[.ca] Apollyon (ISBN 0842329269)

From Amazon.com:
Apollyon: The Destroyer Is Unleashed, by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins, is another suspenseful chronicle of those left behind after the rapture of the saved. As the book opens, Hattie Durham, the former airline attendant and mistress of the antichrist, Nicolae Carpathia, is wracked with confusion about what to do with her illegitimate child, whose birth date is coming due. Rayford Steele, the airline pilot who flies Carpathia's plane, is ambivalent about the mounting evidence that his late wife, Amanda, may have been a false believer. Buck, the ace newspaper reporter, and Chloe, his wife, are debating whether to have a child when the future of the world is so uncertain. And all of the world's thousands of believers are gathering in Jerusalem for a stadium rally, which will lead to a showdown with Nicolae Carpathia. Believers are increasingly relying on the Internet for underground communication, and most of them are becoming more and more tempted by violence as a way of battling the forces of evil overtaking the world. But demon locusts are shortly dispatched as a divine plague to attack those who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads; this buys the believers a little bit of time to solve their respective personal crises, all of which end in ways that will keep you riveted until the last page.

a failure:
I am an ardent believer in Christ, but that does not mean that anything written about Christianity should be endorsed and embraced regardless of its quality. I have read all 12 of these novels and they simply aren't very good. The writing is poor, the plot unimaginative, and there certainly isn't anything in these books that will cause a Christian to re-examine and thus more fully embrace our beliefs. Look, I don't doubt that the authors had the best intentions with these books, but quality has to count for something. There are better alternatives out there. Try We All Fall Down by Caldwell. It's well-written and extreimly intelligent. If you're going to read about Christianity, read something that is worth your time.

Much better than 4.:
After being quite dissapointed by left behind 4 I find this one to be far more interesting and enjoyable. It helped that Buck and Rayford had quit their jobs which meant that they did not have to resort to lying and deceiving so much in this one. Judgement is well and truly being poured out on earth in this book and we get to read about what it might be like for those who don't know God when the end of the world hits. The scenes involving the demonic locusts being unleashed are particularly harrowing and would be terrifying for those on the wrong side. On another not, I was walking in the city the other day and came across an indian man passing out books, this one caught my eye as it was called "Survivors:you'll be surprised who'll get left behind" and the cover art etc is very much like the left behind series. This book is not related to the Left Behind series but gives an alternative scenario and is very interesting reading. He was only asking for a small donation to obtain this book. Check out jesuschristians.com for further info. I for one was intrigued at the alternatives, this one, instead of staring with the rapture starts with a nuclear attack on the U.S. and the cover, whilst made pre september 11, is prophetic. Also in this story, the christians are not the average evangelical americianised version but rather more biblical followers of Jesus. With too many christians today out to make a buck from other christians by offering them entertainment, it's important to be discerning, don't fall for every doctrine that comes candy coated down the road, e.g. big haired preachers screaming out you about how Jesus was rich and wants us all to have heaps of cash and never have problems. How did I get off on that? Anyway, enjoy these books but think for yourself, thanks for reading.

John the Revelatorýs plague of locusts unleashed.:
Add another 1/2 star to the three I've given it. It is difficult to visualize the various plagues in the Book of Revelations, however Lahaye and Jenkins have done an excellent job. Why these demon locusts did not attack everyone was very clear. Also I've wondered about the two prophets who will be left in the streets of Jerusalem for three days as John describes, but again the authors brought these two men to life for me. Amanda Steele may have been a traitor to her husband and The Tribulation Force. Since I had no emotional connection to Amanda, who was introduced merely to play a small role, I was unconcerned that she disappeared. However, her death along with others on the jet that crashed did show Nicolae Carpathia's truer motive. In my opinion, this is one of the better books in the Left Behind series, but after reading four straight through I was committed to the series. If someone were to start reading just one book out of order, then I think the interwoven connections would be difficult to follow. The scenes in Jerusalem were strong and well written. Never having been to the city, I was able to picture it somewhat -- especially considering the photojournalists and newscasters we have today. New characters are introduced as each book moves forward, which keeps the pressure building with their interpersonal relationships and questions of fealty. True dramatic tension is missing, but the humor at the expense of the The AntiChrist and his divergent crew is refreshing, though difficult to imagine. However, if you have read the previous four books, this will be an excellent adventure in the continuing saga. Victoria Tarrani

Better than people give it credit for:
A lot of the reviews I have read of these books tend to put it down by comparing it to other end of the world books. And while I will admit that these are not as smart or engaging as some of the the better books that cover the same topic like Fire of Heaven or We All Fall Down, I still really enjoyed them. A friend introduced me to the first book and I cut through all 12 books over the past two months. In a way, it's not really fair to compare them to some of the other books because they are trying to do different things. Left Behind seems to me to try to simply tell a great story about the end of the world. It's light, but what's wrong with that? I really felt like I NEEDED to know what was going to happen next when I finished a book and the very next day would order the next one. I call that a success. A book like We All Fall Down is obviously much more intense and thoughtful, the characters seem much more like real people, and it gives you more to think about, but why does that make Left Behind bad? Can't The Ten Commandments and The Passion both be good movies?

Are you kidding me?:
I am an agnostic, and make no bones about it. But, I also feel that a person should not critique a work unless he has actually read it. I am now on my fifth book in this series (Apollyon), and am finding myself making excuses for having read this far. Is it the writing? Goodness no. Is it the engaging characters? Oh, sure. I honestly don't know. It's kind of like my addiction back in high school to the "Flowers in the Attic" series that was such in vogue then. Terrible writing, awful premise, bad execution. But for some reason, I kept reading. Maybe to see how bad it could get? If it could get any better? No. Mostly, it was to see what all the fuss was about, and to see what so many others actually saw in the thing. This series is basically about "preaching to the choir," and making the events of Revelation fit into some (semi) coherent story. Unfortunately, anyone with reasonable intelligence will be rolling their eyes countless times. The relative normality of human existence after all of these calamities is one sour point. Another would be that this "all knowing, all loving" God would visit such horror and calamity upon his people--believers or not. My biggest point of contention would be that no matter how good or how pure a person is, all that matters to get into heaven is to be "born again." Even the characters of Hattie and Chaim "believe" that Christ is the savior, and yet that isn't good enough. . .they haven't been "born again." Puh-leeze. Switch off your brain, and submit as a slave to Jeebus, and you're goin' to heaven! Even if you're an evil )&**&%!!! But if you're basically a good guy, but for some reason don't make the secret prayer. . .you're going to burn in eternal torment FOREVER! Boy, that's justice. People that actually believe that trip me out! It may be your interpretation of Biblical events, but it doesn't make logical sense. God gives you a brain. You use your brain to determine that it doesn't make sense that good works aren't good enough. Your brain doesn't conclude that blind faith in a book that is hard to understand is the ONLY WAY. So you are DOOOOOMED. Justice like that is hard to distinguish from the justice of the DEVIL, wouldn't you say? I'm just sayin'. . .