Product Description

Something's out there.

Reed Shelton organized this survival weekend. Hired the best guide in the region. Meticulously trained, studied, and packed while enouraging his wife, Beck, to do the same. But little did they know that surviving the elements would become the least of their worries. During thier first night of camping, an unearthly wail pierces the calm of the forest. Then someone--no, something--emerges from the dense woods and begins pursuing them. Everything that follows is a blur to Reed--except for the unforgettable image of a huge creature carrying his wife into the darkness. Dependant on the efforts of a small town and a band of friends, Reed knows they have little time to find Beck. Even more important, he soon realizes that they aren't the only ones doing the hunting. Something much faster, more relentless--and definately not human--has begun to hunt them.

Frank Peretti is at the top of his game in this New York Times best-selling novel of "survival of the fittest." Nothing is as it first appears in this thriller where things that go bump in the night are only a heartbeat away.

An intense novel of character forged in the midst of struggle, survival, and sacrifice, Deadfall is highly-acclaimed author Robert Liparulo's latest rivetingly smart thriller.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1713398 in Books
• Published on: 2005-03-15
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 272 pages

From Publishers Weekly
In this long-awaited novel, Peretti (This Present Darkness; The Visitation) tells the story of a young woman who disappears in the Idaho wilderness and the ensuing search for her. The author's prose is clear and crisp, with only a few lapses into Lovecraftian hyperbole: his description of the novel's almost mythical setting is rich and detailed without being overwritten and his characterization of the woman, Beck, and the very unusual creatures she encounters is compelling. Peretti successfully incorporates several contemporary detective drama/suspense thriller tropes; one of his main characters, for example, is a crime scene investigator, and welcome doses of forensic evidence and DNA analysis are thrown into the mix. But the novel suffers from too many supporting characters, and Peretti's failure to develop them greatly compromises the conclusion. More problematic, though, is the novel's agenda with regard to the theory of evolution. Not raised overtly until the middle of the book, Peretti's critique of certain aspects of Darwinism eclipses the story and leads it to an unsatisfying and somewhat confusing end. As in Peretti's previous novels, those who hold conservative views are portrayed as heroic and those who disagree as evil. The novel's devolution into this simplistic moralism, however, will not keep Peretti fans away, and its many merits may attract other readers as well. 400,000 first printing. (Apr. 12)

From AudioFile
During survival training in the wilderness, policeman Reed Shelton and his wife, Beck, are attacked and separated by unidentified creatures. Reed's voice is tremulous as he describes what happened. Peretti narrates his own imaginative story of Sasquatch, DNA mutations, cruel experiments, and cold-blooded murder. But his delivery is dry and raspy, with an unpleasant pitch and tone, even though he depicts realistic shouts, shots, and screams. His portrayal of Sasquatch's speech--grunts, tongue clicks, and a variety of growls--borders on the comical. Furthermore, Beck's vocalizations as she assimilates into the tribe bends credulity. Peretti fans will like this, but less imagination and an abridgment would make this more enjoyable for others. G.D.W. © AudioFile 2005, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

From Booklist
Policeman Reed Shelton is guiding his wife, Rebecca ("Beck"), on a no-frills wilderness hike when a strange being attacks them, and they are separated. Bloodied and shaken, Reed crawls back for help, thinking Beck is probably dead. But she's been kidnapped by a band of apelike creatures that may embody what the people of backcountry Idaho tell their tall tales about: Bigfoot, aka Sasquatch. Or there may be another explanation: renegade researchers have been fiddling with DNA and have altered the offspring of chimpanzees into "monster" form. The monsters have escaped. This kind of thing--trying to improve upon God's creation--is red meat to Peretti's evangelical readers, but he doesn't develop the issue. Instead, he pumps up the suspense as a hunt is mounted to find Beck, but since the reader pretty much knows her fate, the suspense seems mechanical. When the true "monster" is revealed, he (or she) has little time on stage, and Peretti's argument about DNA more or less falls away. Peretti has so many readers that his new novel belongs in every library, but he was better off writing about the weight of sin, as he did in The Oath (1995). As for the evangelical take on DNA research, try Sigmund Brouwer's The Double Helix (1995). It's better informed and more suspenseful. John Mort
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