Prophet
by Frank Peretti
Prophet suffered from the unfortunate fate that often comes to an author's second book (or in this case, the third of Peretti's works aimed at adults, after a series of two), especially when the earlier story was received as something groundbreaking, shaking up the particular niche of the literary world in which it is situated. The latter work is often reviewed unfairly because it somehow "fails to live up to" what readers have come to expect after their experience with the earlier novel. Prophet is more "realist" than most of Peretti's other fiction, and this too probably goes against the general reader's expectation. Most of us hear Peretti's name and think of the angelic side of spiritual warfare and/or something from the horror genre, but Prophet is neither (well, unless you find the contemporary media situation as horrible as I do, then you might be willing to classify a book about the media as horror).
Prophet explores life in the newsroom, and considers the struggles of an anchorman as he deals with contemporary ethical issues, even as his private world is turned upside down. If that sounds like it could make for an exciting tale, that's because it does. The action and suspense in The Prophet are typical Peretti. The Prophet is another in a long string of Peretti novels that can let you lose yourself in a good story — perhaps even sacrificing a night's sleep in the process.
While it is hard to say that Prophet is on par with This Present Darkness or Piercing the Darkness, that's not really the point. It is a good book in its own right, and it deals with some issues that are worth attention too.
© Shelly Bryant, 2012