Piercing the Darkness

By Frank E. Peretti

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Frank Peretti is a fairly prolific CHRISTIAN author. This book and as I understand it, most of his others are very much anti-"new age", and he obviously feels that anyone who is anything but a fervent if not fundamentalist Christian is an unwitting (or witting) tool of the devil.

That said, I still enjoyed the book very much- Because the author and I both agree on at least one thing- There is an on-going battle between Good & Evil, and that the "minions of Evil" have gained almost total control of our educational and political system.

Piercing the Darkness centers on the town of Bacon's Corner, which, while just an average, sleepy small town, is a key to the newest major offensive in Evil's plot to take over the world.

The "minions" have caused dissent among the people of the local Christian church and church run school, while infiltrating an anti-christian curriculum into the public school, and causing some of the school children to become hosts for demonic possession.

The story begins with a young lady named Sally Roe fleeing her home after an assassination attempt. At the same moment, The head of the church school is charged with child abuse, and his own children taken from him.

Sally Roe, protected by a couple of Guardian Angels, is pursued by a group of demons after her human assailant fails. As it turns out, she is the key human player in this drama. An Ex-"new ager" who is not yet ready to accept a more traditional belief system is a threat to the current conflict because of what she knows from her previous involvement in a "cult"

About half of the story is about the humans, their Trials and Tribulations, Betrayal and Faith, Courage and Cowardice. The other half is about the battles between the Angels and Demons.

It is not a Great story, but it is a pretty good one. It is gripping- not necessarily a "stay-up-all-nighter" but one that you will probably look forward to getting back to when you do put it down. The characters on both sides (with the possible exception of Sally Roe) do tend to be fairly one-dimensional, and the plot, while moderately complex in some ways is somewhat simplistic in general. Nevertheless, It did have me examining some of my "metaphysical leanings"; While I'm not ready to become "born-again", it did remind me to be very cautious in dealing with various aspects of "spiritualism".

However, what I found to be most compelling was that it illustrated what I believe is a very real battle between GOOD and EVIL. It was "preachy" but not obnoxiously so. "Gung-Ho" Christians should love it, and while it lumps all non-Christians, pagans, Wiccans, "New-agers", Humanists etc. in together as tools of Evil, it is not as insulting as you might expect.

I actually recommend this as an "educational" and cautionary tale to everyone, Christian or otherwise. Although there is a fair amount of violence in it, it is suitable for children- In fact, it may be a good idea for families to read it together and discuss it as you go.

I plan to read some of the authors other books.