Have you ever read a book that you couldn’t stop thinking about a week after you finished it? Frank Peretti and Ted Dekker have written a book unlike any other, one that leaves the reader deep in thought even after the story is over.
Upon first glance, this book looks like a million other horror/mystery/thrillers out there. Even the blurb on the back seems like a generic plotline. I had just finished one of Ted Dekker’s other novels and was impressed with the way that he really challenged his readers to delve deeper into the story and to find the true meanings behind his characters actions.
When I first started House, I was impressed with the vivid pictures that I was able to draw from Peretti and Dekker’s writing. The book starts out with two couples, stranded in rural Alabama who find themselves stuck together in a house set deep in the woods. They soon find that the house is not at all what it seems and that a killer has trapped them there to play a horrible game. They must choose one amongst them to die before sunrise or they will all be killed. Here is where most books would start to get ridiculous. Either the characters would do something so horribly stupid that the reader gets bored, or the killer would become all powerful, giving the main characters no possible chance to escape. Not so in this novel. Dekker and Peretti are just getting warmed up, as the reader starts to find out that these four were not trapped here randomly, there is a reason that they were all brought together. As the couples back stories are developed, I found myself getting to know each couple and wondering how their past would affect their actions and what choices they would make to get out of this game.
I did not put this book down. I got out of bed one night to finish the last couple of chapters, because lying there wondering what happened to these four and what choices they would make was keeping me awake! The ending was very powerful and not at all what I expected. I don’t think anyone could truly say that they saw the ending coming- Dekker and Peretti have the reader holding their breath until the last minute. Even after I was done with this book, I spent the next few days thinking about the meanings behind some of the plot twists, the symbolism that Dekker and Peretti used and most of all, what I would have done in the same situation. I love to read, and usually I pick an author that I like, one who has a developed character and storyline, and something that will be enjoyable but won’t take too much thought. This book was challenging, thought provoking and interesting and I can’t wait to see what else Dekker has out there!

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