A news reporter at the biggest local news station sees his father making a fool of himself on a live report from a rally for Hiram Slater, the governor. Not wanting his reputation as a celebrity to be damaged, John Jr. must confront John Sr. on his religious fanaticism. The story from that point expands into a realistic mystery investigation into a criminal cover up due to politically charged idealism. Religious overtones carry the story forward with strong continuationist themes that drive our main character to Truth and to God.

I struggle with the theological implications of the strong continuationism in this book. I realize that it is fictional, but the existence of such a large portion of Christianity that believes these things makes their existence, even in this fiction, problematic to me. However, the strong sense of justice and truth that the book purveys are commendable and help me enjoy and identify with the story. The grossness and reality of the central mystery of the book makes it hard to "enjoy" this book on a traditional level, but reality is often full of uncomfortable evils.

This book has been recommended to me countless times through the years by various people and I think that many might be overlooking the theological statements that this book makes on a few key topics, namely continuationism and "free grace." They are impossible to ignore at this point in my life. Nevertheless, the journey of the book is well told and the story is satisfying and concludes justly.

Absolutely loved this book. It was a page-turner from the start. As you near the end, you will not want to put it down. Written in 1992, it is just as relevant today is it was then. Highly recommend this book.

RESEÑA COMPLETA

Well that was a complete and unavoidable dive into the cultural and social issues of 30 years but also a reminder of how they are still relevant today: The discussion and effects of abortions; The need for an unbiased news service; The tolerance of different moral and religious systems.

While it took me a while to get into it, once I grasped the main themes and what Peretti was aiming to convey, it became really good.

As someone who did Media Studies in school and now works in marketing, I completely understand and accept that the media is all fake, but to consider that the news stories that are shown and delivered to us are also filtered, considered, phrased and presented in a specific way to get a specific point across is a scary idea.

I particularly liked the idea of Truth. Not truth, but Truth. Nowadays, everyone has their own truth, but that doesn't work. The focus on the Truth, on the Bible, was a core theme throughout and I would agree that there needs to be that emphasis and reminder that as Christians we need to focus on sharing the Truth.

Probably more like a 3.5! This was a fun book to read, Perettis writing style is engaging and keeps you turning pages. I also appreciate a thriller where I don’t have to worry about inappropriate content and bonus- it’s actually faith based!
It was fun to read this during Halloween and the election- I might make it a tradition to pick up a Peretti book every October. Bonus that this one coincided with the election and had strong political themes.

I loved this present darkness and this one had similar writing and exciting content.
My main critique and reason for the lower rating on this one is just how simple and extreme he made the abortion plot line. It’s probably a bit the consequence of the time it was written in but the abortion plot lacked any kind of empathy or nuance and while I am absolutely pro life I don’t think it’s quite as simple and sensational as women dying at abortion clinic and no one caring, which is what this book lays out. If he had thrown in a more human character on the pro choice side it could have balanced that out a bit. But everyone was kind of simple and extreme.
Also I connected less with the prophetic theme than I did the spiritual warfare one in his first book I read.

I wouldn’t let that stop someone from reading though!

Turns out I unintentionally ended up reading quite a few books about abortion this year- weird!

I'm not certain this story would stand up to rereading, but it did me incalculable good service as an early teen: in parallel with its plot, it cogently argued that the combined structure of market forces and federal regulations in the U.S. makes television the weakest of journalistic mediums. The triple threat of politicized oversight, competitive ratings, and investment (from advertisers and shareholders alike) makes it simply impossible for broadcast television to get any closer than "news-based entertainment" to the ideals of journalism. At best, TV offers "news-adjacent" media - that's all.

Peretti wasn't first to point this out; that honor belongs most famously to Edward Murrow (of "Good Night, and Good Luck" fame), one of the twentieth century's most respected journalists and a pioneer in the field of TV news. Peretti's was simply the first book which repeated the warning to me, and for that I shall remain grateful.

This book was not what I was expecting. I struggle to start it. It was a bit boring and I couldn’t connect with it. But once I did it was amazing. It definitely changed my perspective about mass media and Christian fiction. It made me cry, it made me angry, it made me see God and his goodness.
The end was really good, it did not show how listing to God lead to everything improving in your life. Listening to God just meant that you were at peace with your decision. I wish we could’ve gotten more of how it all resolved but it’s not necessary.

The life chosen by us is not necessarily the life we're destined for. Fame battles right. Relationships change who we think we are and make us better. This book has a bit of everything, and I found it very encouraging.

3.8 stars
Good, heartwarming book with a decent plot and a great ending. I didn’t give it four stars bc there was too much newscaster jargon and the beginning dragged a bit

IF you liked this book, you are going to like Peretti's newest book, Illusion.n  n If you liked Peretti's other works, such as The Oath or the Present Darkness series, the trend in reviews seems to indicate that you won't enjoy this as much.

In Prophet, Peretti hits the mark with his development of relationships. The characters are real and you can feel their hurt and their hopes. Peretti does a good job of making you want them to win and to heal; this book seems more personal than his others. If you like reading about grand, melodramatic battles between good and evil, this story isn't going to sate you.  The ending was also depressing--mainly because it featured the typical fate of most prophets. I'm wondering if Peretti interviewed at least one real prophet because he hits some aspects of that "curse" right on the nose. However, for those who do suffer from such a curse, it would have been nice to read about a prophet with a happy ending. I guess that's not the Biblical Truth, though, is it?

This story was especially personal to me in that I have been unfortunate enough to be in the wrong place at the wrong time too many times and I've seen news happen. Then I've watched it or read about it later only to see how the media spun it into their own tool. Peretti may have written a fiction story, but he definitely did his research.

The idea of a Biblical prophet in modern times was brilliantly executed by Frank Perretti. Excellent from start to finish!

First sentence: John Barrett heard God speak when he was ten years old.

Premise/plot: Prophet is a novel about the media, about reporting news, about politics, about biases, about balancing what do people NEED to know, what do we want people to know, and what do people think they need to know. All three are important, of course. Sometimes people NEED to hear the truth, need to know the facts, even if it isn't something they want to hear.

The hero of The Prophet is a anchor man on the news. Through him readers get a behind-the-scenes look--though it is an extremely outdated behind-the-scenes look--at a newsroom in action. Readers get to learn about what stories make it on the air, and which stories get dropped at the last minute. They get to hear WHY stories are chosen over others. They get to see how news is framed.

It is also a novel about abortion. When I first reread it in 2013, I thought the bias was over-the-top extreme. That it was presenting the opposing viewpoint in such exaggerated extremes that it was losing touch with reality. Then I read Gosnell in 2017. I no longer think Prophet was exaggerating. Gosnell was a SHOCKING true-crime nonfiction read. It was not a Christian book pushing a Christian agenda. It was nonfiction aimed at a general audience. So was Peretti being prophetic writing about dangerous abortion clinics killing women and getting away with it?! I'm not sure I'd go that far.

I would recommend pairing Gosnell and Prophet for adult book clubs.

Prophet is also about tense relationships between fathers and sons. Our hero, John Jr., has had a terribly rocky relationship with his own father, and he has an extremely bad relationship with his own son. While he misses out on the opportunity of making things right with his father, he does get a good opportunity to restore a relationship with his own son before it is too late.

Prophet has many memorable scenes. I definitely am glad I decided to reread this one!