Title: The Oath
Author: Frank Peretti
Genre: Thriler
Plot: A man has been killed near the small town of Hyde River. His wife, Evelyn Benson, was picked up by a local trucker half crazed with a broken knife in her hand. While she heals in the hospital, her brother-in-law Steve Benson searches for what happened. At first, he suspects it’s a grizzly bear attack that got his brother. But not all of the evidence lines up. The locals in Hyde River are reluctant to help. It’s a close knit community that doesn’t trust outsiders. They don’t want Steve to stick around. They’ve already agreed that it’s a grizzly bear attack. But Steve doesn’t buy it. He plans to stick around and see what’s going on. Steve meets Levi Cobb. He’s got some interesting ideas of what’s going on. Levi says that this isn’t the first time someone’s died. And that it’s not the first time the community’s covered up the deaths. But Steve doesn’t buy into Levi’s theories at first. Then people start disappearing. And there starts to be a pattern in their disappearances. Pieces start coming together. But the community in Hyde River are fighting to get Steve to leave town. Steve must resort to sneaking around. Even then, he’s found out and arrested. The arresting officer agrees with Steve and agrees to help him. Slowly, they realize what’s been stalking the town. It has everyone in its sights. But what is the creature? What does it want? Who does it want? Will anyone survive?
Rating: 3.5 – great book, lots of good parallels
Opinion: I enjoyed this story. The book makes great parallels about life and faith. Though some parts were repetitive. The people disappeared in the same way. The book still left me wondering who was next. It still got my heart pounding as a thriller should, though not as much as other books I’ve read by Frank Peretti. I still thought ‘don’t do it dude, don’t do it.’ Enough people disappeared that I started wondering if anyone would make it out alive. The pattern of disappearances were strong enough that I started to predict when they would disappear. Once the characters changed, it was easy to say ‘and they’re gone.’ On the other hand, Frank Peretti was trying to make parallels to real life. People act certain ways. It may not be as obvious as a black mark on the chest, but it can be easy to see when people start acting selfishly and denying what should be staring them straight in the face. It’s all a matter of heart. It’s easy to see what Frank Peretti is alluding to. It was nice to see Steve Benson’s story arch. I enjoyed seeing his transformation. As much as I saw things coming, the ending was still a nice surprise. I hope to read more of Frank Peretti’s books. If you’re looking for a good thriller with parallels to real life, then I highly recommend this book.
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