Rating: 
Summary: Another in a great series...
Review: After putting my wife off for several months to read 'Left Behind,' I have quickly raced through the first four books in the series, ending recently with Soul Harvest.This book matches the intensity and excitment of the prior three installments, using the environment outlined in the Book of Revelations to tell the continuing story of Rayford Steele, Buck Williams and the rest of the Tribulation Force. Without giving anything away, this installment has enough twists and turns to keep the reader interested from start to finish. Oddly, being a Christian and knowing where all of this is going, does nothing to dull the excitement of following the story as it develops. The vivid writing of Lahaye and Jenkins makes it possible to visually put yourself into the scene and almost experience the subject matter firsthand. If you are a believer and have not read any of these books, you are not doing yourself justice. These are great writings and do a great job of bringing the Word of God to life in a new and vibrant manner.
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Summary: BOOK FOUR: SOUL HARVEST
Review: Following the devastating worldwide earthquake that is the Wrath of the Lamb, both the world's Tribulation saints and followers of Nicolae Carpathia alike struggle to survive in a literally upended world. As Buck Williams and Rayford Steele search for their missing wives, unsure if either woman even survived the global cataclysm, scholar Tsion Ben-Judah's Internet evangelism draws so many truth-starved souls even the Antichrist is taken aback and left scrambling for a response. Meanwhile, Carpathia's pregnant former lover Hattie Durham struggles with the twin burdens of her unwanted child and her own sin. Will she accept forgiveness in time? And a potentially devastating secret begins to slowly emerge that could shake the Tribulation Force to its foundations. Like every book in this series, SOUL HARVEST is a fast, easy, and exciting read that succeeds both as a thriller and an introduction to basic end-times theology. The characters are believable and charismatic and the authors work in some nice humor to lighten a frequently grim tale. Like all Left Behind books, SOUL HARVEST interprets Revelation through strongly Evangelical eyes, but the greater Christian truths invoked in the story--like God's unfailing love for each of us, the reality of true evil, and an impending day of judgment--go beyond denominational boundaries. A highly entertaining read and food for thought as well.
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Summary: 2nd best book
Review: Having written the stunning article "The Wrath of the Lamb" in the previous book, Antichrist Nicolae Carpathia suspects that Buck Williams is a Christian. Buck searches for Chloe while Rayford Steel tries to locate his new bride Amanda. Lahaye and Jenkins show the emotional chaos and worldwide destruction through excellent descriptions. This book begins during the 21st month (halfway through) Nicolae Carpathia's reign. We see the fulfillment of more prophecies as we travel to Iraq, Israel, America, and other world communities. Life is now comprised of living in underground shelters, evangelism through direct contact and web sites, finding enough to eat, clean water to drink, and other Christians with whom to work. As prophesized, Nicolae knows that his time to rule the world is half-over. His hunger to devour the souls of those still on earth is his driving force. The general populace still sees him as a benevolent ruler, but we see behind the scenes where murder and anger rule the man-the Antichrist. Lahaye and Jenkins show more character development than in previous books and the action is fast paced and demanding. Some familiar characters are dead, but new ones take prominence in The Tribulation Force. By this point in the series, I was completely hooked. I had a hard time putting the book down, especially since I knew I had seven more on the bookshelf. As soon as I finished this book, I grabbed the next one. Victoria Tarrani
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Summary: A LOOK AT THE NOVELS OF REVELATION
Review: I am a very big fan of novels that deal with the Biblical Apocalypse and, with so many different types, thought it would be worthwhile to give an overview of the ones I have read.
Left Behind, by Tim Lehay- The series that started it all. These novels are, in truth, somewhat boring, but it covers the bases with a depth that none of the others do, probably owing to the fact that there are so many of them. They lack character development and deep theology, but are a fun, if shallow read
The Christ clone Trilogy by James Beauseigneur- Well written novels that focus on the scientific and political. Tom Clancy meets Left behind is not too far off the mark. I greatly enjoyed these books although I felt a little let down by the ending. Overall, a good political take on the End.
We All Fall Down by Brian Caldwell- Certainly the most controversial of these novels. The focus here is the individual and why someone would ever in their right mind reject salvation. Very brutal, although probably more realistic, in its depiction of the End. This is certainly not a book for the timid, but for the rest, I found it the most intelligent, well written, and, oddly enough, spiritual of the bunch. It's hard to walk away from this book with feeling to need to take a fresh look at one's own relationship to Christ.
Blood of Heaven, by Bill Myers- These are intelligent, character focused novels. I found the theology again to be a little weak, but really enjoyed following the distictive characters.
The Last Gentile Trilogy by Cary Bybee- Better written than Left Behind, but lacking the scope of that work. Like conquest of Paradise or Christ clone, it it based in science, but perhaps too much. Not enough religion for my taste.
Rating: 
Summary: A failure
Review: 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.
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Summary: Responce to Literature
Review: Soul Harvest, being the 4th book in the Left Behind series, takes off where book 3 left off with the further adventures of Buck Williams, Rayford Steele and co. as they fight against the antichrist Nicoloe Carpathia. Now I loved the first 3 books, but this one left me a little puzzled. There was not really all that much happening in this one.It was a very easy read, in fact i read it in just over a day, it's almost too easy though and not very challenging. There is a bit of redundant writing in this one, over a period of 8 or so pages, the author describes 3 different people as being "in great shape", I thought this was quite lazy writing. I'm a pre-trib rapture believing Christian,(phew), so adhere to the basic beliefs of the story. I was as a Christian however quite perplexed by the behaviour of the main charecters. It seems in fighting against the antichrist, the heroes have to lie an awful lot! I always thought lying was a sin, but these guys do so at seemingly every turn. I understand that many times there lives were at stake, but still, upholding Christianity means being truthful I always thought. Overall, I enjoyed reading it, but hope the series improves and that the charecters learn a bit more on how to suffer and still hold true to their convictions. Thanks for reading my comments.
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Summary: My take on end-times books
Review: The comparisons between end-times novels which have been made by other reviewers is probably useful, so here's my take on the matter. Last Day makes no attempt at all to adhere to scriptural prophecy. It is, in fact, less accurate scripturally than The Omen movies or End of Days. If you want a fun read and don't care whether the story has any connection to scripture, it's okay. Left Behind is an action adventure written primarily for Christians with a huge cross-over into the secular market. It sticks very closely to scripture and to prophecy of the time during the Tribulation. There is never any doubt of the authors' position and which characters are good and which are bad. Beyond that, there's been so much said about Left Behind by other readers that probably every possible opinion has been expressed. Some love it. Some hate it. Personally, I like the Left Behind series a lot. The Christ Clone Trilogy, my definite favorite among the list, is written for a secular audience with a big cross-over into the Christian market. Through most of the 3 books you don't know what the author's position is or which (if any) of the characters speak for him. Only in the last book do you find out he is a Christian and that he is using his story telling ability to reach the lost with the Gospel and the danger that faces them if they do not accept it. We All Fall Down is a story of a man forced to make decisions about himself and God when faced by undeniable evidence that the Bible is true. It's an interesting exploration in character but the author's development of the events of the Tribulation is muddled and very thin. The thing most Christians object to about We All Fall Down is the non-stop use of extreme profanity by the main character. It was hard for me to get past all the f-words, and I certainly would not say I enjoyed it, still it made me think.
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Summary: Series Begins to Fall Flat
Review: The first three books move at a fairly good clip - with things really being handled well. Book Four kills that momentum halfway through its pages. Leaving a successful formula that is similar to a bad B-Rated Mystery-Thriller - the series takes a very preachy turn. Even after one removes the heavy-handed bully pulpit from the story - there's not much to be praise-worthy with what's left. The first three books focused on excellent character and plot development, and the preachy aspects took a deep backseat to those methodologies. Sorry Mr. Lahaye and Mr. Jenkins...your novel doesn't live up to the expectations of the first three in this series.
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Summary: KEEPS YOU CRAVING MORE
Review: The horror of those left behind continues to grow and part 4 of the Left Behind series. Picking up with the aftermath of the great, worldwide earthquake, Buck desperately searches for his wife, Chloe, and the rabbi, Ben-Judah. Rayford is at odds with Carpathia over his missing wife, Amanda. While making a convert in his copilot, Rayford learns Amanda may have been working for Carpathia.
Though the world has lost about 25% of its population, the economy seems to chug along, unaffected. People expect and get all kinds of services, as the Global Community begins rebuilding immediately.
Rayford actually says he would like to kill Carpathia himself. So why doesn't he just crash the plan at his first opportunity? I guess he's not willing to give his life for his beliefs.
The interpersonal relationships are the most interesting in this volume. Peter the 2nd is a hoot as the Pope Plus with his never-ending pomposity. Left Behind is a great big Christian soap opera with some truly original developments, in the form of crosses appearing on the foreheads of the believers, but only visible to other believers. Combined, it keeps you craving more.
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Summary: Another outstanding effort from Tim and Jerry
Review: This installment of this series has been the best since the original. I finished it in 2 sittings, literally being unable to put the book down. I do have one minor problem with the story line, however. My issue concerns Amanda. What was the purpose of this character? Or should I say, this "type" of character. I am reminded of old Star Trek episodes where you beam a guy in a red shirt down with Kirk and Spock just so you can kill them off. Amanda's character served no real purpose. I did like the plot twist where they suspected her of being an interloper, but even that was a stretch. Had it been suspected that Buck, Chloe, Rayford or maybe Tsion was the rat, it would have been far more interesting. Why? Because these characters had been developed over 2 books prior to Amanda. I care about them, and really didn't care about Amanda. She was just kind of thrown in during "Nicolae" and I was indifferent to her character the entire time. In fact, I was bothered that we got an entire book featuring Buck and Chloe's courtship (Trib. Force), and no development of Amanda and Rayford's-yet were expected to identify/care about this character and their relationship. When they finally did "discover" Amanda, I really didn't care. It wasn't like it was one of my favorite characters. I felt worse for Donny, and he had about zero development. Also, it's about time Nicolae starting acting like the "Antichrist" again. He hadn't really done anything worthy of his title since the first book. His indifference to the disasters and growing disdain for the Trib. Force was a nice touch. Anyway, that's just my two cents. The book is outstanding and it grips you from end to end. I really enjoyed the exchanges between Rayford and "Supreme Commander Fortunato". Classic. The "seal" was ingenious. I only wish we as Christians could see those seals now. Can't wait for "The Assasins".
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