This
Present Darkness, by Frank E Peretti,
Eastbourne: Kingsway Publications, 1986. 499 pages.Reviewed by Agnes Eunice
Jasper.
This
Present Darkness was a book that caught my sight as I was
browsing the shelves at a Christian book sale. I read the back cover and was
intrigued by the summary/ teaser and saw that it was just 15 rupees and decided
to buy it and haven’t regretted it. Frank Peretti, also deservingly called as
“America’s Hottest Christian Novelist”, is a natural story teller. He was born
in Canada and was brought up in Seattle where he spent his childhood and
teenage years telling stories to his neighbourhood children. After he graduated from UCLA, he joined his
father to help minister in a small Assemblies of God church. This Pentecostal upbringing has had an
immense impact on him and that can be seen in his writing. He is not called a “sanctified Stephen King”
for nothing. Most of his novels deal
with the supernatural elements and This
Present Darkness is no different and remained on the Christian Booksellers
Association’s top best sellers list for 150 consecutive weeks and has sold more
than 2 million copies.
This
Present Darkness brings to life what is said in Ephesians 6:12
– “For we wrestle not against the flesh and blood, but against principalities,
against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against
spiritual wickedness in high places.” In
a morally falling world, with so much of hopelessness around, people need
something to hold on to and many find that in God. Sometimes their faith may falter and they may
think that their prayers are not going past the ceiling. Some even find the concept of praying as a
waste of time because maybe their prayers weren’t answered when they were in
their valley phase. There are some
believers who believe that satan is only in hell and not on earth. Peretti shows us that evil is not in hell
alone but right here, right now, with us.
He also shows us the power of prayer and reminds us that we are at
constant war with the darkness, though we may not see it.
Peretti’s characters are
powerful and well developed. The detail
that he gives to his supernatural characters are so realistic and well
described. It is very hard to just forget
characters like Tal, Triskal, Guilo, Nathan, Armoth and Chimon, to just name a
few. Hank Busche is a character in whom
many of us can see ourselves. His entry
scene showed to us through the eyes of the angels is beautifully crafted –
“’The
little warrior,’ said the dark haired one.
The big
blond man formed the words himself in silence, looking down at the contrite man
in prayer.
‘Yes,’
he observed, ‘this is the one. Even now
he’s interceding, standing before the Lord for the sake of the people, for the
town…’
‘Almost
every night he’s here.’
At that
remark, the big man smiled. ‘He’s not so
insignificant.’
‘But
he’s the only one. He’s alone.’
‘No.’
the big man shook his head. ‘There are
others. There are always others. They just have to be found. For now, his single, vigilant prayer is the
beginning.’
‘He’s
going to be hurt, you know that.’
‘And so
will the newspaper man. And so will we.’
‘But
will we win?’ The big man’s eyes seemed to burn with a rekindled fire.
‘We will
fight.’
‘We will
fight,’ his friend agreed.”
Hank himself is a very
lovable character –
“’I’m
here, Satan,’ he said. I can’t see you,
and maybe you can move faster than I can, but I am still here, and by the grace
of God and the power of the Holy Spirit I intend to be a thorn in your side
until one of us has had enough!’”
Marshall Hogan and Bernie are
two other characters who make us cheer for them. Their subplot is a very interesting one just
like Sandy’s is. I feel that none of the
stories were overdone and every event was given equal importance to bring it to
a full circle. Though this phrase may
sound clichéd, Peretti keeps his readers at the edge of their seat, especially
during the battle scene at the end. It
gave me goose bumps and I couldn’t help but smile and sing when the battle
ended because Peretti has a way of making you feel a part of what’s happening –
“Saints
of God, where are your prayers?....
Saints!
Pray! PRAY!...
‘Where
is the Lord?’ Rafar mocked. ‘I see Him
not!’…
‘Lord
God,’ Tal cried, ‘His name is Rafar! Tell them!’….
The
saints gathered around Edith… ‘The Lord is trying to speak to me!’…’His name
is..Rafar…the big wheel!’..
‘We bind
you!’ shouted the Remnant.
The big
yellow eyes winced.
‘We cast
you out!’ Andy said.
There
was a puff of sulphur and Rafar bent over. Tal leaped to his feet.
‘We
rebuke you, Rafar!’ Edith shouted again.
Rafar
screamed. Tal’s blade had torn him open….
‘But for
your (Tal) saints… But..for…your..praying saints!’..
The big
beast…rumbled to the floor in a cloud of red. ..And it was quiet…
But yes.
Somewhere the saints were praying. He could feel it. He was healing… it soothed
him. Worship.”
Peretti brilliantly shows us
in his own way what is happening around us this very moment. He takes us back to what we were originally
called to do – to fight the evil with God’s help. I would recommend this book to any person who
is struggling with something and doesn’t see the use of prayer because this has
helped me believe that my prayers are having an effect. This is indeed a very powerful book and I
cannot state and restate that enough.
I normally save some of my pocket money to buy
books and since it doesn’t come up to much, I only buy books from sales across
book stores but after reading this, I have put aside all of my pocket money for
one month to buy the sequel to this – Piercing
the Darkness which is 499 rupees.
That is how much Peretti has impacted me.
- Agnes Jasper
