-- -- Order
the Audio Cassette
Order
the book!! (HARDBACK) -- -- Order
the Audio Cassette
Reviewed by Robert Thompson 12-7-99
I really appreciate Frank Peretti's books- So far I've only read two, but both have helped me to be a better person.
While Peretti is a Fundamentalist Christian, and that is the point of view of his books, and I'm pretty far fom that in my personal religious views, we both share a common goal- The triumph of Good over Evil.
In THE VISITATION Travis Jordan is a "lapsed" preacher- The ex-Pastor of the Pentecostal Church in Antioch, Washington. Having had a crisis of faith, he has left the church and is living in misery.
A stranger comes to town and begins performing miracles- Healings, creating loaves of bread out of "thin air". Community spirit reaches a level never before seen, and prosperity comes to many Antioch businesses that were barely scraping by before.
Many of the local people become his "apostles", and hundreds of out-of-towners come to Antioch to see and serve this new messiah who calls himself "Brandon". A some of the locals don't believe that the stranger is Jesus returned, but they don't want to "make waves" and jeopardize the new prosperity.
Travis and a very few others suspect that "Brandon" Is just the opposite of what he appears to be. Travis investigates and discovers the truth. About the time that the final facts about Brandon are discovered, things start falling apart in Antioch. Brandon's gifts become curses- People are behaving aberrantly- Death and destruction come.
In the final confrontation between Travis and Brandon, Travis re-discovers his true faith, and discovers true love too.
This book is much more "mature" and better written than his Piercing the Darkness which I reviewed earlier. It is very similar to Steven Kings Needful Things, in both execution and writing style.
I heartily recommend it to everyone, regardless of religious beliefs. It will not only entertain you, it will make you a better person. I am going to read the rest of his books soon.