Okay, i don't know if anyone has heard of him, but I'm going to vent... I read 'House'.
Good grief! I *hate* Ted Dekkar. Why would Peretti ever write a book with Dekkar?
Peretti is so out of Dekkar's league.
I mean, even the books of his that I thought were lame (<Ahem> The Darkness books) were waaaaay better than Ted Dekkar's!
Peretti was getting so much Better, and now this feels like a major step back.
I realize that the book has been out for a while, but, I read what my library has. And they haven't had it for long.
Has anybody heard of Frank Peretti or Ted Dekkar? Or care to share? Am I just biased against Ted? Or did House really, really, stink?
Posted by Dr Strangelove (Member # 8331) on :
I haven't read House, but I have read quite a few of both authors. I really liked Blink by Dekker, and I actually really liked the Darkness books by Peretti. I didn't like The Oath or the Prophet by Peretti and I didn't like the Black series by Dekker (though it wasn't bad. Just not my cup of tea). I really liked Hangmans Curse by Peretti, but not so much Nightmare Academy. And while Thr3e had me on the edge of my seat, I ended up really disliking it. So ... yeah, overall, I will say I admire Peretti more as an author, but I wouldn't say Dekker is awful. It's all relative (just don't tell that to Peretti).
Posted by libertygirl (Member # 8761) on :
I like Dekker and Peretti quite a bit, but you are right about House... it stunk. To me Peretti is more for when I feel like thinking while reading and Dekker is just fun fluff suspense.
Posted by SteveRogers (Member # 7130) on :
I actually liked Thr3e by Dekker.
Posted by Shigosei (Member # 3831) on :
I've never heard of Dekkar or that book, but I've read some of Peretti's other stuff. I think my tastes have changed, and I suspect I wouldn't like them now, but I enjoyed his books at the time. The one problem with including over supernatural stuff in books is that there's too much of a tendency for a deus ex machina sort of ending.
Posted by Nathan2006 (Member # 9387) on :
The 'Black' books are the ones I read by Dekkar (And 'The Showdown', which is slightly linked with the trilogy)... Perhaps Blink would be better.
And I guess I'm biased against Dekkar, since Peretti is the *only* suspence writer I like. I don't even like Mary Higgens Clark.
I'm actually surprised people here have heard of either of them... I know that, personally, I'm turned off by Christian fiction (Even though - or perhaps because - I'm a Christian), and if I read one of Peretti's weaker books, I probably wouldn't have liked him.
And, I liked the Darkness books... Just not as much as the other ones of his (The Visitation), which I felt were better (The Visitation), because they felt more real (<Ahem> The Visitation).
Posted by blacwolve (Member # 2972) on :
I believe I read The Door in the Dragons Throat when I was 12 or 13. Do they end up releasing a plague of locusts and almost starting the apocalyse before managing to close the door?
It terrified me, it was way too dark for the age I read it at. I spent over a month terrified that the apocalypse was going to start at any moment. If that was by Frank Peretti, then my opinion on him is that he's a good writer, but a pretty bad person.
Posted by Nathan2006 (Member # 9387) on :
Yeah, that was Frank Peretti. 'The Door in the Dragon's Throat'. It was the first of 8 in the series (Same characters, different stories that are completely unrelated to each other). The third one, 'The tombs of Anak' was by far the creepiest. But yeah, although for kids, 'The Door in The Dragon's Throat' and 'The Tombs of Anak' were the darkest books I've ever read of his. I wouldn't judge him just yet.
Posted by SteveRogers (Member # 7130) on :
I AM I
Posted by SC Carver (Member # 8173) on :
I read Deker's "Thr3e" and found it to be extremely predictable. I thought the plot twist was painfully obvious about half way through the book if not sooner. It read like a made for TV movie. My old roommate loved Deker and kept trying to get me to read more but I could never bring myself to do it.
Posted by Danzig (Member # 4704) on :
I really liked "The Door in the Dragon's Throat" and "The Tombs of Anak" when I was in elementary school. "The Tombs of Anak" probably got me to read more of the Old Testament than any of the Bible classes I had to take at school. I read "The Oath" in sixth grade and thought it sucked. Never read any Dekkar, probably never will.
Posted by ReikoDemosthenes (Member # 6218) on :
I read "Three" by Dekkar, but I didn't really enjoy it a lot. That could be because I was pushed a bit hard to read it. I do enjoy several of Frank Peretti's boos, though. Especially his kids books, I enjoy, although "The Oath" was good, as well. When I was in hs I enjoyed "This Present Darkness" but I'd be interested to re-read it now to see what I think of it.
Posted by Nathan2006 (Member # 9387) on :
'The Oath' was a little dark too... My mom hated it. I thought it was one of his best. His pacing in that book is slower, which I like. I generally hate fast-paced books.
And, although it was faster paced, 'Piercing the darkness, which is the sequal to 'This Present Darkness', it was *much* less melodramatic. Of course, all of this is my opinion.
Posted by Olivet (Member # 1104) on :
I stopped on page 91 of Peretti's first Darkness book and never read anything of his again. It read like like a Sunday school lesson to me, since the church I was at at the time was doing the spiritual influences/spiritual deliverance thing at the time.
Not long after they tried to "deliver" me from a "Spirit of inappropriate Laughter" as some of you may have heard that particular story. *wry smile*
Posted by Belle (Member # 2314) on :
I'm not a huge fan of either Peretti or Dekker. I'm not a fan, actually of much "Christian fiction" to tell the truth. Always feels too forced and fakey for me, and usually I have theological differences of opinion with the authors as well. Makes for frustrating reading, and I don't read fiction to get frustrated. That's what my college reading is for. Posted by Nathan2006 (Member # 9387) on :
The Darkness books were definently the most preachy of his books. I can't really read the first one, and the second one gives me trouble...
What was on page 91, Olivet?
I'm just curious, because I have a 100 page grace period for books... 91 is just a weird number. I ask out of curiosity, not righteous fury or anything... 'Spirit of Inappropriate Laughter'? Whoa. What constitutes 'inappropriate laughter'?
![[Wink]](wink.gif)