House

Ted Dekker & Frank Peretti

Summary:

Frank Peretti and Ted Dekker – two of the most acclaimed writers of supernatural thrillers – have joined forces for the first time to craft a story unlike any you’ve ever read. Enter House – where you’ll find yourself thrown into a killer’s deadly game in which the only way to win is to lose...and the only way out is in.

One game. Seven Players. Three Rules. Game ends at dawn.

Plot:

First of all, I’m a big fan of Ted Dekker, and while I’ve only read one of Peretti’s novels I really enjoyed that too, so naturally I was expecting a lot from these two’s combined work. The story started of kind of confusing, and honestly I didn’t have any idea where the authors were going untill the last quarter of the book. At the start the story intrigued me, but I got bored in the middle with all the scary imagery, and just wanted the actual story to move along. It was terrifying and disturbing and creepy, yes, but I would’ve liked something more from the story instead of just horrifying things happening all the time. I did, however really like the ending, but I feel like these two could’ve done something more with the story. The twists weren’t surprising enough and I kind of guessed what was going to happen before it did, which is not something I look for in either of these writers' novels.

Characters:

The characters were pretty well handled. Even though all of them are very damaged, and even unlikable at times, you still root for them (this is something Dekker seems to have an aptitude for). Some of the characters are frightening, some are really disturbing (or just disturbed) and some are just normal people in extremely unusual situations. My favourite main character is undoubtedly Jack, because he is the truest and most likable of them all.

Who should read this:

16+, this book has some really creepy elements in it, and is also quite confusing. There is very little language or sexual content, but the violence and scary parts are really intense. I definitely don’t recommend this to anyone who is sensitive to things like that. If you enjoy thrillers, but want them to be clean (relatively speaking) you should definitely check out Dekker or Peretti’s stories, but I feel like there are better ones to choose from.

My rating:

While I didn’t hate this book, it disappointed me a bit and I feel like it could’ve been so much better. But, there were some parts that I really enjoyed so 3/5.

Quote:

The light came into the darkness, and the darkness did not understand it.