and his wife’s former residents-they also are over a teen run away house called Living Way- (Tyler) says he meet “Margaret” only she called herself “Suzanne” in Portland. She gave him the same brochure and he stuck it in his backpack. Only he turned the offer down because it sounded too good to be true. He remembered the brochure when he was talking to Charlie. They call the number but it’s disconnected. So, they just decide to go look for the address.
There’s a pyscho English teacher whose name is Booker that slams Alex’s head on the desk over expressing his truth about what his desk is. He also attempts to hit Elisha with a yard stick when she won’t recite-not knowing what to recite since it’s her first day-. They get into it because he says he’s seen her everyday. Luckily Elijah jumps in -earning him respect from the others-. They see Booker going up to the manion with the other teachers. The other kids tell them don’t try to sneak into the mansion. Another boy attempted it but nothing was heard of him afterwards and they assume he got sent home.
During a raid, Elijah comes close to finding a road by the mansion but a bear appears. Meanwhile, Nate and Sarah find that the campsite that was once there has been torn down by the government. Speaking to others they find out it was only there two weeks and the lady over it called herself Katie or Kathy. The raids, violence, and looting get out of control, Mr. Booker offers Elijah 40-and then 80- dollars a day to maintain order-along with another guy named Rory- and a pipeline to more KM’s. Elijah tho turns him down and says it’s not about control for him but truth and following God. (He also offers him access to the mansion’s power).
Alex and a lot of the students get punished. Then for not wearing complete uniforms. Him for skipping and having to get dragged in. He gets it worse because he mouths off and gets all his KM’s taken-one of them being a former “friend”. Brett and Alex get into it and Easley lets them fight it out. Since Alex is winning, Easley tells him he can be a kind “king” and make Brett his luteinant. Together they agree to each return the others -and the other students- things. Mr. Easley breaks open the drink machine and they all have free pop. Alex immediately tries to abuse his power as “king” and starts to push up on Elisha. This causes him to want to fight Elijah but the rest talk him out of it. Alex tells Elijah it’s not over.
Later that night, Elijah figures out a way to get out and he and Elisha make plans to leave the next night. The next day, Mr. Easley has gotten fired for stealing pop out of the machine and the kids are holding a strike. Meeks and Stern are for the strike. They said someone didn’t approve of his teaching methods and told on him. Everyone knows it’s Booker. The students come up with a list of demands (rehire Easley, fire Booker, free pop, and phones) Booker’s side appears, he admits he did it, and restricts them for a day from the rec room and food. Before he leaves, Booker says he enjoyed their chat and pats him on the shoulder. This makes him look like he’s the one that told. This causes Alex to shove and punch Elijah.
After the fight, Elijah is taken away-behind the iron gates to the mansion- while Elisha kicks and screams crying out to take her inside. He moughts to her to go. He’ll be ok. Elijah is left alone in a room in the mansion He steps into the bathroom and when he goes back into the bedroom there’s no longer wood paneling. It’s all blue! Even the hallway looks different. Even the coordinates her wrote are different. Alex somehow gets Booker’s thugs and police squad to turn to his side. With this he’s able to over power Booker. Then it gets crazy! Kids start chasing the teachers and spraying them with pop and the teacher’s run for their lives.
Elijah finds himself in an odd series of rooms that seem to be illusions. Elisha and (Mariah formerally Cher and Alice) search Bingham’s office for a phone but everything inside is fake (only for show). Alex later holds a meeting where he declares himself in charge and threatens the other students if they’re not on his side he’ll break their arm (curtesy of Rory). He makes then wear their neck ties around their head or arm to show unity. Elisha doesn’t bow down to his dictatorship. These use Warren as a demonstration to Elisha what happens to those who defy him. Weirdly, he acts as if he hasn’t heard of Easely or Jerry.
Wherever it is that Elijah is, he leans against a tree and starts to fall and fall and fall. There’s a black out and when Elisha finds her way to her room, she discovers someone has sabatauged her radio. She realizes the people in the mansion must know she and her brother aren’t runaways. Mariah realizes the people have cut the power and reveals her name is Joan. Then she tells her about a boy that’s name was “Mick” but she and Alex called him “Alvin”. Elisha tells him his real name was Harold. Then Elisha tells her (her) real name. It turns out “Alexander” is Harold.
She and Mariah find a phone that works, but Alex finds them. It’s a trap. Joanne has led Alex straight to Elisha. While Elisha fights off Rory and Alex, she’s able to reach her dad’s phone and give the coordinates to their location. She heads for the mansion to find her brother. Elisha escapes a bear and finds a room. Before long, she’s reunited with Elijah. But when she tries to follow him she finds herself in a control center and Mr. Bingham, Mr. Booker, and Mr. Easely are there. Their viewing the tool room and Alex, Ramon, and some of the others.
They say they’ve picked certain types that think but only follows and will do anything as long as their pleasure. There’s also a audience in the book. They were choosen to see if their truths could be broken -Elisha and Elijah that is-. They have vido’s and play back certain scenes to demonstrate their points. Bingham says they’re ready for the final phase. The teachers use a hologram of Elisha to play mind games with Elijah. Nate and Sarah track down the man who ran the front desk and Nelson Farmer. While Sarah assaults Nelson-with his own gun- the other man gets away. Nate gives chase but the little man has been caught by a bunch of deputies. They also have Nelson who they say lured them there to kill them like he did Alvin. The red-haired woman Marian Winger-was an associate.
He's been using data to get runways for experimentation. Elisha sends her brother a message through finger taps. Bingham watches in hopes that by this point his mind will be erased and ready to accept the input from his sister. If this happens it will be the first step to global control. Elisha tho continues to tap out the message Truth is just what you make it, whatever you want it to be, and no matter what you choose, it isn't wrong if you sincerely feel it . Bingham sees a mob forming at the gates of the mansion-made up of the other students-. He tells them they’ve reached the end of the experiment and to get ready to evacuate.
Elijah appears to go crazy on screen and starts to sing. This means the experiment was a success-or so the teachers think- but he’s figured out a pattern from his sister’s tapping. Six seconds. If he acts in an unpredictable way there’s a blink coming from a projector. He spots the projector and breaks it. Then he finds a way out of the room holding him captive and the illusions vanish.
As the students storm the mansion, Elisha realizes it’s a fake. They’ve been lured there and locked in. Elisha is thrown in too. She and the others watch as the campus around them goes up in smoke. Elijah is able to see past the fog and finds the control center. He eventually figures out how to stop the building his sister and the others are in just in time. Nate thanks to the hotel owner finds out there’s a tunnel that’s the only exit to the campus. He gets a man with a bull dozer to get the kids out of the trapped mansion. Oh and the wild bears turn out to be robots.
My Thoughts:
“We are free people because we live according to what we know is right or wrong. If Truth is taken from us, then Right and Wrong are taken from us as well. If we don’t know Right and Wrong then we can’t we won’t control ourselves but will look to some one else to bring order though brute force and raw power. We will be controlled by a tyrant and we will no longer be free and don’t count on that tyrant to be kind or merciful, He has no sense of right and wrong either and will do to us whever he wants.”
“The Knight Moore project was an experiment to discover what would happen to people when there is no truth, to observe and record what people can do when pushed to the extreme with no ultimate moral foundations. It was an attempt by people hungry for power to find the most effective way to rob people of their freedom: The conclusion: Take away the truth and a tyrant will rule.”
While I was thinking about what to say about this book, I read the last chapter a second time and this statement stuck out to me the most. It really describes the whole book. It made me think of something very important. It really is something to think about. Then oddly I kept thinking of this old cartoon. I think the episode was called “One Jem Too Many” Where in the episode Jem was taken to a fake mansion for “her birthday”. And it was an elaborate hoax to find out her real identity. But the mansion was sit up just like the Starlight Mansion and there was also a control room where the Misfits where watching. Lots of similarities.
Rating: 7
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 18, 2018
If I'm being honest, I didn't enjoy this second book as much as I did the first one. Being as this book was published in 2002 and there have not been any more additions to this series, apparently the author decided to not continue on. I'm not sure why because I do still believe the concept had potential, simply the plot for this particular one just wasn't able to fully deliver for me.
The point of the series was to follow the Springfield Family, a family of undercover agents, who work for a secret organization funded by the government. They get their assignments handed down from the President himself in an indirect sort of way and all the President wants is for someone to go into the given situation with a fresh set of eyes and whom he can trust will report back to him the truth. Both novels were heavy on exposing truth in every form. Each novel is its own stand alone story, with simply the same reoccurring characters.
Most assignments this family are given have a strange reason that makes them qualified. Since the Springfield family are Christians they find themselves constantly having to battle nonbelievers in various everyday situations. It's refreshing to see how they handle themselves.
The beginning of this book started out on a strong note. A missing teenager is found wandering and ends up in a psych ward repeating Nightmare Academy. Come to determine lots of runaways have gone missing. So the Springfields spring into action placing their two teenagers undercover as homeless runaways and off they go on their journey to this strange Academy that appears to attempt to convince all the kids there is no right or wrong. With no right and no wrong, ciaos ensues!
The plus side: I found myself wondering where this story was trying to go and what was going to happen. I was unable to figure out where he was attempting to ultimately lead the reader. The novel was not short on excitement and suspense scenes. The down side: I found myself bored with all of the back and forth "no right/no wrong; both/and" arguments and disappointed at the end of the read. It was as if the story got somehow lost along the way and the climax just wasn't all that exciting.
The point of the series was to follow the Springfield Family, a family of undercover agents, who work for a secret organization funded by the government. They get their assignments handed down from the President himself in an indirect sort of way and all the President wants is for someone to go into the given situation with a fresh set of eyes and whom he can trust will report back to him the truth. Both novels were heavy on exposing truth in every form. Each novel is its own stand alone story, with simply the same reoccurring characters.
Most assignments this family are given have a strange reason that makes them qualified. Since the Springfield family are Christians they find themselves constantly having to battle nonbelievers in various everyday situations. It's refreshing to see how they handle themselves.
The beginning of this book started out on a strong note. A missing teenager is found wandering and ends up in a psych ward repeating Nightmare Academy. Come to determine lots of runaways have gone missing. So the Springfields spring into action placing their two teenagers undercover as homeless runaways and off they go on their journey to this strange Academy that appears to attempt to convince all the kids there is no right or wrong. With no right and no wrong, ciaos ensues!
The plus side: I found myself wondering where this story was trying to go and what was going to happen. I was unable to figure out where he was attempting to ultimately lead the reader. The novel was not short on excitement and suspense scenes. The down side: I found myself bored with all of the back and forth "no right/no wrong; both/and" arguments and disappointed at the end of the read. It was as if the story got somehow lost along the way and the climax just wasn't all that exciting.
October 14, 2009
Review by Gretchen Hoffman
A fifteen-year-old boy shows up along a highway interstate. He doesn’t know his name, how to dress himself, and has no memory of what’s happened to him. He simply repeats the words, “Nightmare Academy.”
This is when teenage detectives Elijah and Elisha come into play. They go undercover as runaways where the boy and his friend were last seen before their disappearance. The twins are quickly headed on the right track, but things change when they too disappear. They investigate the going-ons but are unable to contact anyone from where they are. But once they find out what’s really happening, will they have a chance to escape and save themselves?
Peretti is a master storyteller with mystery novels, and this one is no exception. This book is a little darker than some of his other novels, and while it’s good, it is a bit creepy. I read this book when it first came out, and the one scene where Elijah quotes the Ten Commandments has stuck in my mind ever since. This is one of those books that’s intriguing, discusses some deep ideas, and will stick in your mind long after you’ve read it. If you’re a Peretti fan, have read book one in the series, or are into mysteries, this is one for you.
A fifteen-year-old boy shows up along a highway interstate. He doesn’t know his name, how to dress himself, and has no memory of what’s happened to him. He simply repeats the words, “Nightmare Academy.”
This is when teenage detectives Elijah and Elisha come into play. They go undercover as runaways where the boy and his friend were last seen before their disappearance. The twins are quickly headed on the right track, but things change when they too disappear. They investigate the going-ons but are unable to contact anyone from where they are. But once they find out what’s really happening, will they have a chance to escape and save themselves?
Peretti is a master storyteller with mystery novels, and this one is no exception. This book is a little darker than some of his other novels, and while it’s good, it is a bit creepy. I read this book when it first came out, and the one scene where Elijah quotes the Ten Commandments has stuck in my mind ever since. This is one of those books that’s intriguing, discusses some deep ideas, and will stick in your mind long after you’ve read it. If you’re a Peretti fan, have read book one in the series, or are into mysteries, this is one for you.
October 19, 2017
A serviceable teen fiction by the inimitable Frank Peretti, that, while well written, wacks the reader over the head with the simple idea that truth is truth, and that subjective personal truth is a lie, to the extent that nothing makes sense other than that. There's some good drama, and even action sections, but the over complicated plot, all too simplistic villain motivation of "world domination," and the unsatisfyingly sudden ending make this a fun but forgettable read.
May 21, 2008
This one was a little more...freaky, than Hangman's Curse. I liked it, but not as much. It just made me feel...trapped. Kind of the way I feel when I try to watch Alice in Wonderland. I get this weird, trapped feeling...the creepy stuff just messes with my head a certain way... I was SO relieved when they finally got out of that nightmare!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 17, 2016
Understanding that this book must be read through the eyes of a student (it's intended reader), still "Nightmare Academy" comes across as just what it appears that it is - the last volume in a series cut short. The Veritas Project is a good idea, but the project shapes the flow of the book so much that the story falls flat. Not his best work.
November 9, 2010
kind of confusing in the beggining
June 14, 2017
What I thought about the book is that it is creepy. In the beginning there was a boy who didn't know who he was it was like his memory was washed away but he kept on saying Nightmare Academy
October 6, 2011
This book in the series was a lot better than the first. Frank peretti is awesome.
February 16, 2023
The two main Characters Elijah and Elisha were phenomenal The whole point of this was to ask the simple question - What would happen if we lived with according to our OWN truth while ignoring inherent truth? And because God is truth the real question is, what would happen if we lived without God?
It was startling with how blunt the lesson was (in a good way) and how accurate it was to what is happening today, this book aged well. I will admit I found it difficult to first get started into this book. I think it is because the previous book I read by Peretti was an Adult Christian Fiction (The Oath) while this was a YA and for some reason my mind didn't register that.
These kids were great though, it teaches the reader the value in sticking to truth while also addressing one of the biggest partial truths in the world: power is real truth. While power is very important in this world to the secular and Christians, Power comes in trusting the Lord the most powerful being of existence who is our Lord and Savior and creator of all, whereas power that is sought after in the secular is for selfish gain which never leads to anything good. The story really did a good job in showing the two dynamics of this.
And when it comes to 'personal truth' and inherent truth, I loved being able to see the pure frustration with the double standards that is required in order for everyone to embrace their truth and how awful it is. truly a world of danger and no justice or order.
Frank also brings this down to one thing that we are seeing right now, that the world is after our children, the youth to bring people chaos and finding new ways to control them by implementing things into curriculum, movies, songs and other media sources in order to condition a new norm of wickedness. We see this with books being brought out into school districts that are awful (that is the nicest way to say it) and with new songs, films and ideologies that are more and more perverse as the days progress.
This book was entertaining and again aged exceedingly well. We even get to see the hardships of being the one against the world that hates truth which means it hates God. It speaks of how to stay strong during that situation and the numbing torture that comes with being placed in an echo chamber where we aren't allowed to think for ourselves and be critical.
This book just had so much, And I think this book should be one part of the educational curriculum. I enjoyed every bit of it and the audiobook is read by the author who sounds like the uncle who just knows how to tell a good story and should be doing it as a living. And the sound effects were priceless.
Christian or not, I would HIGHLY recommend.
It was startling with how blunt the lesson was (in a good way) and how accurate it was to what is happening today, this book aged well. I will admit I found it difficult to first get started into this book. I think it is because the previous book I read by Peretti was an Adult Christian Fiction (The Oath) while this was a YA and for some reason my mind didn't register that.
These kids were great though, it teaches the reader the value in sticking to truth while also addressing one of the biggest partial truths in the world: power is real truth. While power is very important in this world to the secular and Christians, Power comes in trusting the Lord the most powerful being of existence who is our Lord and Savior and creator of all, whereas power that is sought after in the secular is for selfish gain which never leads to anything good. The story really did a good job in showing the two dynamics of this.
And when it comes to 'personal truth' and inherent truth, I loved being able to see the pure frustration with the double standards that is required in order for everyone to embrace their truth and how awful it is. truly a world of danger and no justice or order.
Frank also brings this down to one thing that we are seeing right now, that the world is after our children, the youth to bring people chaos and finding new ways to control them by implementing things into curriculum, movies, songs and other media sources in order to condition a new norm of wickedness. We see this with books being brought out into school districts that are awful (that is the nicest way to say it) and with new songs, films and ideologies that are more and more perverse as the days progress.
This book was entertaining and again aged exceedingly well. We even get to see the hardships of being the one against the world that hates truth which means it hates God. It speaks of how to stay strong during that situation and the numbing torture that comes with being placed in an echo chamber where we aren't allowed to think for ourselves and be critical.
This book just had so much, And I think this book should be one part of the educational curriculum. I enjoyed every bit of it and the audiobook is read by the author who sounds like the uncle who just knows how to tell a good story and should be doing it as a living. And the sound effects were priceless.
Christian or not, I would HIGHLY recommend.
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