Nightmare Academy is the story of two teenage twins who, in their
attempt to solve a mystery, follow a stranger and find themselves engulfed in a
nightmare from which there seems to be no escape. At the start of the book,
readers are introduced to a teenager in a hospital, Alvin Rogers, who has lost
his mind. Alvin is asked various questions such as ‘what is your name? Where
are you from? etc, but all he can reply is: ‘I don’t know’. The doctor is
alarmed by his response and the faraway look in his eyes and decides to call Mr
Morgan, a private investigator, for help. Mr Morgan then enlists the help of the Springfields [Nate and Sarah together with their twin teen children, Elijah and
Elisha] to investigate the case further. Alvin is later murdered in the
hospital.
Posing undercover as vagrant teenagers, Elijah and Elisha are
offered shelter by a business-like lady named Margaret Jones at a place called
Light of Day Youth Shelter. Inside the shelter, they’re given food to eat while conversing
with Margaret. She tells them about an academy she thinks they might be
interested in- the Knight-Moore academy, which is a free summer
camp for teenagers. The twins signal their interest and afterwards start
feeling sleepy. They are sent off to bed but wake up the next day in a strange
place- Knight-Moore Academy. Meanwhile, their parents who had been following
them all night were asked to leave their parking spot by a police officer, so
they had to park elsewhere and stay there for the night. By the next day,
Light of Day was no longer existing. In its place was a hotel; Dartmoor hotel. The
twins had been kidnapped.
At the Academy, the twins meet other teenagers who have
also been kidnapped. They are informed that they can do whatever they like but there’s just one catch: they are not allowed to go inside The Mansion. The
twins later find out that Alvin was the only
person who ever tried to enter the mansion - and was never seen again. They do all they can to leave the Academy but one thing becomes clear as
time goes on: it is usually easier to get into a place than to get out of it and only an external intervention can get them out of the Nightmare Academy.
Nightmare Academy is a novel written by Frank Peretti, best-selling
author of several books like the Oath, Visitation, Prophet, The Veritas
Project, etc.
MY THOUGHTS ABOUT THE
BOOK…
I love it. Not only is the book suspenseful and engaging, it
also addresses deep issues and teaches lessons. It’s a very good book for parents who are
security conscious; if you have been telling your children to be careful of
where they go, where they eat, and whom they talk to, this book will help make
your job easier. Parents can get their kids to read the book and ask
questions like: what do you think would have happened to Alvin if he had stayed
at home, not followed the woman anywhere, not eaten from a stranger, etc. This
will ensure that children are not only entertained by the book, but
educated as well.
Also, Frank Peretti makes the case for truth throughout the
book, pointing out the fact that without some absolute truths, the person who
has the most money, power or influence will decide what is right and wrong in
the society. The concluding paragraph as written by Nate Springfield to the
president via Morgan sums it pretty well:
‘…We are a free people because we
live according to what we know is Right or Wrong. If Truth is taken from us,
then Right and Wrong are taken from us as well. If we don’t know Right and
Wrong, then we can’t…control ourselves but will look to someone else to bring
order through brute force and raw power. We will be controlled by a tyrant…and
don’t count on that tyrant to be kind or merciful. He has no sense of right or
wrong, either, and will do to us whatever he wants….The conclusion: take away
truth and a tyrant will rule’.
This is a good book for parents who wish to teach their
children to be security conscious as well as parents who are interested in
starting the morality discourse with their children.
