House

by Ted Dekker and Frank Peretti

WestBow Press - a division of Thomas Nelson Publishing

On a deserted back road in Alabama, Jack and Stephanie find themselves driving fast and running late. Their world suddenly changes when a strange accident leaves them stranded with no car, no cell phone coverage, and no help in sight. They have no choice except to continue on foot. As darkness approaches, they round a bend and see a small sign at the top of a long gravel driveway: THE WAYSIDE INN.
The exhausted couple stands in front of an inviting house, complete with a gated stone wall, ancient oak trees, and a note welcoming weary travelers. Inside they find another couple with an equally troubling story about a similar accident. It seems that backwoods pranksters have made their day miserable. Still, they are safe . . .

Or so they think.

This is the first book that I have read from the collaboration of the two powerhouses of Frank Peretti and Ted Dekker. I have had the wonderful opportunity to read books that these two authors have written before, but this is their only collaboration. I loved the two books of Peretti's that I have read (This Present Darkness and Piercing The Darkness), and I have yet to read a Dekker book that doesn't move me, so I was really looking forward to sitting down with the sum of these two incredible geniuses. I was in no way disappointed.

I will admit that I saw the movie before reading the book, but it had been such a long time since I had seen it that I had forgotten just about everything about it, so that didn't ruin too much for me.
I really can't tell who wrote the majority of the book because it really reads like a stand-alone Dekker book AND a stand-alone Peretti book. I think that that truly shows the skill of the authors, and how they approached the story with a like mind. If you have read a book by either of these authors you will find yourself in familiar territory, stylistically. The boys introduce the protagonists right in the middle of a fight, and it goes downhill for them from there. They are driving through the backwoods of Alabama, on their way to a marriage counseling appointment, when they suddenly find themselves being chased by a Highway Patrol officer. As they slow down to pull over, the cruiser almost rear-ends them, then it speeds off. As they continue on from that disturbing scene, they meet an incredible set of circumstances that place them in an unforgettable evening with a very surprising set of people.

I am a fan of thrillers. That's one reason why I love Dekker's body of work so much; he is a spectacular writer. Even so, there is only one book of his that set me on edge while reading it, and that was the book 'Adam'. The only reason (that I can think of) that 'Adam' got to me was because it is a book dealing with the subject of demon possession. 'House' actually creeped me out. There is something about the way that they presented the subject matter that just got under my skin and I couldn't read too much of it before going to bed. Not that it gave me nightmares per sé, but that it was just unsettling. That, and that alone, is enough for me to recommend this book to anyone who loves thrillers! Obviously, because of the genre, you can expect that good triumphs over evil -- but it's in the journey that you find yourself sitting on the edge of your seat, jumping at any sound that your own house makes, and racing through the pages to see how it all turns out.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."