House is a very disappointing supernatural/horror story by Frank Peretti and Ted Dekker.

The premise is a really good one: a couple experiencing marital difficulties, on a road trip through the middle of nowhere in Alabama, find themselves stranded on the side of the road with their tires blown out. They find a big Victorian house not far away and are let in by the owners, where another couple, also experiencing car trouble, stay. Unfortunately, the owners and guests are locked in by a mysterious psychopath named White, who issues an ultimatum: they’ll be allowed to leave if one of the group is dead by dawn. If not, White will kill all of them. Or something like that.

Sounds promising, but it didn’t turn out like I had hoped.

Unfortunately, I didn’t know going in that Peretti and Dekker were writers of Christian fiction. There was a lot of people trusting in God and in each other and rediscovering their love to save themselves and all that boring nonsense. Maybe it could have been more successful with a lighter touch, but the “lessons” were really heavy handed. Plus, the ending didn’t entirely make sense, and the whole mystery of who White is was never solved. I googled later, and apparently this was supposed to take place in the same universe as some of their other stories, where I guess you get to learn more about the antagonist (who became, immediately, the most interesting part of the story and was never elaborated on).

All in all, it wasn’t the worst book I ever picked up, but I certainly am in no rush to read more stories by these guys. Thanks but no thanks, boring Christian novelists.

Apparently this bizarre and disappointing book was also made into a film for some reason. I read the synopsis of the film. It looks even worse than the book. Wild.

Tagged: authors: frank peretti, authors: ted dekker, books: house, genre: horror/terror, genre: supernatural, genre: suspense/thriller