Customer Reviews

This Present Darkness

5 star:		(109)
4 star:		(31)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

Unlike the Left Behind series, which were dragged on book after book... both of Peretti's darkness series grabbed my interest. This Christian author went beyond the usual 'Christian writing guidelines' and actually grabbed my attention with a real story. Both stories and characters were believable and likable. He took a biblical subject, and shaped it into something we can understand. Although many would rate these books as cartoon-ish, I actually like the idea of spiritual forces fighting on my behalf. It also helps to look beyond the mean person to something greater, with it's talons dug upon his/her head. :)

Wow. That pretty much describes this tense thriller by my favorite author, Frank Peretti. It actually surprised me that this book was written in 1986 - it's not dated at all, and the things that the characters deal with are still very current. This book isn't for sissys - it's at times downright scary (especially for Christians like me who believe that it's all real.) This book is a page-turner - I couldn't put it down. Its fantastic and frighteningly realistic at the same time. I absolutely loved it, both as an enjoyable read and a frightening way of looking at posession, exorcism, and sin.

This is by far one of the worst books in existance.

First of all, the writing itself is poor. The characters are sterotypes, the Christians painted as being 'good' and 'holy' people, with absolutely no depth and no life beyond their bible thumping existance. The 'evil' characters, all liberals or Pagans, are portrayed as being totally evil, with no redeeming factors or any realistic character traits. The descriptions are over the top, going into macabre, dark demon filled scenes whenever the Pagans are involved (to heighten the 'evil' sterotype apprently), and the Christians are described as all light and pure and surrounded by glowing angels. The storyline is laughable because the heavy sterotyping demeans any message it tries to have, but beyond the book's silliness is one of the most terrifing hate messages I've seen, one that puts even Left Behind to shame.

The truth is, these sterotypes are not how the world works, Mr. Peretti. What the the truth actually is is that this is the most horrifing hate properganda book I've ever had the misfortune to see pubished.

As a New Age/Pagan reader, I was shocked and appaled that so many people seem to be taking the book's message to heart. I'd like to point out to all the glowing five star reviews that this is FICTION - poorly written fiction at that. New Agers, Pagans and Wiccans are not evil - bigotry is. And this obviously fictional novel is chock full of that, and should be avoided by any Christian who tries to live a truely good life.

Religious tolerence is already sadly lacking among the hyper conseritive Christian community, books like this only continue a cycle of hate. Toss this in the trash and read some Harry Potter instead. You'll be the better for it.

This book, Peretti's first adult effort, constitutes a pioneering effort of Christian literature. Here Peretti delves into spiritual matters, both Christian fundamentalism and Eastern mysticism. He reaches down into our inner-most fears and touches us on a deep, almost primal level. He exposes those "things that go bump in the night". Peretti reveals a world within our world, one filled with powerful, malevolant creatures bent on world domination and the pure, righteous beings that oppose them. Both sides use humans and the human spirits as catalysts to achieve their ends. This book is about the most basic struggle between good and evil, as presented in the Bible: demons vs angels. It presents how fundamental Judeo-Christian morals and ethics help defend against spiritual darkness. And it expands upon the Bible to give a possible scenario on how these spiritual battles may be fought.
Much of what Peretti has written about in this book is his own interpretation of how fundamental Christian Biblical teachings fit into this spiritual war. No matter what your faith, this book should get you thinking about how the world works. Are angels real? Are demons real? Can or does this kind of struggle exist right under our "work-a-day", oblivious noses? Peretti takes us on a journey to show us the spiritual battle that may be taking place everyday in America, with the fate of our very souls in the balance of the outcome. This book literally began the fantasy Christian genre, where everyday life is presented as a battle for dominion between good and evil spirits. Many books by various authors followed this one, with the "Left Behind" series being the most popular to date. I think fantasy and fiction fans alike will enjoy this book, especially if they keep an open mind about the possibility of this being truly how life is out there. Christian peoples of all denominations should enjoy and be encouraged by this book. The only drawback to it is the poor character development; often characters appear to be almost wooden or cardboard cut outs, often either really good, really bad, or really clueless, with little of the true complexity of mankind in place. But this problem is soon corrected in Peretti's subsequent offerings, such as the sequel, Piercing the Darkness. I highly recommend these books to any and all takers.

I realize it's fiction. But I think Peretti, through his writing, is giving us a great deal of insight into the spirit world. His angels. His demons. His humans!

It's important to me that there's more to gain here than just a good read. If entertainment is all there is to it, there are thousands of well writen secular novels already. But Peretti's novel is edifying and affirming to me as a Christian, a Christian that believes there's more out there than just the sweet by-and-by.

The Bible itself shows us that angels are among us. And Peretti shows us how and what they're doing.

If you read some of my other reviews, you know I'm a Peretti fan. This was one of the first novels I read, and I really enjoyed it.

This book chronicles the small college town of Ashton, and its struggling pastor Hank Busche, and local journalist Marshall Hogan. Unseen by them is the whole cool part of the story: Tal, Captain of Hosts of the Armies of God is leading a defense of the town from an attempted take-over by head demon Rafar, and his cohorts.

The plot is more complicated than that, but that's the gist of it.

Many people disagree with the theology of this book: humans having direct impact on the angel-demon wars by rebuking the demons by name...names, by the way, such as Lust, Fear, and Hate. It does bring the spiritual warfare side a little closer, and make you want to prayer more, but not too many people believe in this kind of conflict. But the Bible does tell us that our struggle is against the powers of darkness in the heavenly realms.

It's a great action-read, and is also full of spiritual insight and teaching.

This Present Darkness takes place in the small town of Ashton, where trouble from the occult is brewing. Marshal, a newspaper editor is having questions about faith, his daughter, and her teacher. Hank, a young pastor, is on the verge of being fired and being replaced by a secular person. The demons of Ashton are stirring. Tal, the leader of the angels during the fall of Babylon, has come to the angelic forces of Ashton. The prayer cover has nearly vanished, and the anels are losing power. Hank has had trouble with demon-possessed people, and Marshal was physically assaulted by a demon. ... A truly spiritual book, full of mystery, adventure, and amazing truths.

This Present Darkness has placed itself on the top of my list! From the moment I started reading I couldn't put it down. Frank Peretti has a very intriguing way of writing.

I have also read Tilly and The Oath...my next will be Piercing The Darkness.

It's a great book and I recommend it to all readers!

I started this book over the summer and just recently finished it. What a powerful book! The events that occured were so real, and so scary! It took me a while to get into, but I am so glad I stuck with it. It is definately worth the read!

Absolutely the most awesome book I have ever read!!! Just read it for yourself.