Rating  - Once you set aside any religious beliefs, you can effectively read this book...
The mysterious book that is the Book of Revelation is one that may not be realized until we are in the midst of it, much like the tellings of Left Behind. Whether or not you believe in the Bible, Left Behind does make for an interesting tale of comfort through crisis (especially post 9/11), conspiracy, a father's relationship to his daughter, and how a newsman deals with removing his feelings to get to a story. The only thing that held be back from giving it 5 stars was in the middle of it came almost a preachy story from the pastor of the New Hope church, almost as if they were speaking to the reader rather than a character in the story. However, the best way to read that is that you are reading a fiction novel in which extraordinary events have happened, people will start to believe in religion. Also, another knock I have on the book is a small detail snuck in there regarding Catholics versus the obvious Protestant church that represents the protagonist side. They claim that only the Pope disappeared in the Rapture. I feel this was an unneeded dig against the Catholics. In addition, I can see some Jewish readers might become offended with the detail that they would be "converted" to Christianity. Keep in mind though this book along with the series takes details out of the Book of Revelation, then adds fiction to keep the action moving. I still enjoyed the book and the intense action and feeling within this book made it a page turner.
I recommend anyone this book who goes into reading it with an open mind as I did.
Rating  - decent action and suspense but don't believe all the hype
I'll start off with the positive. In spite of the relative predictability and shallowness of the characters, I find that Mr. Jenkins does keep my interest in this book. The action and the suspense are pretty well-done. If one ignores the anti-Catholic and anti-nonChristian bias, there is actually an entertaining story in there. Plus, another reviewer's comment about margins is valid. There is an unncecssary amount of left and right margin, making these books thicker than their content would require. Pathetic...
Theologically, I should point out that the Rapture is not a belief supported by most Christians. Certainly this 'doctrine' is rejected by Catholic and Orthodox believers as well as most mainline Protestants. Read The Rapture Trap by Paul Thigpen (sp?) for an explanation of why such a literal interpretation is not consistent with the rest of Scripture. LaHaye's work also shows a surprising lack of knowledge about Scripture in general and the writing style of prophetic works. It makes for an interesting story, but please don't label this as "Christian fiction" because it gives the wrong impression of Christian beliefs and embarasses most of us. It is blatantly offensive to Catholics and Orthodox (at least to those who understand their faith). BTW, it is NOT the beilef of Christians that all non-Christians will go to Hell. That is a frequent misunderstanding. Such a belief is un-Christian and contrary to Biblical teaching. Do not confuse LaHaye's beliefs with Christian beliefs - they are not the same...
Rating  - Embarrassing.
One of the promotional editorial blurbs (I won't embarrass the source by citing it) says, "It's not your mama's Christian fiction anymore."
Too bad. Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Tolkien, Lewis, Endo, and other [Christian] literary giants have produced brilliant works of fiction that have wrestled with various aspects of Christian thought. If that was `mama's Christian fiction,' please give me more of that instead!
Most popular fiction is junk--in my humble opinion (I won't get too worked up if you disagree), and the "Left Behind" `literary' phenomenon testifies to this. But it sure is lucrative junk! Curiosity over its bizarre level of commercial success, and the commercial whirlwind it has spawned, has driven me to start reading the book several times (I picked up a copy in a second-hand store). I've never gotten very far though. This (and I expect that this holds for the entire explosion of LB products) is embarrassing to the Christian community on two levels. (1.) Beaming prominently from booksellers' shelves, this is very pedestrian writing at best; suggesting that much of `the Christian market' today sets its aesthetic bar quite low. (2.) Its contentional eschatology is not representative of Christianity apart from certain sectors of American evangelicalism.
As regards the second point: There is probably no greater area of disagreement within Christianity, than is to be found in eschatological theories (having to do with chronologies and details of ultimate outcomes, as mysteriously alluded to in certain prophetic texts). This is certainly an area in which no single voice or view can claim to represent the whole, or even the majority, of the Christian religion. These books have probably misled the popular [non-Christian] view of this simple fact. Apart from the `authority of the church' issue, which seriously divides Catholicism, Orthodoxy, and Protestantism, there is no greater divergence of views than one finds regarding these ("end times") doctrines. Perhaps only soteriological and `nature of divine sovereignty' disagreements (such as those between Calvinists [a large, outspoken minority] and non-Calvinists [most Christians]), and divergent views regarding interpretation of the Genesis creation account, are anywhere near as widely disagreed upon within the Christian church.
While any eschatological theory may displease, or even offend, those Christians who do not hold to it, the Darbyist theory presented by LaHaye/Jenkins will particularly embarrass those who do not hold to it. This might be said of other theories, of course, but the view presented in these books is that Christians are actually desirous of a full-blown Middle East conflict, as they think scripture demands it. Speaking from this inflammatory viewpoint, Pat Robertson suggested (Jan '06) that God `smote' Israeli Prime Minister Sharon with a stroke because of his peace efforts! Yikes! Christians who do not embrace Darbyist eschatological interpretations will find these ideas and `rapture' stories (and the interpretational theory that underwrites them), both scripturally dubious and perhaps morally repugnant. Not to mention politically foolish.
It is not my desire to offend those who believe differently than I--it is obvious that eschatologically oriented texts can be, and have been, interpreted in various ways (!). Too bad that LaHaye and Jenkins could not have been more seriously cognizant of this fact. Obviously that was not important to them, but `holy cash!', they sure have generated revenues!
Rating  - GREAT!
To be honest, I'm not a big reader. However, these books are just great! I'm half way done with the second book in the series right now. The first book in the series, "Left Behind", was awesome. It was probably one of the best books I've ever read. It was a really fast read, and worth re-reading. This is a must get!
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