BOOK REVIEW: THIS PRESENT DARKNESS

Something strange is happening in the little town of Ashton. A dark, sinister force is at work. A college professor, Professor Juleen Langstrat, has come to town with some ideas on Eastern mysticism and the New Age religion, and suddenly, the once peaceful town has become rocked with unpleasant occurrences like murder and the expulsion of many of the town’s inhabitants. This makes the local church pray more earnestly while newspaper editor, Marshall Hogan, and his reporter, Bernice Krueger, whose sister died under very mysterious circumstances, try to get to the bottom of the mystery. What they don’t know is that their battle is not against flesh and blood but against principalities and powers in the heavenly realm. Marshall and Bernice unearth a series of cataclysmic truths that catapults them into a world of greed, lust and occultism even as angels and demons battle furiously for the life and soul of the town itself.

Frank Peretti

This Present Darkness is a novel written by Frank Peretti, best-selling author of several books like the Oath, Visitation, Prophet, The Veritas Project, etc.

What I love about the book:

The novel makes readers more cognizant of the fact that there’s a spiritual battle going on in the world at any given time. It offers a fascinating glimpse into the world of angels and demons and emphasizes the importance of prayer in a person’s life. The book also projects quite sharply the importance of angels in the life of the Christian and makes the bible verse: ‘For we battle not against flesh and blood but against principalities and powers’ come alive for the reader.

What is not so good…

I am a great fan of Frank Peretti, however I must admit that I have ambivalent feelings about this book. While I like the way it highlights the spiritual struggle going on in the world today, I must admit that I found some aspects a bit implausible or too convenient; such as the way virtually every enemy of the Universal Consciousness Society in Ashton town was run off the town, and the way Hogan’s wife, Kate, returned to him at the end of the story. It was just too easy. 

I also wish some parts of the story were more developed. For instance, providing background details about Juleen Langstrat and what led up to her becoming steeped in the occult would have helped readers understand her character better.  Also, one gets the feeling that Peretti was trying to focus on too many things at once- at a point one has to wonder if the story is about angels and demons or about a man almost having an affair with his newspaper reporter.  Peretti also almost failed to deliver the punch line, thank God this finally happened towards the end of the book.

In the end though, these flaws are forgivable when you remember that this was Peretti’s first published novel for adults; especially seeing as his other books like Oath and Visitation were more plausible and interesting. While I will not recommend this book to someone who has never read any of Peretti’s books, for those who are used to his style of writing, read on-you just might like it better than I did.