BOOK REVIEW: NIGHTMARE ACADEMY BY FRANK PERETTI

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.