House by Frank Peretti and Ted Dekker

Rating: 2.0

What it's about:

A mind-bending supernatural thriller from the creators of This Present Darkness and Showdown.

Frank Peretti and Ted Dekker - two of the most acclaimed writers of supernatural thrillers - have joined forces for the first time to craft a story unlike any you've ever read. Enter House - where you'll find yourself thrown into a killer's deadly game in which the only way to win is to lose...and the only way out is in.

The stakes of the game become clear when a tin can is tossed into the house with rules scrawled on it. Rules that only a madman - or worse - could have written. Rules that make no sense yet must be followed.

One game. Seven players. Three rules. Game ends at dawn.

-taken from Barnes&Noble.com

My thoughts:

I was disappointed in House for a couple of reasons.

Firstly, I wasn't impressed with the writing. This is the first book I've read by either Frank Peretti or Ted Dekker. Now I don't know if the collaboration threw these guys off or if they just don't have much writing skill. I haven't given up on them yet but suffice it to say....I wasn't dazzled.

Secondly, the story pretty much sucked. I didn't realize (until after I finished it) that this is a "Christian" book. It's published by WestBow Press who publish much of the top Christian and Inspirational books. Now I don't have a problem with that but it does explain why I felt preached at while reading this. I was starting to get a little annoyed at about the hundredth time of hearing how we are all sinners. That pet peeve asside, the story still wasn't very good. It just seemed to drag on and on. There were about two parts that really made me cringe (in a good way) and some of the ideas were nicely original (which is this novels saving grace) but not enough good to overcome the bad. The good vs. evil, light vs. dark themes were just too blatant and conspicuous for my taste.