The Oath- A Summary

Pretti, Frank. The Oath. Dallas, Texas: Word Publishing. 1995.

I absolutely love Frank Peretti’s novels. His books definitely keep you reading. Although this book is over 500 pages, I didn’t even realize the pages turning or the time passing by. I was just enthralled with the story.

The story was focused on a man named Steve Bensen. He was a college professor who taught on animal behavior, especially focusing on bears. He was called to a small city called Hyde Valley because his brother was recently killed there in the mountains while on a camping trip. The death was said to be from a bear attack, but Steve was not convinced of this. Steve’s brother, Cliff, was camping with his wife, Evelyn, but Evelyn was not attacked. Instead, it seemed that she attacked whatever was killing her husband. She was found passed out from exhaustion down the mountain on a solitary road. A truck driver spotted her in his headlights and stopped to make sure that she was alright. When Evelyn saw him she went hysterical. She began attacking his truck with a knife that she had on her. Although she was frantic and had a few cuts and bruises, she was fine. Steve was anxious to hear Evelyn’s account of the attack to shed some light on the mystery, but she could not remember what happened. It was only at the end of the book that she regained her memory.

The authorities claimed that Cliff’s death was due to a bear attack, however, Steve never found solid evidence to support that theory. He worked with a young police officer named Tracy Ellis to go through all of the available information on his brother’s death. He hunted down and shot the bear that alleged killed his brother but found no human remains in his digestive system. Reptile saliva was found on his body, but that only made the mystery more complicated. The most bizarre aspect of this case was that only half of Cliff’s body was found. There was a clean cut from his left shoulder to his right pelvis. Steve knew that no bear would be capable of such a clean cut. Plus a bear would have gone after the soft organs which were left intact. There had to be another explanation to Cliff’s death.

One of the locals from Hyde Valley was more than willing to explain the death of Cliff to Steve. His name was Levi Cobb, but he was known around town as a kook. Levi explained to Steve that there was a terrible secret kept in Hyde Valley. The townspeople took an oath 100 years ago after they committed a terrible crime. Ever since, the people of the area silently swore to never tell of the evil of their town. Levi was the only person who was willing to talk. He explained that he was a Christian and therefore saved. He was free from his sin and from the terrible oath. He explained that the sin of Hyde Valley had created a monster. The people in Hyde Valley decided to serve sin and allow themselves to live however they wanted, a literal dragon was created as a symbol of their hidden sin. The dragon lived up in the mountains but would come down and destroy those who belonged to him. There were many in that town who belonged to him through their sin, but he waited until the right time to devour his prey. You would know if your time was up when a small rash would begin to show over your heart. This seemingly innocent rash would soon turn into a large sore with black puss pouring out, smelling like death itself. Many people would be concerned when first seeing this sore, but it was once they stopped caring that the dragon would devour them. You would know that a person was about to be eaten when he would proudly ramble off about his sins. He no longer cared whether his sins were hidden or not. He felt no guilt, he felt no pain, and then he would be devoured and lost forever.
Steve instantly disregarded Levi’s words. Come on, a dragon? Levi tried to explain. It was the first time that the dragon had devoured an outsider, but Cliff was attached to the dragon through sin just as all of the other townsfolk were. He was found to have been having an affair with one of the local women and he paid for this sin through his death. This woman, Maggie, also died shortly after Steve came into town to investigate his brother’s death. As the story continues, he and Tracy come to believe in the dragon. They had a close encounter with it in the middle of one night and Steve finally found its home in the mountains.

The dragon began on a killing rampage, starting with Cliff, then Maggie, then Vic Moore, then Charlie, then Phil. Pretty soon everyone was seen with black ooze staining their shirts right over their hearts. Even Steve and Tracy noticed a small rash developing over their hearts after spending an adulterous night together. Unfortunately, Steve was not able to kill the dragon or barely even hunt the monster. Everyone in the town was silent concerning this monster based on their ancient oath. The locals also made sure that no one talked. You could get beaten almost to death if you were caught talking about the dragon. It was a terrible threat, and yet, those most in danger refused to fight it or help anyone else who tried. The other advantage of the dragon was the fact that it could blend into its surroundings. Steve finally got a hold of one of its scales. When Steve first looked at it when it was placed in his hand it looked like aluminum metal but then it quickly turned to the same shade and texture as his hand. Therefore, not only was it basically invisible, but learning about it or fighting it was made extremely difficult by the local people.

The lesson that Steve had to learn was that he was connected to this monster through his sin. He almost succeeded in killing the dragon, but he suddenly felt that he could not because he would be killing a part of himself. This feeling of pity towards the dragon and a sense of no longer caring about the evil it caused only gave more power to the dragon. The only way that Steve was able to kill the dragon was to realize he was wrong and that he sinned. He had to begin caring about his actions in light of God’s truth and repent of his sins. Only then was he free from the dragon and truly able to fight it. Unfortunately, Tracy did not learn this lesson but denied her sinfulness and allowed herself to slip into a state of no longer caring about her actions. As a result, she was devoured by the dragon.

After seeing the death of Tracy, after traveling through the dragon’s cave, after feeling that he had passed through hell and had come back to earth, Steve decided to give his life to God. He was now free to attack the dragon just like Levi, and just like Evelyn. After an intense fight with the dragon while trying to not be caught by the angry, gutless, sin-driven locals, Steve was able to kill the dragon. However, he warned us that although the dragon is dead, the sin continues to survive. “We all live in Hyde River. We all have our dragon” (Peretti 550).

Some may think that novels are just for fun reading, but it is amazing how much truth can be portrayed through a story. Sometimes we don’t seem to get it unless we see the truth is a story, in real life situations. Truth portrayed through a story may be taken for granted, but it causes the reader to not be able to argue as much. In a story the truth is portrayed as its obvious, everyday, common sense self, not some theoretical idea.

This story had a very strong message displaying the dangers of sin. Hyde Valley took an oath to hide their sin and they signed a charter proclaiming that they intended to do life their own way. The end of their charter read, “If this be sin, then let sin be served.” Hyde Valley was known for doing things their own way. The police could never uphold the law because they could never get witnesses to crimes, the city was basically owned by one man who set all of the rules, men were sent to shoot anyone who believed in a higher standard of morality. As long as the people did not bother Harold Bly, Peretti’s version of Mr. Potter from “It’s a Wonderful Life” mixed with a gang leader (you can choose your own name and movie title), then you survived and could live life however you wanted.

Just think. A city where you can do whatever you want. Can you imagine being free from guilt, not having to take responsibility for your actions. It sounds wonderful. Just do whatever you want. Love yourself. Forget your neighbor. After all, he can take care of himself, right? Well, you can do that if you choose, and that is what these people chose. But sooner or later it caught up with them. Because of their sin a terrible, man-eating dragon was created and came to devour them. Now, you may be thinking, well, of course I don’t have to worry about a dragon coming to eat me. Only someone completely ridiculous would believe in that. But it’s not the dragon as a living being but the dragon as a symbol. The dragon was sin in the story. It hooked you, it became a part of you, something that you could not kill unless you killed yourself. It controlled the people’s lives, it kept them quiet out of fear. It created an environment where true happiness, true freedom could not be found.

The dead give away that it had taken control was when the people didn’t care anymore. Every character before they died started going on and on about their sins, not feeling any guilt or shame. But they lost themselves. They no longer felt anything. They no longer seemed connected with reality.

I believe that the best representation from the book came from Reverend Wood of all people. He basically summed up the whole idea of the book in one scene.

“I heard you asking for forgiveness.” Steve noticed that Woods’s eyes seemed strangely vacant. “Steve, you don’t need forgiveness. If anything, you need to forgive yourself.”
Woods got to his feet. “Steve, listen to me. This town is coming apart because of guilt. We don’t need any more of it around here. You don’t need it.”
Steve tried to push past him. “And that’s why I’m getting rid of it!”
Woods blocked his path. “But I’m trying to tell you, you don’t have it to begin with! Steve, guilt is a relative term. It’s something we foist on ourselves.”
“What?”
“Why do you think those people down there are looting and fighting and destroying? It’s because they’ve been deprived for so long and they can’t feel good about themselves!”
Steve began to smell an all-too-familiar stench, and he could discern a haunting tone in Woods’s voice. “Reverend, I don’t think that’s the reason.”
The Reverend just kept going. “Of course it is. That’s what I kept trying to tell Levi, bless his heart. People act guilty because they feel guilty, so it’s not what you do; it’s how you feel about yourself. If you’re true to yourself, if you love yourself, you won’t hurt others.”
“Reverend, listen, I’ve been- I’ve been totally devoted to myself, okay? I’ve been absolutely nuts about myself. But let me tell you, I’ve hurt other people a lot!”
“And now you feel guilty, right? Well, I used to feel guilty, did you know that? I was bitter, and I was envious of other ministers who were successful. But now I know, there is no guilt after all. It’s all in your head.”
Steve noticed the Reverend’s hand had remained over his heart. He reached over and pulled the hand away. The black slime stretched in strings from Woods’s fingers to his chest. “Not quite, Reverend. Not quite.”
Woods just looked down at himself dumbly. “You don’t need forgiveness from God. You can change yourself. There’s no right or wrong except what we make up for ourselves.”
Now, with horror, Steve could see plainly. “You’re hooked…”
“Just feel good about yourself, that’s all.”
“You’re hooked and you’re losing it.” (Peretti 514-515)

The Great Divorce- A Summary

This was yet another great book by C.S. Lewis. Although this book may be short, it is packed full of deep, thought-provoking ideas. It challenges the reader to wonder what he is holding onto in Hell that is preventing him from entering Heaven.

The main story was about an ordinary man who boarded an unusual bus. This bus did not simply transport people to and fro around the city but took you out of the city, out of earth, and into Heaven. All of the passengers seemed to be anxious to get on, afraid that they would miss the bus, but then continually upset and quarrelsome even after they boarded. Although they were so urgent to get on the bus, they were skeptical about their destination.

The bus finally arrived in Heaven. The passengers faced a beautiful landscape before them. There were majestic mountains off in the distance, green fields, plenty of trees, bushes, and flowers, waterfalls, and a river. However, the passengers were surprised to find that the ground and all of their surroundings were incredibly solid. Rather than enjoying a walk on the cool, moist grass, they were being poked by the blades. The sharp blades would not bend under their feet. The man tried to pick up a leaf but was unable to. Others were trying to pick up fruit or flowers but found that they did not have the strength to lift such heavy, solid objects.

Soon after their arrival, the passengers noticed men and women coming towards them. These people seemed to be more than human in their stature and quality. They were slightly larger than most men, magnificently beautiful, and almost unbearably bright. In fact, these people seemed to be spirits more than men. These spirits were quickly coming towards the passengers as if they had an important mission to accomplish. It was then that the man noticed something. After looking at these spirits he realized that he and his fellow passengers were not men at all but ghosts. They were transparent like smoke and no longer seemed completely real.

As the spirits continued to advance, the man walked away, afraid of what they were intending to do. He entertained himself by walking on water. He found that even the water was solid enough for him to walk on as if it was concrete but he still had to run opposite of the current or else he would have been whisked away. He finally crawled back to the bank and began listening to several conversations between the ghosts and the spirits.

It appeared that the main goal of the spirits was to find an old friend or relative among the ghosts and encourage him to stay in Heaven. All of the ghosts, except for one, refused to stay. They were afraid of staying is such a solid place. They could not walk without pain, they would have nothing to eat, and they all had something they left behind that they could not live without.
The man was eventually confronted with a spirit that wished to talk with him about this new land. He did less convincing but allowed the man to listen to other conversations and then tried to answer any questions the man had. The man could not understand how this new world functioned, how there was such joy, peace, happiness, and unconditional love. Through conversation with the spirit, the man realized that where he came from was not simply earth, but Hell. He was not fully real (thus his ghostlike composition), he lived within time whereas this new land did not, and he lived in a place that did not understand true love, true joy, or real life as a whole. The spirit explained to the man that although this new world hurt him at first, if he would die to himself, thus allowing him to be reborn, he could become solid like the rest of the land. The main point was that one has to die, sacrifice, surrender before he could ever gain true life. The problem with so many of the ghosts is that they did not want to die, to go through the pain of surrender, to find a new life. They held onto their bitter emotions, their sense that they needed to be justified for the wrong doings of a husband or wife, brother, or son, and falsely accused Heaven of being ridiculous and Hell being the better option. It was sad for the man and for the reader to hear a ghost continually refusing to surrender, to let go of all their concerns, to forgive and forget. They refused paradise by blinding themselves to think that Hell was so much better.

The man was beginning to see the truth concerning Heaven and his need to repent, surrender, and be born again. However, his spirit told him that he was not actually in Heaven. He was simply dreaming. Although his dream did not portray the real Heaven, it would give good insight into the actions of men.

The Screwtape Letters- A Summary

The Screwtape Letters is a very interesting book. The story revolves around two demons writing letters to each other. One demon is named Screwtape and he is sending letters to his nephew, Wormwood. The reader does not get to read Wormwood’s letters but only reads Screwtape’s Letters. The letters from Screwtape are basically “How to be a Successful Demon” lessons given to his nephew. Wormwood appears to be a young demon who has just got out of his schooling and is for the first time being assigned to a human. His goal is to keep his human from falling into the “Enemies” hands. Screwtape advised him on how to take natural human emotions, thoughts, and actions and twist them to be used against the Enemy.

Wormwood ultimately failed to keep him patient from the Enemy. The human became a Christian right after Wormwood was assigned to him and found strong Christians to associate himself with. At the end of the book, the human died while fighting in World War II and was taken to heaven.

I really enjoyed this book because of the unusual angle that it took. It is amazing how much truth can be told through the perspective of a demon. Lewis was very good about showing the truth of our actions. We try to convince ourselves that we do not sin, but this book took away all doubt and confusion and showed our actions for what they are. Screwtape explained many lies that we easily fall for, confusions that distract us from the truth, and key points for temptation.

I believe that the most important idea I learned from this book is that we cannot act solely based on our own choices, not being influenced by anyone else. There really is no sitting on the fence between God and the Devil. Either we need to sacrifice our lives and live for Christ, or we are living for the Devil. We may think that we are choosing our behavior on our own, completely independent from the spiritual world, but it is the temptations and lies from the Devil that are truly running us. We either live by the truth, or we are living by our sinful natures. We either live for Christ, or by denying Christ’s will for our lives, we are living for the Devil. We are either living in the light or in the dark. There is no living in an alternate universe that has no concept of light or dark.

That Hideous Strength- A Summary

Lewis, C.S. That Hideous Strength. New York, New York: Scribner Paperback Fiction. 1996

That Hideous Strength is the third in C.S. Lewis’ Space Trilogy. Out of the Silent Planet and Perelandra precede That Hideous Strength. I am happy to say that I have now had a chance to read all three books.

This book certainly has its strengths and weaknesses compared to the other two books. I want to say that this was my favorite of the three, but I actually liked Perelandra the best, I think. I liked That Hideous Strength a lot because the story flowed the best. In the first two books, Lewis tended to move slowly through the story, taking much time to talk about the scenery and comment on almost seemingly meaningless detail. The stories do not move very quickly in the first two books and it can be slightly challenging to stay concentrated. But the stories are so intriguing. Although you may hear me moan and groan through the whole reading of the book, by the end I am telling you that you must read the book because it is so good. There is obviously a deeper meaning to the stories and are great to start a philosophical discussion. I especially like the story of Perelandra because of its interesting insights into the story of Adam and Eve. That Hideous Strength was different from the first two stories because it moved much more quickly. The whole story takes place on earth, so description is not as imperative. We all already know what earth looks like, obviously. The story follows the perspective of many different characters rather than one or two. It is also interesting because all three stories are being tied together even more. However, as far as the story goes, I liked the first two books better. That Hideous Strength was easier and more enjoyable to read, but overall the story was not the best of the three. This story seemed more farfetched, pulling in the story of Merlin and Arthur. Now, you may be wondering, how can this be the most farfetched of the stories? At least this story actually takes place on earth which we know is inhabitable. Since the other stories took place on Mars (Malacandra) and Venus (Perelandra) it seemed alright to have bizarre events occurring. But since this story took place on earth, it seemed strange to have unordinary things happening. I felt crazy when I would talk about it with others saying that Merlin came back to life, that there was a dead but alive floating head, that a whole city was swallowed up, etc. However, despite the oddness of the story, I do believe that it has a very interesting message. I know that I have not captured all that Lewis was trying to say. I probably missed a lot of it and therefore cannot appreciate the story as well. It is yet another great Lewis book to start a discussion on.

The story is mainly about a young married couple, Mark and Jane Studdock. The two of them do not have a very good relationship but tend to avoid each other. Mark is always concerned with gaining a good reputation and getting into the prestigious circles at the college where he works. Jane focuses on never losing her identity to Mark through their marriage but stubbornly refusing to submit. The only time they spent together was usually filled with bickering.

Mark was presented with a job opening with the N.I.C.E. at Belbury. The N.I.C.E. claimed to be working towards peace and prosperity for all people, but it did not seem that they were actually doing this. Nevertheless, this was a prestigious job where one would be considered high and noble for working for such a company. Mark was instantly pleased to be given an opportunity to work for them. Although he was not fond of his new colleagues at all, and even though his job description was never made clear to him, he continued to pursue this opportunity. He realized later that he did not even like these people, but he fought for his position simply because it looked good and he would not feel like an outsider. He began his work as a journalist even though he was a major of Sociology.

Meanwhile, Jane was disturbed with terrible dreams almost every night. She kept seeing the same faces and the dreams seemed incredibly real. She finally went to see a Miss Ironwood at St. Anne’s to try to figure out if something was wrong with her. Miss Ironwood explained that nothing was wrong with her but that she had the gift of prophecy. Her dreams seemed so real because they were portraying real events. Miss Ironwood tried to explain that something very important was happening and that she was told that a prophet would be coming to her. She was in need of Jane’s help. Jane did not like this at all. She did not want to be a prophet or be anything special at all. She did not want to join anyone, to be consumed with a problem, but to be free and independent. She left St. Anne’s, although she ended up returning.

Jane did not want to go back to St. Anne’s, but Mark had been away at Belbury for some time. Also, her town, Edgestow, seemed to be overtaken. The N.I.C.E. police was forcing everyone to evacuate and the Bracton college was being torn apart. Her closest friends were all going St. Anne’s and they insisted that she come along. When she returned to St. Anne’s she was introduced to the Director. Apparently all of her close friends, Mrs. Dimble and her husband, Mrs. Maggs and her husband, Miss Ironwood, and the Denniston’s were all apart of a group that was fighting against something and this mysterious Director was their leader.

The Director was later revealed in the story as Dr. Ransom from the first two stories. They were indeed formed into a group and they were fighting against the N.I.C.E. They needed Jane because she was seeing the inner working of the N.I.C.E. They were all very sad to hear that Mark had recently taken up a job at Belbury.

Mark, on the other hand, was finding that Belbury was not all that it seemed. First of all, once you became a part of the N.I.C.E., you were not allowed to leave it alive. Second, the N.I.C.E. police and the action coming from Belbury did not seem to be benefiting society at all. There was something terribly wrong. He was asked to write false articles portraying the N.I.C.E. as good and beneficial which would then be submitted to the local newspapers. When he tried to leave Belbury to find Jane, his colleagues accused him of committing murder, providing false evidence that would prove it in court. He was eventually put under Mr. Frost to be taught the true workings of the N.I.C.E. The N.I.C.E. was trying to initiate the next step in evolution. A man named Alcasan had been justily killed for crimes he had committed. However, his head was taken by the N.I.C.E. At Belbury, it was resupplied with oxygen, blood, even false saliva to make it appear that the head was alive without a body. The N.I.C.E.’s goal was to eliminate the common man and instead have one head that would represent humanity, one head as in one leader and as in a head without a body. They wanted to get rid of the natural and live more efficiently with just the mind. Frost was trying to teach Mark that all nature was unnecessary, along with emotion. Humanity must reach complete objectivism to reach the next level of evolution.

One important piece of the N.I.C.E.’s plan was to bring Merlin back from the dead. He was buried/preserved underneath Bracton college in Edgestow where Mark and Jane had lived. He was to come back to life to aid in the process of making a bodiless head come to life. However, Dr. Ransom was able to talk to him before he went to Belbury. Merlin ended up being on Ransom’s side all along. He served Ransom, knowing him as Pendragon and the Logres. With Merlin’s help, Belbury was destroyed and Mark was freed from his captors. Merlin was finally able to rest in peace knowing that his task was done and Ransom returned to Perelandra.

Prophet- A Summary

Peretti, Frank. Prophet. Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway Books. 1992.

I was quite impressed with Prophet. I had only read two other Frank Peretti novels and both dealt with the battle between angels and demons. Half of the characters in those two books were humans and the other half were angels and demons. The spiritual persons actually had names, characters, personalities, descriptions, etc. I expected the same from this book. I figured that angels and demons would play major roles in the story. However, I was mistaken. Although there is certainly spiritual battles going on throughout the book, the angels and demons are not made into characters.

The basic story focused on a news anchorman, John Barrett. He was frustrated with his father, John Barrett Sr., due to his religious fanaticism. He was regularly seen preaching the truth of God whenever Governor Hiram Slater was doing another campaign rally. Dad, as he was called in the book, seemed to have a special interest in Governor Slater (who was currently running for mayor again) and he felt the need to get across a certain message to him. However, his attempts were drawing too much attention finally ending him on the news as his son, John Barrett Jr. had to do a story on him. John needed to get across to his father that he was coming across as a crazy, old, religious judgementalist who was anti-abortion. Basically, he was seen as a kook and it needed to come to an end

John went to the familiar plumbing warehouse that was owned and run by his father. He was humiliated as he had to report on a crazy kook that started a riot that happened to be his father. He had to talk with his father to stop any further incidents. However, when John entered his dad’s office, he seemed to be hiding something. He had a mysterious tape player that he tried to hide but desperately wanted to share with his son. However, Dad kept saying that John wasn’t ready. John was perplexed at his behavior, but he mainly focused on making sure that his father knew that he was making a fool of himself and that he needed to stop. John and his dad had not gotten along with each other for several years, and this particular visit was no different.
John was surprised to hear a day after their meeting that his father was killed in an accident in the warehouse. Apparently a pipe rack had fallen on him. Dad always came to work early, so by the time anyone else arrived at work it was too late.

John attended his father’s funeral, but he was surprised to see his ex-wife and gothic son there. He was not able to talk to his ex-wife at all, but he did talk to his son, Carl, afterwards. The reader finds that this mysterious Carl will be staying in town for a while as he had worked out a deal to stay with John’s mom. Carl was a lost and confused young man, trying to figure out who he was, and who his father was.

One evening after the funeral, John began hearing thousands of voices from outside his apartment. They were voices of panic, pain, and they all seemed to be screaming, “Help me!” He went to investigate, but the voices died away and there was no sign of any real people ever being in the area. John was afraid that the effects of using drugs in his college days, topped with the added stress of losing his father, was causing him to hallucinate. But then it happened again, but in a very different way. He was eating a casual dinner with his son one night after work. It was already slightly awkward since John didn’t know his son very well and his son kept asking very personal, difficult questions. A young waitress came up to take their order, but John saw two faces rather than one. One face was the normal face of a young girl asking their order. Another face seemed to be looking from behind this face. This second face was crying, repeating the word, “Annie.” John told Carl to ask the waitress if she knew an Annie. Once he asked the girl brightened and quickly asked how they knew Annie and how they knew that she was thinking about her. John couldn’t explain himself, but this waitress, Daniel, explained the mysterious Annie. Annie was one of her high school friends. Annie found out that she was pregnant and didn’t know what to do. The school counselor who had given Annie the pregnancy test told her to get an abortion and set up an appointment. Annie was excused from her midday classes on Friday and taken to the abortion clinic in a brown van along with two other girls. Annie had her abortion done and then returned to school to recover for the last couple of classes before going home. This allowed girls to get an abortion without their parents ever finding out. Unfortunately, it seemed that the doctors were in too much of a hurry with Annie’s abortion and caused an infection that spread throughout her body and killed her two days after the procedure. The death certificate said that it was due to an infection, but it did not say that it was from an abortion. Rachael knew that it was from the abortion and she desperately wanted to tell someone so that more girls did not go to that clinic and get hurt. However, there was no way to explain it.

The story begins to get very complicated as John and Carl talk to Annie’s parents, the Brewers. Annie’s father, Max, was actually a close friend of John’s father.
John tried to establish the story well enough to make it onto the news. Annie’s mother and Leslie Albright, a close friend of John and reporter for the same news station, went to the abortion clinic to find the records that proved that Annie had an abortion. Unfortunately, the clinic had a tip surprisingly from John’s boss at News6, Tina Lewis, and erased the records. So, Mrs. Brewer and Leslie came up dry. However, Tina still ran a story making the Brewers look anti-choice fanatics attempting to discredit abortion but ending up making a fool of themselves. This obviously caused the Brewers to no longer trust John and Leslie, but then John and Leslie were able to get the original autopsy of Annie that clearly stated her death was from a botched abortion.

After all of this excitement, John and Carl were talking together in Dad’s old workshop. Carl had set up his painting projects in a corner of the workshop. Everyone was amazed that Dad had left his workshop so clean. Everything was in order, and the order didn’t end there. Before his death, he had taken care of all of the bills, he was sure to pay all debts, he had put everything away. Mom said that he was ready to go. No one knew how, but somehow Dad knew that he was going to go when he did. Anyway, John and Carl were talking about the legacy that Dad had left. John remembered that Dad would make a Christmas present for him every year and that he would hide it in the same spot. Suddenly, a thought occurred to him. He raced to the back of the workshop to the familiar hidden door where his Christmas presents used to be hid. He opened the door, peered inside, and found a manila envelope with his name on it. It was recently placed there as there was no dust or cobwebs covering it. He took out the envelope and looked inside. The contents of the envelope seemed random. There was a death certificate of Hillary Slater, the governor’s daughter. She was reported to have been killed because of taking the wrong medicine. She was trying to take medicine for menstrual cramps, but accidentally took her father’s blood thinning pills. She bled to death as a result. An audio tape slid out of the envelope as well. John took the tape and played it on a tape player in the workshop. He suddenly flashed back to his last conversation with his father. He had a tape player in front of him and he was crying. He hid it, but said that he wanted to share it with his son, but John wasn’t ready to hear it. The tape began playing. John and Carl could hear a teenager’s frantic voice. Then a dispatcher’s voice saying, “This is 911.” This young girl explained that her friend had had an abortion, but something was wrong. She was bleeding profusely and it would not stop. Her breathing was very laborious and she was beginning to turn blue. Then the girl’s voice stopped and the governor’s voice came out of the tape player. He said that it was her daughter that was bleeding to death. Hillary Slater had died because of a botched abortion, not because of an accident! But the governor had covered it up. Why?

Through much investigation, John and Carl found the girl who spoke first on the tape. It was Shannon DuPliese. She had apparently been given a scholarship that sent her to a college far away. But she received at least one phone call a week from Martin Devin, the governor’s Chief of Staff and Personal Assistant. Devin wanted to make sure that Shannon was not going to talk and that she would stay far away. By the time that John contacted Shannon through Mrs. Brewer and Leslie, she was quite tired of feeling pressured by Devin. She decided to quit school and come home. She needed to tell her parents the truth of Hilary’s death and let people know that she was right there with her through the abortion and as she died. Mrs. Brewer and Shannon decided that this abortion clinic (the same clinic operated on Annie and Hilary) must be stopped.
As all of this was developing, John was beginning to wonder whether his father’s death was really an accident. Everyone knew that those pipe racks wouldn’t fall spontaneously. Maybe the governor had something to do with it. The governor knew that Dad had that tape and Dad was certainly not getting on the governor’s good side by preaching at him at every political rally.
All of the facts, interviews, and paperwork from Annie’s death and Hilary’s death finally came into a story that was ready to be released to the public. The news director was not happy to report this story as he was friends with the governor, but he allowed it. John reported the story by himself, but that action led to his being fired as news anchor for News6. John wondered whether reporting this story was worth his job, but he felt that it was his duty to report the truth and try to protect young girls secretly getting abortions.
The story ended with the news that Martin Devin was being arrested for setting up the murder of John Barrett Sr. Devin was given a very secretive tape by the governor which he was supposed to destroy. However, Devin decided to not destroy it in case in could be used as leverage against the governor sometime in the future. However, the tape was stolen and given to Dad. Devin then hired two hit men to take care of the matter. Dad refused to give the tape back, but this obstinacy ended with his death. John’s suspicious were justified. Therefore, the matter of Dad’s death, Annie’s death, and Hilary’s death was finally out in the open.
An underlying theme to this book is what is truth and do we have a commitment to protect it? John Barrett Jr. did not know who he was. The only thing he would protect was himself. He was empty, heartless, without beliefs or convictions. Carl was empty, wandering, wondering who he was and who his father was. And yet, John Barrett Sr. knew exactly who he was and what he was fighting for. He stood up for his beliefs. He risked everything, including his very life, to protect the truth. He knew who he was, what he was doing. He had a sense of control that John and Carl seemed incapable of grasping. The media, music, shopping, distractions, noise, advertisements, etc. seemed to be what was in control. Men were no longer acting like men but were allowing media to decide their lives for them. The media was described as a large beast, a fish, or a machine that was heading one direction and if you were wise and valued your position would not fight with the flow. You would not break the unwritten laws of asking pesky questions, searching too much for the truth. The truth, the whole truth and nothing but it, is not always welcome. John and Carl began to wonder, where was this machine heading?
John had to face the truth head on. Is there really truth, or does “truth” simply change with the culture? Is what is considered terrible today going to be considered acceptable tomorrow? If so, why would it be worth fighting for? If the truth is simply going to change, it’s not worth risking your career, or life, your happiness to protect it.

John came to the realization that truth must exist. He could not be human without believing in something solid. He felt that to be truly human is to take a stand, to being thinking for yourself, not allowing the machine to decide for you. This would mean going against the flow which would take sacrifice, but it was worth it to truly live. Although John did not want to say the whole truth at times, he felt that he had a commitment to tell the whole truth, no matter how unpleasant or unpopular.

John also found that God will chase after you. He deeply desires you to come to the Truth and He will not simply give up if you do not cooperate the first few times. By the end of the story you can definitely tell a difference in John’s character from the beginning to the end. God kept speaking to John through several different ways, through visions, people, circumstances, etc. until He got his attention. Then, John was able to find who he was and what he believed. He became more of a human than he ever was, being in control of his own decisions once again, freeing himself from the machine that was destroying mankind. That machine no longer had control over him, distracting him from his doom with one more add, one more thing to buy, one more song to listen to, one more show to watch. That machine never allowed for silence. Never silence, always noise, busyness, action. Never a moment to consider what is coming, to never realize how empty we are.