Genre : Christian, Supernatural, Thriller
My rating: 4 Stars
Language: Clean! Though there is mention of swearing and cursing.
Age Range: 15+
Content: Creepiness, death, blood, demons, you get the picture. It was actually very mild though.
Favorite Character: Jack
Favorite quote: "Only the light can save you from yourself." - Susan

Conclusion:
It was a really good story! I like stories about good versus evil, however the authors turned it into evil verus evil. Talking about our own sin and how everyone is guilty. Only Jesus can save us from our sins. It was really good light versus dark. It was frustrating that the characters were slow at grasping the concept, which I guess made the ending satisfying. My only problem with it... is that I wish they had explained more at the the end of story, of what happened and what the characters will do now.

There was nothing they could do they had to go in. But once they were in they couldn’t get out.
It was low intensity, low action and it was pleasent to read. You know how you dont always want a book with all action, all drama, just a good mystery with nice amount of everything. It was a good book. But if you want a higher mystery, a good chase its not this. But i wanted a calm mystery with some good twists and it was perfect for that.

Review coming Soon

"House" follows a group of people who get stranded overnight in a house full of maniacs, beset by a crazy guy in a metal mask. Only, it's not about that, really. What it's REALLY about is demonising anyone who doesn't conform to authors Ted Dekker and Frank Peretti's set of beliefs and inflicting ridiculous punishments and judgement on people for being simple, flawed human beings.

The story primarily follows Jack and Stephanie, a young couple whose marriage is on the rocks after a tragedy they both blame each other for. In them, Dekker and Peretti might actually have been able to craft a meaningful tale about forgiveness, blame, and love. Instead, it quickly becomes clear that the only one we're meant to sympathise with is Jack, because everything is made out to be Stephanie's fault... even though, in the confines of the story, her only real crime is being weak, human, and unlucky.

It gets worse as one of the female characters who is a staunch atheist is physically and mentally degraded by one of the psychotic family members, and we're just supposed to believe she had it coming. Certainly nobody mourns her passing. Of course, it's hard to feel sorry for her, but that's only because the entire cast of characters, including the so-called heroes, have all the charisma and draw of a brick covered in deadly black mold. It's almost a relief when the hilariously overblown crazy family that lives within the walls "our heroes" take refuge in start knocking them off. At least then we're subjected to less awkward flashbacks and tortured monologues.

It might all be more offensive if the writing here wasn't painfully amateurish, with dialogue and narrative about as natural and riveting as a third-grade school play about the food pyramid, and pacing with all the subtlety of a jackhammer. The only things meant to be scary here are the non-believer antagonists who get killed off in the most ridiculous ways possible. The main "villain" is supposed to be the house itself and the thinly veiled metaphor-that-walks-like-a-man who loiters around outside trying to be cryptic menacing.

I have read Christian fiction before. I have read Christian horror. There have been books in both genres I have actually enjoyed. This is not a book. This is a thinly veiled hate letter aimed at anyone who does not feel the way the author does. But perhaps most disappointing, it's an extremely narrow and cynical look at what makes a person human. Or at least, what the authors believe should make someone human. Now that's a scary thought.

Ugh. Hot garbage. This is probably the worst book I've ever read.

So, I made the mistake of only bringing this book on a week-long camping trip.
It was a really big mistake.
This book was dull, badly written, and forced. And that's the good stuff I have to say about it. The characters were so badly handled that I had trouble reading it. They had no depth and could have been left out of the story with no major impact.
It deals horribly with abuse victims and is an insult to published works.
I wish I could have rated this 0/5 but unfortunately that isn't a choice.
Save yourself the time and don't read this book. Don't even pick it up. It's not worth it.

"Bienvenidos a mi casa.
Reglas de la casa:
1. Dios vino a mi casa y yo lo maté.
2. Mataré a cualquiera que entre en mi casa, así como maté a Dios.
3. Denme un cadáver y tal vez yo pueda prescindir de la regla dos.
El juego termina al amanecer."

El libro por sí solo me llamó, la atrayente portada y su interesante sinopsis, sin contar que siento debilidad por Ted Dekker; quien en esta oportunidad se une a otro autor de thriller para regalarnos una excelente historia.

“La casa” está protagonizada por un matrimonio al borde del divorcio quienes en su camino a una terapia de pareja se pierden en los caminos rurales de Alabama, en uno de estos caminos sufren un extraño accidente de coches. De esta manera, llegan a la más sospechosa de las posadas en medio de la nada. Cuando están buscando acomodo se apagan las luces de la casa y es cuando empieza lo bueno… (no sigo, para no caer en spoilers) Atrapados dentro de una casa que cambia de forma y tiene la capacidad de reflejar el pecado dentro de los corazones, los protagonistas se enfrentarán al terror de sus propias malas decisiones.

La trama te atrapa desde el primer instante, con capítulos cortos este libro nos muestra que todos tienen un lado oscuro y que tal vez, estemos luchando con él constantemente.

100% recomendado.

"La luz brilla en la oscuridad, pero la oscuridad no puede entenderlo."

Literally the worst book I have ever read. I read this and tried to listen to it on audible to speed up the process as I had to read this for a summer reading book. Keep in mind the audiobook is 12 hours long, and the book takes place in the time span of 12 hours. Now I can't stress this enough YOU READ EVERY BORING SECOND OF THE PEOPLES LAME LIVES. It is the most drawn-out book I have ever read. You could sum it up in a page. there is no need for 12 hours of this crap. Maybe I will publish a play-by-play of every second of my day. At least that wouldn't end with It was all a dream.

House reminded me of a mix between the movies Saw, The Strangers and Vacancy. This book was a great read, full of scary moments and suspense. I like a good horror story and this one delivered. Word to the wise, don't read this while home alone or at night.

What? It's finally over? Thank God! Thought I was stuck like the guy in Groundhog Day. One of the most boring books I ever read. Chapter after chapter of the same events happening; the same conversations over and over and over. I should have just read the first and last chapters and spared myself the agony of what's in between.

1.5/5

this book is not worth my brain cells trying to review.

I wish I would have researched this a little before listening to it; I didn't realize crazy people wrote it. I expected a horror story a la "Saw" and lots of moral dilemmas, full of questionable actions and mind games. Instead, I got a plot with a lot of potential that rapidly deteriorated into a harpy-like shrieking that christianity was the only way.

Nothing about the plot made any sense - black smoke, demons, pentagrams, the "house" that your own evil creates… hammering home again and again that the ONLY way to survive (this life) is to CHOOSE CHRIST! Yuck. Listening to that drivel for an eternity would make my mind up. I'm hanging with the people with the weapons and the tin masks, thank you very much.

Part of the novel centered around one "eating" one's sin to make him/her "stronger." The sin came in the form of a bowl of vanilla/caramel pudding that turned into rancid, mushy dog food. An inbred named Pete was responsible for forcing the women in the novel to eat it because each was "his wife." Make sense? Neither did "sin" as goop.

The climax made zero sense. What was all that "son of man" crap about? Where did that come from? The girl-from-nowhere, Susan, keeps telling the group to "listen!" yet she doesn't say anything. It's a big mind game. They're quiet and they "listen" and then one of them asks a question and she counters with "You're not listening!!!" So…we don't question? Ever? Just heed and obey? Even when that's not in a religious context it makes no sense; you can't have a character screaming for everyone to listen and then when they are the character doesn't say anything.

The characters acclimated themselves to the killer's game (which wasn't even well-planned) a little too quickly; none thought the very rational thought: "Oh, this guy is insane. Maybe we should focus on stopping him rather than trying to kill each other because HE'S NOT SANE and he can't be trusted."

One of the "evil" things Jack had to face was his feelings toward a literary critic who panned his novel? Holy shit. Really? That's enough to send him to hell? Jack didn't kill him, mind you, he was only angry. "god" evidently has a hair-trigger on his anger. Watch out! If it's that easy to piss him off...

Despite the fear-mongering and intense effort to make the reader feel guilty about everything he or she has ever done or thought, I did think the book started off well with an interesting premise and was well-paced. I didn't hate it but most of it felt like Pete was forcing me to eat his sin goop.

Peretti and Dekker should spend more time fleshing out plots rather than praying one falls together.