This Present Darkness by Frank E. Peretti Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of This Present Darkness
Book Review: An exciting read with some issues
Summary: 3 Stars
This book certainly has an interesting perspective on spiritual warfare. It takes the words of the Bible and makes them extremely literal, in my take. The characters in the book are average, nothing super memorable about the characters. The strongest characters were Hank and Marshal, other than these characters, the others were a little underdeveloped and one dimensional. They came off somewhat weak as well, as the angels and demons had so much control over everything that happened. I believe the angels and demons had to much control. Every wrong thing that happened was because of the Demons and every good thing was from the angels. I believe this sort of perspective of spiritual warfare takes away from the problem of human sin. Hank mentioned at one pointed in the book that a certain character had to become saved not because of their sins, but because this was the only way of stopping the evil caused by the Demons. Meaning if you don't want bad things to happen to you or have a demon take total control over you, you had become saved. Not because of your own personal sin. Though the book did redeem its self near the end in sharing the whole Gospel truth. Also the use of Jesus name I felt was abused. The book sometimes seem to make Jesus just into a magic word that only cast demons away. Jesus name is more, I wanted to know more about the person of Jesus Christ, who was, and who he is. Not simple a word you shout to cast of evil spirits. I also believe the Holy Spirit should had more control over the believers life, I don't believe angels have that much direct control over someones life. There are several other things as well which I will not mention here. But overall the book is good at showing the power of praying and the importance of being in spiritual community, the importance of the Church.Book Review: Angels and Demons Collide
Summary: 5 Stars
I remember reading this when it first came out. Someone suggested I might like Frank Peretti and so I picked it up when I came across it in the bookstore. I hadn't read anything like it before and what I liked was the way he showed the angels working as the human's prayed and needed help. It was like you were getting two adventures in one almost.
The I think the book fairly reflects what's going on today as people of new age beliefs get into our education system and other places, Christian ideas are shut out while doors are open to everything else. Secular society is a mix of everything and people get to pick and choose. But in some places you don't get the choice of Christianity unless you're already Christian.
I do like the way the Characters operated. Pastor Hank is a good pastor and has a helpful wife, clear lines of good versus evil are drawn and the angels were great and had distinctive personalities. Is it horror? I don't know. I would consider it occult/fantasy.
Book Review: Awesome
Summary: 5 Stars
I have not finished reading this book yet, but from what I have read so far it is an outstanding book. A friend recommended it to me after reading it and I have not been dissapointed yet!Book Review: Changed the way I think of angels and demons
Summary: 5 Stars
Review by Jill Williamson
Bernice Krueger, reporter for the Ashton Chronicle, finds herself in jail after being in the wrong place at the wrong time. She came to Ashton to investigate the supposed suicide of her sister. Now, she and her boss, Marshall Hogan, start investigating some strange occurrences in town.
Hank Busche is a small town pastor who is trying to keep his argumentative congregation from falling apart. Little does he know, there are dark forces in town that are set on seeing him fail. As demons characters carry out their assignments, Marshall and Hank become more determined to discover the truth. But can two men fight a host of demons they cannot see? And why is the host of heaven standing around and watching? Aren't they going to do anything to stop this evil plot from taking over the town?
Wow. This book has changed the way I think of angels and demons. There are many references in the Bible that lead me to believe there is a spiritual war going on around us that we can't see. But never have I read anything to give me such a clear picture of how that might look. In Daniel 10, Daniel has a vision of an angel coming to speak to him. The angel says in verses 12-14, "Do not be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them. But the prince of the Persian kingdom resisted me twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, because I was detained there with the king of Persia. Now I have come to explain to you what will happen to your people in the future, for the vision concerns a time yet to come."
This has always amazed me. That God told this angel to come and talk to Daniel, but the angel got held up fighting some demon over in Persia. In the Bible, angels are sometimes referred to as princes. I believe this angel was talking about how he was fighting with the prince of the Persian kingdom, who was a fallen angel, or demon, since he was resisting one of the host of heaven. It's this idea that Peretti builds his story around. The idea that there are angels and demons waging war around us in a dimension that we cannot see. They can see us, but we can't see them. And in Peretti's story, the demons want to rule Ashton and the angels are there to make sure God's plan prevails.
This Present Darkness is an awesome story. Marshall, Bernice, and Hank slowly stumble onto the truth and have to work together to save Ashton. I love how Peretti showed the angels as mighty warriors interacting with one another. I also loved how Peretti showed the power of prayer. I kept rooting for the characters to pray, already! This book was thrilling, scary, amazing, and brilliant. I can't say enough wonderful things about it. Everyone should read this book at least once in their life, if not over and over again.
Book Review: Character also seen as important
Summary: 4 Stars
Though I've grown out of my "dramatic battles of angels and demons" phase, I still think this is a good book for the young-adult set. Though Peretti's moral focus is not as strong as that of CS Lewis' timeless classic "The Screwtape Letters" Peretti does have an ethical framework that prevents his flashy storytelling from turning into dangerous sensationalism. For example, Pastor Hank (the book's protagonist) is a loving husband and father, the head of a functional family, whose sermons focus on topics such as marital fidelity rather than fire and brimstone. Evil is seen not only in witchcraft, but in child abuse and drug addiction. Pastor Hank's flock has no political agenda. They use prayer and church debate, not violence and partisanship, to bring about the final victory. If you're looking for some hard-core moral instruction, go with Lewis. Otherwise, this book is harmless fun for those whose spirituality includes some dramatic flare.