52 Books in 52 Weeks: Book 31: "House" by Frank Peretti & Ted Dekker

Two traveling couples are stranded on the same night and end up at The Wayside Inn - a deserted stop off a backwoods road in rural Alabama.  At first, the inn looks pleasant enough though their hosts seem a bit strange.  But their dinner conversation becomes tense, and then the acutal meal becomes even worse.  And that is just the beginning of a night when they are forced to play a horrible game & the house itself begins to turn on them. 

So far, I would rank this book at the bottom of the ones I have read by Dekker.  It's been a long time since I've read anything by Peretti.  I read "This Present Darkness" when it came out years ago, but I don't think I've read anything of his since.  This book was a bit disappointing because the whole plot seemed so formulaic for a horror story.  Strangers come together into what turns into a high stress environment.  A killer pits them against one another.  Events in their past that they have tried to bury are revealed & used against them.  You check into a hotel, but you cannot check out.  Welcome to the Hotel California....or is that the Roach Motel?   

I understand there is a movie based on this book.  I wondered if that was even part of the plan as the book was written, because the end of the book certainly seems to set you up for a sequel. 

One element I did like was the one foreshadowed in the quote on the first page before the prologue - "The light came into the darkness, but the darkness did not understand it."  I thought the way that was developed in the story was interesting.

Ok for a run-of-the-mill horror/suspense novel.  But not one of my favorites.

Sojourner

52 Books in 52 Weeks: Book 30: "Thr3e" By Ted Dekker

Seminary student Kevin Parsons receives a chilling call on his cell phone as he is heading down the highway.  A man calling himself Slater claims to be from Kevin's past, and demands that Kevin call the local newspaper and confess his deepest secret sin in 3 minutes...or Slater will blow his car to bits.  The problem is, Kevin has no idea what sin Slater is talking about.  And he barely manages to get his car into a ditch and get safely out before the car indeed explodes three minutes later.  This is only the beginning of a sinister game that Slater plays with Kevin - teasing him with riddles & driving him crazy trying to get him to confess this sin that Kevin can't remember.  Who is Slater, and what is he after?

I ruined some of the suspense of this book for myself by going on Amazon and reading reviews from a few dissatisfied readers who didn't like the ending & decided to reveal it in their reviews.  However, there was still plenty to enjoy in this masterful work of psychological suspense and mystery crafted by Dekker.  In this case, he has managed to take an interesting view of the basic human condition and turn it into a thriller.  Personally, I thought the ending was brilliant.  But if you're going to read this and you want to save the surprises for the end - don't read the negative reviews on Amazon.

Sojourner

52 Books in 52 Weeks: Book 29: "Nineteen Minutes" by Jodi Picoult

The morning of March 6, 2007 was peaceful and calm in the quiet little town of Sterling, New Hampshire.  That is, until Peter Houghton walked into the high school and opened fire on fellow students and teachers, killing 10 and wounding 19 others. A shattered and grieving town slowly begins to pick up the pieces. Alex Cormier is one parent who counts herself lucky that her daughter Josie survived the incident with merely a scratch.  Alex is also the sitting superior court judge for the district, and plans to preside over Peter Houghton's trial. Since Josie was not injured, her objectivity will not be an issue.  But, as the investigation and trial discovery continues, surprising things come to light about Josie's involvement with Peter Houghton in the past.

What I really love about Picoult's novels is the way she takes an issue with simplified cultural stereotypes (i.e. school shooters are always kids with severe emotional problems and neglectful parents) and broadens them, helping the reader to think more deeply about these issues.  Can the responsibility for incidents like these be placed solely on the shooter and his parents? Or on school officials?  What about the parents of the victims, who looked the other way when their kids were viciously bullying this boy from kindergarten on?  School bullying was a big theme in this novel, and Picoult shows how, particularly in a small town, kids can get stuck with an identity others put on them from a very early age, and feel trapped.  I know if I hear of another school shooting in the media (and, unfortunately, I'm sure that's a "when" not an "if"), this novel will remind me that the issues and causes go so much deeper than any soundbite we're going to hear on TV.  

Sojourner

52 Books in 52 Weeks: Book 28: "Directed Virdict" by Randy Singer

Charles Reed, a Christian missionary in Saudi Arabia, is brutally tortured and murdered by the Muttawah - the Saudi religious police.  They also abuse his wife and frame the couple; accusing them of being at the head of a ring of cocaine dealers who are using their network of underground churches to distribute the drug.  Sara escapes and is extradited to the United States.  There she obtains the young Brad Carlson as her the legal council.  Before long, Carlson finds himself embroiled in a legal battle that will threaten the very fabric of US foreign relations in the middle east.  And, it causes divisions in his own practice.  Leading him to wonder who he can really trust...

I throughly enjoyed this novel.  It was full of twists and turns, and kept me guessing until the end. It was the first one I've read by Singer & I'm glad I found him.  He's written a number of other legal dramas.  That's one of my favorite genres, so I'll be sure to add some more of his works to my list.

Sojourner