Helpful Score: 4
A very enjoyable read. Good v Evil in a mysterious isolated mining town in the Pacific Northwest. Frank Peretti also wrote "The Visitation." He is a popular Christian writer. Great stories w/o the "popular" language used by some authors.
Helpful Score: 3
This was the first Peretti book that I read. It was captivating, full of detail, and made me want to continue. His writing style makes you want to read, yet makes the book feel as though it will never end and by the time I finished the book I was ready for it to be done.
The story is a great one of individual spiritual warfare and how the negativity and actions of one effect everyone, especially in a small town.
The story is a great one of individual spiritual warfare and how the negativity and actions of one effect everyone, especially in a small town.
Helpful Score: 3
Fast paced suspense, some graphic violent scenes. Main character Steve Benson finds faith as he investigates the mysterious attack and killing of his brother.
Helpful Score: 3
Gripping, riveting & detailed - an excellent read! If you like Steven King, you should check this out!
Helpful Score: 3
This is a must if you are a Peretti Fan !!!!Under cover of darkness, something evil is at work in Hyde River, an old mining town deep in the mountains. Its latest victim, nature photographer Cliff Benson, was brutally killed while camping -- and his wife Evelyn has been driven nearly mad by what she saw, but she can't remember what it was. The sheriff thinks a rogue bear killed Cliff. But townspeople whisper -- and Cliff's death is just the latest in a long string of bizarre "accidents." Cliff's brother Steve is determined to find out the truth about what's concealed in the old caverns near Hyde River, a mystery that the local folk legends only hint at
Helpful Score: 2
This was the first book of Frank Peretti's that I read and I really enjoyed it. It shows, what the mind can concieve, and bring about, can be amazing. I plan on reading all of his books. Mary
Helpful Score: 2
A really good story on good and evil, sin in the form of a dragon. A town that passes on its believes of sin over God until the dragon becomes real and punishes them. Really quite a different book, I liked it.
Helpful Score: 2
very different than what i usually read but so interesting i wanted to keep reading to find out what was going to happen.i believe there is some hidden meaning in this book!!
Helpful Score: 2
What a bizarre book. I didn't really like the story, but I couldn't stop reading it. I kept waiting for a realistic explanation for the deaths, but it really was a dragon-lizard-thing and sin responsible for eating people. I can't explain why I felt like I just had to keep reading it, maybe it has some secret power over the reader.
Helpful Score: 2
Under cover of darkness, something evil is at work in Hyde River, an old mining town deep in the mountains. Its latest victim, nature photographer Cliff Benson, was brutally killed while camping -- and his wife Evelyn has been driven nearly mad by what she saw, but she can't remember what it was. The sheriff thinks a rogue bear killed Cliff. But townspeople whisper -- and Cliff's death is just the latest in a long string of bizarre "accidents." Cliff's brother Steve is determined to find out the truth about what's concealed in the old caverns near Hyde River, a mystery that the local folk legends only hint at.
A wildlife biologist named Steve Benson has come to the remote mountain town of Hyde River to investigate the gruesome death of his brother. Benson tracks down and kills a grizzly, but then more people are killed and the bears are exonerated. Benson begins to listen with seriousness to the ravings of an old hermit who says that there's a dragon who lives in Saddlehorse Mountain and who lives on sin. It seems that in the 1880s, when Hyde River was a booming mining town, a fire-and-brimstone preacher was hanged, and the perpetrators then signed an oath embracing Reason as their god. In more than 100 years, their sins have grown into a monster. Steve tracks the chimerical dragon, which toys with him and lets him go. Steve is the embodiment of reason but feels the weight of sin when he begins an affair with a married woman, a local deputy named Tracy. A red mark appears over his heart, and gradually it begins to ooze black slime. Judgment Day arrives, and the dragon comes to claim its own. Steve, at last a believer, stands alone to do battle, rather like Bilbo Baggins of The Hobbit, except that Peretti writes with a grim fervor rather than playfulness. Largely because of the success of This Present Darkness (1987), Peretti's name inspires awe in the religious publishing world; The Oath is so heavily anticipated that its prepublication sales placed it fifth on the Evangelical Christian best-seller list.
A wildlife biologist named Steve Benson has come to the remote mountain town of Hyde River to investigate the gruesome death of his brother. Benson tracks down and kills a grizzly, but then more people are killed and the bears are exonerated. Benson begins to listen with seriousness to the ravings of an old hermit who says that there's a dragon who lives in Saddlehorse Mountain and who lives on sin. It seems that in the 1880s, when Hyde River was a booming mining town, a fire-and-brimstone preacher was hanged, and the perpetrators then signed an oath embracing Reason as their god. In more than 100 years, their sins have grown into a monster. Steve tracks the chimerical dragon, which toys with him and lets him go. Steve is the embodiment of reason but feels the weight of sin when he begins an affair with a married woman, a local deputy named Tracy. A red mark appears over his heart, and gradually it begins to ooze black slime. Judgment Day arrives, and the dragon comes to claim its own. Steve, at last a believer, stands alone to do battle, rather like Bilbo Baggins of The Hobbit, except that Peretti writes with a grim fervor rather than playfulness. Largely because of the success of This Present Darkness (1987), Peretti's name inspires awe in the religious publishing world; The Oath is so heavily anticipated that its prepublication sales placed it fifth on the Evangelical Christian best-seller list.
Helpful Score: 2
This story is about a town and the oath that the original settlers took. The oath allowed something to have control over the town. The townspeople think they can control it but as the story progresses you can see that no one can control this thing. Peretti wrote this to be an allegory to the Christian life.
Helpful Score: 2
This is a classic Frank Peretti tyle book, full of intrigue. I like to call it "horror lite". I like that Peretti's style gets your juices flowing without giving in to gratutitous violent images. A page-turner for sure.
Helpful Score: 1
My all-time favorite thriller to this date! I read this book in one day 12 years ago and it is still my favorite.
Helpful Score: 1
This is an excellent book! Frank Peretti is an amazing Christian author. I really loved this book!
Helpful Score: 1
If you are a Frank Peretti fan, then this book is a must. I love how Mr. Peretti puts Biblical truth in his story. This is a good read and I enjoyed it immensely.
Helpful Score: 1
Great book. One of Peretti's best. I still read this book at least yearly.
Helpful Score: 1
Frank P. is an excellent storyteller, but he is, basically, a Christian writer. Be prepared for a bit of preachy symbolism in the latter half.
Helpful Score: 1
Peretti at his best......... hard to put down....
Helpful Score: 1
i really enjoyed this book. it was my first Peretti book and it sucked me in and kept me turning the pages until the book was over. very shocking ending too!!!!
Helpful Score: 1
Read this book in one day. Has you on the edge of your seat. Don't read it in the dark. Love Frank Peretti!
Even though I read many reviews that referred to this as a Christian book I didn't find that part of the story to be overwhelming. I enjoyed it as a horror story. Peretti tells a great story.
A town with a deadly secret...
Wow! Surprising book. Good, strange and interesting all tied together.
Another one of Frank Peretti's best! Warning it will keep you up reading!
This is another of the great books by Frank Peretti. It's about a small town in the Pacific Northwest that has lots of secrets, and who "take care of their own", even when it comes to breaking laws to do it. The main secret goes back to the beginning of the town's history, and those who signed the original town charter, and whose descendants still run,and own most of, the town. Someone from the outside becomes involved in the goings-on through his brother's death, and in his investigation of the circumstances surrounding the death of his brother, gets caught in a fight between good and evil, and in his own spiritual battle. The book is a great story, keeps you involved, and even pulls you along toward the exciting conclusion. Loved it!
I was glued to this book for days until I could finish it. Love the story. It was incredibly intriguing. I was hooked right from the beginning. I gave it to my teenage son and he couldn't put it down either.
This was a fantastic story. It was fast paced and kept my interest from start to finish.
It had a very surprising conclusion to the story. The characters were very believable and I loved some of the action scenes. I highly recommend this book.
It had a very surprising conclusion to the story. The characters were very believable and I loved some of the action scenes. I highly recommend this book.
i liked this book so much i couldnt put it down. frank peretti is such a wonderful writer
Fast-paced and exciting. The author does a great job of keeping the suspense of the book by not revealing the monster too soon. Great message, too!
couldn't stick with it after 250 pages, just drags to the point the mystery isn't there anymore
once you get the 'predator' it just drags and drags and I can't stick with something that doesn't keep my interest and it is way way too long and that's another pet peeve, books don't need to be 500+ pages
once you get the 'predator' it just drags and drags and I can't stick with something that doesn't keep my interest and it is way way too long and that's another pet peeve, books don't need to be 500+ pages
Very well written, but I don't like this kind of story line. Reminds me of Stephen King.
I have the hardcopy of this book, great story. Will creep you out
Frank Peretti is one of my favorite authors. His books always make me sit back and think about the decisions I'm making in my life.
The Oath manages to turn the everyday moral battles that christians, and all people, into a riveting work of fiction.
The Oath manages to turn the everyday moral battles that christians, and all people, into a riveting work of fiction.
Oh my. What a book that keeps you going and going, a real page turner. Always tried to find a stopping point and that was hard to do. I read the Visitation and now this one and both I read in less than 4-days.
Wonderful, enthralling book! Loved it!
Not particularly a Peretti fan but I enjoyed reading this one. It kept my interest right to the end.
This is the third Peretti novel I've read. His writing is 'thick', meaning it normally takes three-fourths of the book for everything to finally come together. But when it does, it just comes in a rush.
I really enjoyed the mystery and drama going on in this one. The main character is determined to find out what happened to his brother and his sister-in-law, despite the discouragement and threats from the townsfolk.
I really enjoyed the mystery and drama going on in this one. The main character is determined to find out what happened to his brother and his sister-in-law, despite the discouragement and threats from the townsfolk.
Under cover of darkness, something evil is at work in Hyde River, an old mining town deep in the mountains. Its latest victim, nature photographer Cliff Benson, was brutally killed while camping -- and his wife Evelyn has been driven nearly mad by what she saw, but she can't remember what it was. The sheriff thinks a rogue bear killed Cliff.
But townspeople whisper -- and Cliff's death is just the latest in a long string of bizarre "accidents." Cliff's brother Steve is determined to find out the truth about what's concealed in the old caverns near Hyde River, a mystery that the local folk legends only hint at.
This was my first book to read by this writer. A friend told me " Kathie you have to read this book and sleep with the light on!" I did read it, she let me borrow her copy. I loved the writter so much that I bought my own copy and stuck it in my newly started library.
I didn't sleep with the light on but I was on the hunt for anything this writer had already written. My second book was This Present Darkness and my third was Piercing the Darkness.
All 3 of the books I bought some 15 or so yrs ago are still in my library which has now grown to over 300 or more.
Worth the time. I read it in less than 4 days.
But townspeople whisper -- and Cliff's death is just the latest in a long string of bizarre "accidents." Cliff's brother Steve is determined to find out the truth about what's concealed in the old caverns near Hyde River, a mystery that the local folk legends only hint at.
This was my first book to read by this writer. A friend told me " Kathie you have to read this book and sleep with the light on!" I did read it, she let me borrow her copy. I loved the writter so much that I bought my own copy and stuck it in my newly started library.
I didn't sleep with the light on but I was on the hunt for anything this writer had already written. My second book was This Present Darkness and my third was Piercing the Darkness.
All 3 of the books I bought some 15 or so yrs ago are still in my library which has now grown to over 300 or more.
Worth the time. I read it in less than 4 days.
The book started out like a few of his other novels - describing the scenery in the Washington state area. Once I got past that, the pace of the novel went faster and faster, and I couldn't put it down!
As it says on the back of the cover: "An ancient sin, an ancient oath, a town with a deadly secret.... Something sinister is at work in Hyde River, an isolated mining town in the mountains of teh Pacific Northwest. Something evil. Under the cover of darkness, it strikes without warning, taking life in the most chilling fashion. The latest victim, nature photographer Cliff Benson, was brutally killed while camping in the mountains.
With little hard evidence to go on, Sheriff Les Collins closes the case, chalking it up to the work of a rogue bear - just like so many other unsolvable deaths and disappearances that have plagued Hyde River over the years.
But wildlife Biologist Steve Benson refuses to let his brother's death remain a mystery. He is joined in his investigation by attractive, auburn-haired Sheriff's Deputy Tracy Ellis who, having grown up in Hyde River, has seen enough swept under the rug by local law enforcement to know that something's amiss.
The more townsfolk are pressed for information, the more they close ranks, as if sworn to secrecy. As Steve peels away the layers of mystery surrounding Hyde River, he and Tracy are drawn closer to each other and to the town's terrible secret. What they discover is a predator more terrifying than anything they had imagined and a town in the grip of unspeakable evil."
As it says on the back of the cover: "An ancient sin, an ancient oath, a town with a deadly secret.... Something sinister is at work in Hyde River, an isolated mining town in the mountains of teh Pacific Northwest. Something evil. Under the cover of darkness, it strikes without warning, taking life in the most chilling fashion. The latest victim, nature photographer Cliff Benson, was brutally killed while camping in the mountains.
With little hard evidence to go on, Sheriff Les Collins closes the case, chalking it up to the work of a rogue bear - just like so many other unsolvable deaths and disappearances that have plagued Hyde River over the years.
But wildlife Biologist Steve Benson refuses to let his brother's death remain a mystery. He is joined in his investigation by attractive, auburn-haired Sheriff's Deputy Tracy Ellis who, having grown up in Hyde River, has seen enough swept under the rug by local law enforcement to know that something's amiss.
The more townsfolk are pressed for information, the more they close ranks, as if sworn to secrecy. As Steve peels away the layers of mystery surrounding Hyde River, he and Tracy are drawn closer to each other and to the town's terrible secret. What they discover is a predator more terrifying than anything they had imagined and a town in the grip of unspeakable evil."
The Oath is an extremely good read! It's one of those books you don't want to put down, which is not a surprise to me since Frank Peretti's books are always up to that caliber!
Nothing less than twisting, turning, and always pointing to Jesus as our Savior. Magnificent plot and characters. A sage insight to the ugly in each of us. Made me think. Great book.
LOVED it!! Great writing & a great story...
My husband enjoyed this one.
Apparently Frank Peretti is a well-known Christian author. I did not know this.
I don't know how I ended up with this book on my shelf, but I've had a used copy for a while and finally decided to dive in. I thought I was getting a regular old horror/monster/thriller type book. That's NOT what this book is. If that's what you're looking for, this book is probably not for you.
The Oath starts out okay. Not great, by any means, but okay. The writing is really middle-schoolish, with lots of telling instead of showing, and really stilted, awkward dialog, but the secretive town is compelling enough that I kept reading. There were hints along the way that religion was somehow involved. I stopped and checked the cover, and the blurb. Nothing to indicate it's Christian fiction. But, once you reach the third act, there's no doubt. The author spends the entire last 150 pages of the book hitting the reader over the head with sin, and God, and more sin, and how the only way to escape the dragon is to find Jesus.
Now, it's possible a book could be religious and still be a good thriller, but that's not the case with The Oath. It's not at all scary, and even if you get through all the preaching, the ending is a total let-down.
So, if you want a book about faith and sin, then you might like this book. But if you're just after a good horror story, I'd definitely suggest looking elsewhere.
I don't know how I ended up with this book on my shelf, but I've had a used copy for a while and finally decided to dive in. I thought I was getting a regular old horror/monster/thriller type book. That's NOT what this book is. If that's what you're looking for, this book is probably not for you.
The Oath starts out okay. Not great, by any means, but okay. The writing is really middle-schoolish, with lots of telling instead of showing, and really stilted, awkward dialog, but the secretive town is compelling enough that I kept reading. There were hints along the way that religion was somehow involved. I stopped and checked the cover, and the blurb. Nothing to indicate it's Christian fiction. But, once you reach the third act, there's no doubt. The author spends the entire last 150 pages of the book hitting the reader over the head with sin, and God, and more sin, and how the only way to escape the dragon is to find Jesus.
Now, it's possible a book could be religious and still be a good thriller, but that's not the case with The Oath. It's not at all scary, and even if you get through all the preaching, the ending is a total let-down.
So, if you want a book about faith and sin, then you might like this book. But if you're just after a good horror story, I'd definitely suggest looking elsewhere.
this is missing the dust jacket
