Left Behind: A Novel of the Earth's Last Days (Left Behind No. 1) 
asked by versed on November 14, 2006 3:21 AM
Piloting his 747, Rayford Steele is musing about his wife Irene's irritating religiosity and contemplating the charms of his "drop-dead gorgeous" flight attendant, Hattie. First Irene was into Amway, then Tupperware, and now it's the Rapture of the Saints--the scary last story in the Bible in which Christians are swept to heaven and unbelievers are left behind to endure the Antichrist's Tribulation. Steele believes he'll put the plane on autopilot and go visit Hattie. But Hattie's in a panic: some of the passengers have disappeared! The Rapture has happened, abruptly driverless cars are crashing all over, and the slick, sinister Romanian Nicolae Carpathia plans to use the UN to establish one world government and religion. Resembling "a young Robert Redford" and silver-tongued in nine languages, Carpathia is named People's "Sexiest Man Alive." (This reviewer, a former People writer, finds this plot twist plausible.) Meanwhile, Steele teams up with Buck Williams, a buck-the-system newshound, to form the Tribulation Force, an underground of left-behind penitents battling the Antichrist.
Ex-presidential candidate Pat Robertson briefly outsold Michael Crichton with his apocalypse novel The End of the Age (now available on audiocassette), and the similar The Third Millennium sells well, but the Left Behind series is the absolute champion in the race to make the Book of Revelation into racy thriller reading. --Tim Appelo
Reviews
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I really enjoyed the first few books of the Left Behind series, but as the preachiness increased and the quality of the story and writing began to sank, I just couldn't bear continuing to the very end.
But as a stand alone book, it's easy to see why this one was such a bestseller and went on to spawn several more in a series. The characters feel alive and so real; so very human as though their very lives were being recorded down, not invented.
The premise, that of everyone dissapearing in a worldwide rapture, may not be agreed upon by all Christians or biblical scholars but as a plot point in fiction, it works wonders. Just imagine that billions of people dissapear from the earth - would you want to know what happens? What consequences it has on the world in the days, weeks, and months after the event? I know that curiosity is certainly what got me to pick this one up, and it definately delivers.
I also recommend reading the sequal and the third book too, because by then I'm sure you'll have made your mind up on whether 'Left Behind' is "your thing" or not.
But as a stand alone book, it's easy to see why this one was such a bestseller and went on to spawn several more in a series. The characters feel alive and so real; so very human as though their very lives were being recorded down, not invented.
The premise, that of everyone dissapearing in a worldwide rapture, may not be agreed upon by all Christians or biblical scholars but as a plot point in fiction, it works wonders. Just imagine that billions of people dissapear from the earth - would you want to know what happens? What consequences it has on the world in the days, weeks, and months after the event? I know that curiosity is certainly what got me to pick this one up, and it definately delivers.
I also recommend reading the sequal and the third book too, because by then I'm sure you'll have made your mind up on whether 'Left Behind' is "your thing" or not.
reviewed by shirley49 on November 16, 2006 5:34 AM
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The Left Behind series is the best reading I have ever read. I admit my reading is not all that much, but when I read the very first book I was hooked, I read all twelve books in about six weeks. They lead me to understand the Bible better. Thank you Tim and Jerry for such great books.
Corrine Robinson
Corrine Robinson
reviewed by fazer on November 20, 2006 9:47 AM