This was a struggle that I'll admit I could not finish. Poor plot and suspense writing that traded off with evangelical preaching. I'm not against Christian or other religious novels, but this one did not master the technique of religious writing for entertainment value and the general population.

My Mom had me read this book when I was in High School. I'm so glad she did, it really changed my life.
It's the reason I don't watch the news on TV, ever. It's the reason I question any kind of 'fact' that comes from television. It's the reason that I still feel like news television is just a really great soap opera.

Granted, being 15/16 years old and reading this book is going to make an incredible impression on you, but this is one of those books that stuck with me through the years and changed my entire way of thinking. You can't say that often about fiction.

This book will enrage you, but it is still worth every dime.

This book could be the best one Frank Peretti has ever written. It is spot-on in the issues it addresses, and he wrote it in the early 90s, which only makes it all the greater. All these issues are hot topics today, and he hits the nail on the head.

Frank Peretti, affectionately known as "The Father of Christian Fiction," became known to me at a very early age. I was likely in sixth or seventh grade. I remember because in the fourth, I started attending Sunday School regularly, during which time my dad and stepmother gave my sister and I Bibles for Christmas. A couple years later, my grandparents gave me Peretti's The Cooper Kids. It was a nice box set, and though I tried getting into a couple of them (maybe all four,) I just couldn't do it. Specifically, I couldn't get into reading. The "reading bug" wouldn't infect me for another couple years.

Fast forward to spring, 2012. The premise of Illusion. astounded me, and I knew I had to read it soon. Then, in December of 2013, I read his debut, This Present Darkness. I gave both two stars. I never thought I'd read another, with the possible exception of House
and only because he co-wrote it with
Ted Dekker, an author I very much admire. I'm awfully glad that I took a chance with this one, because Prophet was impressive, and very entertaining.

Crash! We're inside the building, sailing past rafters, cables, floodlights, and then, like a roller coaster going over the top, we nose over, dropping down past rigging, wires, lights, monitors, into the open expanse of the NewsSix set, heading for the news desk where John Barrett and Ali Downs are ready and waiting to inform us, accepting with ease that we have fallen from the sky and through their ceiling to get there.

One of its easily discernible facets was the prose itself, as the passage above makes clear. Not that the entire novel was written as such, but a lot of it --approximately fifty percent-- benefited from that distinctive style. It was almost immediate, thus pulling me in further, and was reminiscent of bird's-eye POV. Given that the protagonist, John Barrett, was a news anchorman, this creative choice was a smart move that Peretti pulled off with pizazz.

Prophet was less concerned with plot (though the whole was very engaging,) and much more concerned with theme and character development. In fact, the themes were as developed as I could imagine. Specifically, the pacific-northwestern author (originally from Lethbrige, Canada,) exposed the sad realities of the media's influences, weaving his fiction together seamlessly, almost effortlessly. With it, he posed very apposite questions: what exactly is news? What makes those stories newsworthy? How much is profit, and how much benefits society? How does sensationalism come into play when they decide which stories to cover, and which to discard?

At the heart of the novel, though, was the story of our likeable protagonist, and his artistic son, Carl, as they battle spiritual forces. At times, they fought each other, as the past made itself known in irreparable ways. You can't alter or unsee it. All you could do is go forward, in the hopes that you learned something; that those mistakes, ignorance, and neglect might stay there, where they belonged....in the past.

n  Paint was everywhere. The canvas was all but invisible under splatterings, smears, globs, and dashes of paint of all colors. The walls were speckled and splattered too, as were the floor, the windows, and several of Carl's other works....And he was still digging it out of jar after jar...throwing the stuff blindly, crazily, his vision blurred with tears..n

Together, John and Carl Barrett, alongside a ragtag group, were tasked to crack a sprawling mystery fraught with peril, moral implications, the government, and an issue that's more relevant today than it was thirty years ago: pro-life vs -choice.

And, of course, coming from Peretti, "the Father of Christian Fiction," there was plenty to be said about faith, as his characters grappled with the world, each other, and their individual religious dispositions. That was a little much at times. I get why some readers criticized it for being didactic.

About halfway through, certain details pertaining to the investigative mysteries- inevitably coupled with the spiritual realm-- began coming to light, and the whole soon escalated, losing control. The stakes couldn't have been higher.

With it, the characters and political motivations grew increasingly fascinating, and I couldn't put it down. Actually, from the get-go, Prophet was one book that had my enthusiastic attention. I thought about the characters and situations often, which is what a good book should do.

Part of why it resonated was the ease of prose, which I came to reconcile not as overly simplistic or unrefined (although those adjectives wouldn't be incorrect,) but naturally the way he talks. Surely, there's nothing wrong with refraining from grandiose syntax. I prefer the natural form. Could I have done without some of the cliche terms or unnecessary exclamation points? Sure. But I can't fault it too much.

And again, the consistent bird's-eye view really worked. Seeing everything unravel and develop the way they did helped put me in the protagonist's mindset. His worldview, you know? Not only that, but the supporting characters kind of flit in, out, and around John Barrett ("NewsSix at six,") making the reader privy to some of their backstories and thought processes, even when John wasn't around. In other words, third- person omniscient, and in this instance, it was extremely effective.

Another reason why it flowed so freely stemmed from the explored issues, and the deadly consequences of those choices. It all felt very believable, rarely contrived. Clearly, Peretti did his research.

The end, though...wowed me on multiple levels. Everything came full-circle, in an incredibly profound, awesome, and personal way. To say more would spoil its inherent beauty.

Hard to get into then hard to put down!!

I ended up being impressed with this book which surprised me as I spent the first 20% of it thinking I was going to stop reading it. Then, BAM it went into hyperdrive and was almost like a different book.

This is clean. This is for adults. I would recommend it with the caveat that it's hard to get into. Then becomes hard to put down!

As a story, this was all right: fun, easy to read, quick. Its weaknesses were probably 1) a lot of times you already know the answer to the mystery but it's just a matter of the characters being able to *prove* it, which takes away a lot of suspense, and 2) some of the characters, especially the villains, come across as caricatures. But I grew quite fond of John, Carl, and Leslie, it is always refreshing to see Christians as heroes instead of the bigoted villain stereotype so popular these days, and what can I say? Peretti spins a really good yarn.

The enthusiastic, albeit imperfect, voicework of the audiobook added to my enjoyment, and being able to share and discuss my experience of the story with my husband, who read this years and years ago, added to my enjoyment even more.

Don't read this book if you're pro-choice. Peretti is the exact opposite.
The entire plot is the cover-ups of an evil abortion clinic, and it suffers from the constant reminder that abortion is very, very bad. Now, even though I am pro-life, I got sick of "the evils of abortion" rant, but plowed through to finish this book.

This is the powerful tale of John Barrett, anchorman for NewsSix, who not only catches his producer fabricating a story and lying to cover her tracks but he hears voices as well. Barrett's father's death is beginning to look suspicius and his son wants to get under his skin. What could be more exciting than another of Frank Peretti's strong, face-paced stories of spiritual warfare. Highly recommended read.

Ages: 16+

Content Considerations: this book deals with the topic of abortions and abortions gone wrong. It is not graphic however.

The lies and cover ups

So many lies. So.many cover ups. Hard to keep it straight until God comes along and begins to set people free with the truth. A great book that challenges each of us to stand up for the truth.

Not my favorite Frank Peretti book. Very slow, overly detailed in spots that didn’t add anything to the plot or imagery. Centered on a moral battle, and some interesting thoughts on the media that still reign true today it was a decent read but probably not one I will reread.

This book was...an experience.

It physically pains me to rate any Peretti books particularly low, so I'll settle this on a 2.5, rounded up to a 3.

I typically love Peretti's writing and the stories he creates, but my complaints about this one are pretty much the same as what others said. It was very long, it was very repetitive in parts, and it felt like I had just sat through a 600 page sermon about the evils of abortion. I don't like being preached to in my books, and this one was verrrry heavy handed. Unlike the other Peretti books I've read where there is a clear battle between good and evil, but tends to be more subtle, this was anything but subtle. This felt like I was listening to someone's personal vendetta while they stood on a soap box and screamed at the audience.

It was also hard to read because, though it was written quite a long time ago, the subject is still such a hot spot in today's political environment that it reminded me far too much of the constant arguing I see on social media. It's just not my thing, I don't enjoy reading about it or getting into debates about it.

So, while Peretti's writing is still solid, this was a bit of a miss for me. Which is a shame because he's written some books that I've absolutely loved.