The Veritas Project: Only Two?

The Veritas Project is a book "series" by Frank Peretti. I put series in parentheses because it only consists of two books, the first of which is called Hangman's Curse.



This book was pretty popular when it first came out, and though it is directed mostly toward tweens and younger teens, it is a great read for older people too.

Summary: The premise of the story is actually difficult to explain truthfully without spoiling the whole thing, but I'll do my best. The book follows the point of view of all the members of the Springfield family at different times. Sixteen-year-old Elijah and his twin sister Elisha (pronounced Eleesha),  as well as their parents. That's one of my favorite things about this series, the family works together to solve the mystery (this book is a mystery, if you haven't figured that out yet). What is the mystery? There has been trouble in Baker, Washington. A few kids in the high school there have been going crazy, screaming nonsense, repeating the name Abel Frye, and becoming unresponsive; some even die. Mostly everyone who knows the legend of that school  believes it to be the ghost of Abel Frye, a kid who hung himself in that school many years ago. Elijah and Elisha enroll in that school to get to the bottom of it, while the father, Nate, goes undercover as a janitor, and the mother, Sarah, helps with evidence and any leads that they get.

Questionable content: The book is very clean; the only content that could be called questionable is the way that the school kids act (it is not as bad or nearly as graphic as it sometimes actually is) and the discussion of witchcraft. However, both of these things are strongly regarded as evil.

Themes: The themes throughout this book are very obvious. The biggest one is the acceptance of everyone, regardless of their popularity. Other big themes in this book include the existence of absolute truth and getting to the heart of people's behavior.

I have read this book a couple times, and I recommend it, not only because it is a good book, but because it is a quick read (I read it in one day). Overall, I'd give this book a 4.1256 out of 5.0000.


The second book in the "series" is Nightmare Academy.                                                                

Summary: In my opinion, this book was a little bit more off the wall than the first book, but it was still an enjoyable read, and the writing was just as good. It is about an academy that claims to be for homeless kids. A kid goes there however, and is found years later in a coma whispering two ominous words: Nightmare Academy. Once again the Springfields come to investigate. Unfortunately, things go wrong, and the tracking system that the parents were using doesn't work when the kids are taken to the academy. The kids try to figure out the academy while the parents have to find out where it is and why it keeps changing locations.

Questionable content: Once again, this book is very clean, and the only questionable content is the way that the kids act, which of course is shown as wrong and unacceptable behavior.

Themes: One of the things I don't like as much about this book is the themes. They are basically exactly the same as Hangman's Curse, the main one in this book being the existence of absolute truth. Of course, I can understand a two-part series having the same theme, but it seemed like a lot of the arguments were just copied from the first book into the second.

I have read this book twice also and recommend to anyone who is going to read Hangman's Curse, because it is a pretty good book and is also a quick read. Overall, I'd give this book a 3.8254 out of 5.0000.
                                                                                        
                                                                                                          -- Bob Schoch --