Rating  - THE MARK: COURAGE, STRENGTH AND OVERWHELMING FAITH
I have really enjoyed The Left Behind series but I was extremely perturbed when I learned the publishers expected the authors to produce one book every six months. I figured at that pace, quality would be sacrificed for quantity. I expected this book to bomb and take all the enjoyment I've had with this series. But to my delight, I thoroughly enjoyed The Mark! Once I gave the authors a chance, I was back immersed in mystery, anticipation, diversions, triumph and yes, even in sadness. The Mark was full of action; it kept your emotions and your heart hopping chapter after chapter. The vividness of the acts, the harshness of events and the portrayal of the courageous were so powerfully described, it brought tears to my eyes and a shiver up my spine. I kept telling myself, "this is just a book; this isn't really going to happen." The Mark takes you on a journey of unforgettable images and acts of faith that you will have to read it to feel it. The first book Left Behind by far has been the best book, I read it in one day. Some of the other books in this series I have read from 1 to 7 days. The more I enjoy a book, the faster I read it. I read The Mark in 2 nights. Read it, it will be worth your while.
Rating  - The beast rules ...What?
Why would the Beast want to rule anyone or anything on this Godforsaken planet is beyond me?! Christian propaganda masquerading as entertainment, the rapture was written for the Hebrews who were enslaved by the Egyptians(or was it the Mesapotamians,OH! who knows and who cares, I live in the present), they were expecting this to happen in their lifetime...it never did! and it never will!, so get over it. Bad writing!...for Mental Pygmies only.
Rating  - Taking the "flip book" approach
Just how did I manage to finish "The Mark," the 8th book in this interminable series, you may ask? By major PAGE SKIPPING, that's how! This past weekend, not an idle one by any means, I "read" books 5 through 8 of this series. It's easy when you skip the long sermons, and the inane dialogue and wait until some kind of action happens.
That said, I do keep reading the books, though thanks to the American library system, I have not had to shell out a dime for the privilege. Though thin on substance, the first books did have enough meat to be occasionally satisfying. That hardly seems true of the last books, which seem to have hit some sort of time dilation mode where one book can spend hundreds of pages chronicling a few dull days.
What's wrong with these books? For one, outrageous premises. Knowing the level of rabidity of American gun enthusiasts, who could imagine US citizens (militias excluded) eagerly acceding to the removal of 90% of our weaponry? We're a paranoid bunch! We spend more money on arms than the next ten countries combined, and we are still afraid of being outmatched. Yet in Left Behind, we give it all away --- to the UN, of all groups! It's not that this is an impossible scenario, but Lahaye and Jenkins don't even bother to acknowledge the problem.
And wouldn't it be interesting if L&J were more up front with which of our planet's 6 billion souls would not make the cut into the 1 billion who are saved? Why not fess up that practically all Buddhists, Hindus and Muslims would land in hell? How about having Tsion put that in his pipe and smoke it? Did the Muslim children get raptured? Do Christians who were left behind still continue to their pathetic church attendance, not realizing that they are the "wrong" kind of Christians? And how about the wholesale, unimaginative ripoff of the Bible, as when Tsion has a dream that is taken straight out of Revelation 12? Couldn't the mark of the Beast have been something more original than the tired, old computer implanted scenario? And how about a little work convincing the reader that implanting the mark in hand or forehead wouldn't be a colossal tip-off, even to the biblically illiterate?
This entire series is bloated, lazy and offensive. I have been skimming along, hoping for imaginative treatment of the Apocalypse. Yet now that I am 8 books into the series, I'm afraid that even skipping the dreary parts is becoming an exercise in futility. It's really a feat to make the end of the world seem so tedious.
By the way, it's awful to see the supposedly Christian heroes of this series act in such an ungospel manner. Except for the imbecilic Hattie Durham, there is barely a whit of caring for the throngs of the damned. Steele realizes that Carpathia is about to vaporize a whole city, and all he worries about is that his own family makes it out. Steele nurses vengeance against the Antichrist without even an editorial tsk-tsk from the authors. I guess "turn the other cheek" went out the window after the Rapture.
Hint to L&J: read a little less of Revelation and a lot more of the Gospels!
Rating  - Can the World Resist 'the Mark of the Beast'?
'The Mark,' book #8 of the 'Left Behind series' the Beast Rules the World. His Excellency Global Community Leader Nicolae Carpathia is resurrected and indwelt by the devil himself. The Beast tigthens his grip on the world. The Tribulation Force (Rayford, Buck, Bruce and Chloe) now undercover outlaws spread the truth about the AntiChrist. Can they help save millions from being branded with "the mark" that will seal their eternal doom? It is written in Revelation 14: 6-13. It is this time, that Jesus predicted in Matthew 24:14, the gospel would be preached throughout the world for a witness to all nations; and then shall the end come [Matthew 24:15-35].
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