BOOK DESCRIPTION (FROM THE BOOK)
Paul Stepola, an agent working for the National Peacekeeping Organization(NPO), has been assigned to enforce compliance with the world government’s prohibition on religion. Paul relishes his job and is good at it. He is determined to expose underground religion ~ flush it out, expose it and kill it ~ until his life is turned upside down and he is forced to look at life in a different way.
As Paul begins to unravel the truth about what he has found, events taking place around the world start to make sense. Something big is coming ~ something that can’t be stopped. And it’s coming soon.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jerry B. Jenkins, former vice president for publishing at Moody Bible Institute of Chicago and currently chairman of the board of trustees, is the author of more than 175 books, including the best~selling Left Behind series. Twenty of his books have reached the New York Times Best Sellers List (seven in the number one spot) and have also appeared on the USA Today, Publishers Weekly and Wall Street Journal best~seller lists. Desecration, book nine of the Left Behind series, was the best~selling book in the world in 2001. His books have sold nearly 70 million copies.
You can connect with Jerry B. Jenkins on his website, liking him on Facebook or following him on Twitter.
MY OPINION
This is a modern retelling of Paul’s conversion on the road to Damascus (Acts 9: 1~21) that’s set in a post~Apocalyptic United States that has been reduced to seven regions which mirror the last seven churches in the book of Revelation. And much like the Christians in the early church, Christians in post~World War III America have to live and worship underground or face prosecution.
I wanted to like this book because I’m such a big fan of the Left Behind series but I couldn’t suspend my belief long enough to let it happen. I don’t doubt for a minute that there will come a time when Christians will be persecuted (to an extent, Christianity and many of its core beliefs have already come under fire) but what I have a hard time believing is that the U.S. will reflect the last seven churches as portrayed in the book.
The characters are a little dull and the action is brutal/intense to say the least (there are a couple of murder scenes that are kind of gory). I just think there could have been more to this story than there was… Maybe if it had followed the Bible a little more closely and not been as contrived it could have been better. I didn’t mind it being set in the U.S., I just have a hard time with the obvious connection between the United Seven States and the seven churches of the last days (it just seems like that would be more of a Middle Eastern focus).
On the positive side, this was a quick and easy read that leaves just enough cliffhangers to flow into a series. It’d be interesting to see if the characters are more fleshed out and if the story aligns more closely to biblical prophecy than it does right now.
FAVORITE SENTENCE(S)
Page 257
But religion and true Christianity are two entirely different things.
LEAST FAVORITE SENTENCE(S)
Page 194:
I’m looking for a dramatically pretty blonde, about thirty, who might have come around talking to working girls.
RATING
★★★
Disclosure: This review refers to the electronic version of this book. I didn’t receive any compensation for this post.