Something is driving kids at Baker High crazy. Strong young men are going nuts, seeing things, andslipping into psychotic comas. Is it really the ghost of Able Frye--the student who rumors say killedhimself in the old school building years before? Is he out to wreak revenge now in the hallway built overthe spot where he killed himself? And what about THOSE kids? Are they really witches? Are they "just"outcasts? What part do they play in all this?
Peretti proves once again that he is a master at suspense and quick story telling. From the very firstpage, this book moves at a rapid pace. I read it in two days because I simply did not want to stop.
It is story driven if not necessarily character driven. The heroes are very clearly heroes, but we aregiven no clear idea as to what makes them tick. We know they are Christians, we know they are on aquest for truth, but these two teens who are the stars, what are they LIKE?
They are likable characters. The reader finds himself rooting for them. I, for one, just wish I knew a littlemore about them. What led them to this line of work? Have they always gotten along this well with theirparents? Was there something in the family from way back that contributed to what they do now? Maybe we'll find out as the books go on.
A strong theme running through this book is the plague of bullying infecting our schools (especially publicschools) and the tendencies of the adults in charge to look away rather than stop it. Adults would do wellto read this book with their kids and ask whether the Baker High of fiction mirrors the reality of theschools kids attend.
Additional thoughts:
As for the book's presentation, I did not care for the "blurbs". As if this were appearing in a magazine,many of the pages have a key sentence or two from the narrative set in a text box with a greybackground to draw attention to it. Perhaps this is to attract the casual acquaintance who picks up thebook at the store or library by giving them a quick glimpse into the highlights, but I found it to quicklybecome annoying. I also found it easy to quickly ignore it, though, so it's not a large problem.
