Book Review: Piercing the Darkness
Book: "Piercing The Darkness"
Author: Frank Peretti
Available: At most online bookstores
Background: This was the follow-up to Peretti's phenomenal "This Present Darkness." While not a sequel in the truest sense of the word, it still nonetheless drew from the character pool created for the first novel and even expanded on some of those characters.
Summary: This time around, a private Christian school is under attack for "child abuse" and under attack for coming against the inclusion of "New Age" type material in public school curriculums. Several of the angels from the first novel make an appearance, as do many of the human characters from the first novel, here serving in mainly an "advisory" role.
Mad Parts:
+ For the little jab at George Lucas' New Age beliefs. Yeah, yeah, I'm the hugest Star Wars fan out there, but it was still fun.
+ For the demonic possessions scenes with the little girl and her "friend." Pretty scary stuff… not "Exorcist" scary, but scary nonetheless.
Mad Props:
+ For not entirely rehashing the first novel and adding extra "issues" to further complicate matters for the protagonists. The pieces with the Christian school coming under attack were cool.
Mad Slops:
+ For drawing too much from the first novel. There was a whole lotta' new stuff, but it was still not as good as the first novel, in terms of originality and creativity.
Mad Minister's Verdict: If you read and enjoyed the first novel, then by all means, pick this book up. It's a good, solid read and I had no real problems with it. It's pretty straight-forward, but seemed to drag in parts where the "mentally afflicted" character was featured. Some might say those were the best parts, but hey, everybody's entitled to their opinion.
Mad Points: 2.5 outta' 5.