The Veritas Project team has a new assignment: To find the truth behind the mysterious disappearance of two runaways. When one runaway turns up totally out of his mind and a government agent steps in to take over the case, the Springfield’s continue their own investigation. The twins-Elijah and Elisha-go undercover, posing as runaways. What happens next will keep readers on the edge of their … seats as the twins end up in a strange academy where Truth is continually challenged, a gang-like war develops, and Elijah is taken to an ominous mansion from which no one has ever returned. A great thriller with a realistic look at right and wrong.
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The Springfields are a family of investigators—Dad, Mom, and twin siblings Elijah and Elisha—for the Veritas Project, which seeks to find the truth behind strange mysteries and crimes when others are unable or unwilling to see past the surface. When a teenage boy shows up on a highway in Idaho with no idea who he is or why he’s there and can only answer questions with “I don’t know,” the Springfields are brought in to investigate. Elijah and Elisha go undercover and are soon enough caught up in a world with no absolutes and no way to escape.
For as much as I liked the previous book in this series, I like this one even more. I always have, I’m pretty sure, since I read these several times soon after they came out in the early 2000s. While the warning presented within this book might seem extreme to some, I think it’s an insightful look at what happens to society when truth is left up to the individual. When one rejects God and the Bible, upon what foundations can “right” and “wrong” be based? Only one’s own feelings, beliefs, assumptions, desires, etc. And when that person’s version of right and wrong clashes with someone else’s, who wins? That is what this book examines in a somewhat true-to-life setting. Though some of the mechanics involved in the book are certainly beyond what technology can do these days, the study of “what if” is again the focus in this book, like it was in the previous.
If you read this book and don’t see any parallels to what is going on in real life, you might not be paying very close attention. I know this approach isn’t for everyone, but I do truly believe that the only truth that can really be known is found in the Bible, and the more we get away from that, the more dangerous it can be. Peretti has a way of cutting to the heart of things that I have always loved, and I really wish he had written more in this series. I highly recommend this book to all fans of Christian thrillers, whether you’re a teenager or adult.
5 things from Nightmare Academy
by Frank Peretti
1)Elijah and Elisha are teen twins investigating the mysterious appearance of a crazed teen.
2)They go undercover at Knight Moore Academy where truth is relative, and the kids are given freedom to do what they feel is right.
3) Homeschoolers being brilliant (trajectory of the earth’s angles based off of stars, articulate views of “what is truth,” self-defense, etc.)
4)A maze where nothing is certain, everything defies logic and there is no truth.
5)He was once a normal fifteen-year-old-boy. He had a name, a family, a school, and a life _and he thought he knew something. But that boy, and that time and that life have become. . . nothing
I read this with my advanced Middle-Grade reader. Peretti does an excellent job with story painting. I love how he writes kids who are proactive in their faith, a solid example for my
daughter.