Nightmare by Robin Parrish

July 2010 by Bethany House Publishers 

Paperback, 368 pages

Review Copy

Book Synopsis

Ghost Town is the hottest amusement park in the country, offering state-of-the-art chills and thrills involving the paranormal. The park's main ride is a haunted house that promises an encounter with a real ghost. When Maia Peters visits during her senior year of college, she's not expecting to be impressed. Maia grew up as the only child of a pair of world-renowned "ghost hunters," so the paranormal is nothing new and to her most of the park is just Hollywood special effects. In fact, the ride feels pretty boring until the very end. There, a face appears from the mist. The face of Jordin Cole, a girl Maia knows who disappeared from campus a few months ago. Convinced what she saw wasn't a hoax and desperate to find answers to Jordin's disappearance, Maia launches into a quest for answers. Joined by Jordin's boyfriend--a pastor's kid with very different ideas about paranormal and the spirit realm--Maia finds herself in a struggle against dangerous forces she never expected to confront on the edge of the spirit realm that try to keep the truth from emerging. ...........(Taken from the CFBA Tour Site)

Review

Ghosts….spirits…paranormal activity…its things many think about but don’t want to actually see. Maia Peters has grown up chasing it along with her parents who are world famous paranormal hunters. Ghosts and haunted places are like second nature to Maia- but in order to get away from that world Maia changes her appearance and starts college hoping for a new career and a way to live life.

Jordin Cole is extremely wealthy and very interested in the paranormal world. After hounding Maia for a few weeks, she offers to pay her well to take her on some real ghost hunts. Maia eventually can’t turn down the money, knowing it will pay for her college tuition and decides maybe one good haunted place will scare the pants off Jordin. To Maia’s surprise not only does the first night in an abandoned sanatorium not scare Jordin, it fuels her to find out more about the paranormal world….that is until Jordin winds up missing.

This book not only scared the pants off me but also kept me on the edge of my seat with a nail readily available to be chewed off. Parrish’s writing was amazing and paced so well that the story held my interest and my chills all the way through to a brilliant end. Nightmare is told through present day with flashbacks of Maia and Jordin’s investigations that twist together a creepy and thrilling plotline for the reader.

Would it be surprising to learn that this novel is a Christian-Suspense novel? Robin Parrish goes way beyond the norm for a Christian author and takes real life phenomenon and gives the readers an alternative answer than to just demons. Ive met other Christians who chalk everything up to a demon around the corner…you know the lawn mower broke…a demon did it….I got a creepy feeling…must be a demon…..I agree that there is indeed a spiritual world around us, do I chalk everything up to demons..no not everything.... but I truly believe there is spiritual stuff going on that the normal eye cannot see. Many readers will not think Robin's take on the paranormal to line up with a Christian worldview and might think it’s very outside of the box for Christian reading….but many like me will enjoy the out of the box thinking and storyline. I liked the fact that Parrish gives us many alternative views to this world, one from a scientific standpoint, a Christian standpoint, a neutral standpoint and a scary reality standpoint. Parrish makes it very clear what he believes in his acknowledgments and who he gives credit to for writing such a intriguing, fun and freighting story, but also wasn’t afraid to take his novel in dark places, creepy situations and leading the reader to thought provoking questions about death, dying and the after.

I think my favorite aspect to Nightmare, was the obvious well researched information in it. I loved that during the flashback times in the novel; each place that Maia and Jordin investigated was real and had an actual picture along with details about the specific haunting. The old church by far the scariest trip the girls had which featured a demon haunting about did me in….don’t read this alone at nighttime would be my suggestion but also don’t pass up the opportunity to read this truly gripping novel.

Rating

Nightmare is a frightening novel, if you scare easily, especially when dealing with the paranormal world (and Im not talking sparkly vamps) that touch on ghosts, spirits and demons, I would read with caution. Intense scenes, chilling goosebump worthy places, action packed paranormal activity and nighttime terrors.......I recommend Nightmare to adult readers and the mature teen.

5/5- Suspense- Horror- Paranormal activity

Copy Provided by Bethany House and the CFBA, to see a full tour list and learn more go here.

To Read the First Chapter of Nightmare go HERE

Robin Parrish is a journalist who's written about the intersection of faith and pop culture for more than a decade. Currently he serves as Senior Editor at XZOOSIA.com, a community portal that fuses social networking with magazine-style features about entertainment and culture.

He had two great ambitions in his life: to have a family, and to be a published novelist. In March of 2005, he proposed to his future wife the same week he signed his first book contract with Bethany House Publishers. They contracted him for the rights to The Dominion Trilogy: Relentless (2006), Fearless (2007), and Merciless (2008). His science fiction thriller, Offworld came out in 2009. This summer debuts Nightmare, and he's working on another for 2011. Robin and his wife and children live in North Carolina.