CindyJean's Full Review: Tim Lahaye and Jerry B. Jenkins - Apollyon: An Exp...
Introduction
Okay, I’m an official ‘Left Behind’ series junkie. I mean, I can’t get enough of this stuff. After I’ve finished one I go nuts waiting until I can get my next ‘fix.’ I’m only caught up to the fifth book, “Apollyon,” and I cannot imagine how awful it will be when I am totally caught up and have to wait until the tenth book is written.
This series is quite entertaining. I enjoy all the action and the general writing of these books, other than the cheesy, unrealistic dialogs in the original “Left Behind.”
However, the main reason I enjoy these books is that they provide me with a potential picture of life in the End Times as described in the Bible in the book of Revelations. Most Christians (at least all of them that I know) will tell you that this is the most difficult to understand and interpret book in the Bible, and these books make it a little clearer.
Note: These books are simply the authors’ interpretation of the book of Revelation. Some people may have a different interpretation of it.
Characters/Story
Rayford Steele
Having spent the last few years as the personal pilot of Nicolae Carpathia, Rayford now finds himself out of work and in hiding.
Rayford is comforted by the fact that he has finally learned the truth about Amanda, and it is quite the opposite of what all the evidence indicates.
Rayford does seem quite lonely in this book. He is separated from his family (Buck and Chloe are in Israel while he’s in Mount Prospect), his friend and brother in Christ Mac McCullum, and his newfound friend Ken Ritz. He’s ‘stuck’ at the safe house with only Hattie, and the frequent visits of Doc Charles.
Really, Rayford doesn’t do as much in this book as he does in the others.
Cameron “Buck” Williams
Buck is a busy little beaver in this novel. He goes from being one of the organizers of the mass rally of witnesses in Israel, to a murder suspect for killing a Global Community guard (didn’t do it—of course!), to falling out of a plane and living in Israel secretly as a fugitive, to coming home to Mount Prospect to try be there for the birth of his and Chloe’s child.
Buck gets the big action scenes in this novel, and the scene where he and several other members of the Tribulation Force—Tsion Ben-Judah, Rayford Steele, Chloe (Steele) Williams, and Ken Ritz—try to escape to the United States after Buck is named a murder suspect is particularly intense. Trust me, if you like action then you will like this scene a lot!
Tsion Ben-Judah
The spiritual leader of the Tribulation Force, Tsion becomes also the spiritual leader for the majority of the tribulation saints (post-Rapture Christians) via the Internet. His daily lessons, posted in secrecy via scrambling technology, are read more than any other Internet pages in history.
Heavy on Tsion’s heart is the fact that his dear friend and mentor, Chaim Rosenzweig, has not accepted Jesus. Tsion tries to use their shared intellectual background to try to convince his friend, but he feels like a failure.
Tsion misses his family, but he takes solace in knowing that they will be together again one day. He longs to see the Glorious Appearing, but he knows that if he doesn’t make it that long on Earth he will at least be with his family in heaven.
Ken Ritz
Ken is newer in his faith than most of the other members of the Tribulation Force, but he’s got a spirit and fire inside him that makes him a warrior for God.
Ken’s a former military man turned private pilot, but he’s got a background nobody else knows about—and Economics major and heavy investor in gold. This will be of tremendous help to the Force because it will not be long until people are required to take the Mark to be able to buy and sell legally. They must develop their own “black market,” if you will, for believers.
Chloe (Steele) Williams
Chloe’s a very fiery and determined woman. Though still recovering from her injuries in the Great Earthquake, she insists on going to the mass gathering of witnesses in Israel. She provides a level-headedness to Buck’s dances with danger.
Chloe is highly intelligent, and she will take on the role of ‘CEO’ for the Tribulation Force’s black market economy.
Hattie Durham
Hattie is the only non-saved person living in the ‘safe house.’ Rayford, Chloe and Buck have been trying to convince her of Biblical truths, but she’s just not willing to take that step. She knows that God is God and Jesus was the Messiah, sent to save people from their sins. Hattie believes that she doesn’t deserve salvation, but the Tribulation Force tells her that nobody deserves it and that God gave it willingly anyway. Hattie refuses to accept that and holds to her desire to be properly punished for her life.
Hattie lost her baby, the child of Nicolae Carpathia, to poisoning by him. She is bitter towards him and vows that she will kill Nicolae Carpathia. This desire is the one thing that drives her to keep living during the terrors of the Tribulation.
Minor Characters
Chaim Rosenzweig is a friend and one-time mentor to Tsion Ben-Judah, but now they are opponents of sorts. Ben-Judah wants his friend to accept God and Jesus, and Chaim’s pride is all that stands in the way.
Jacov, Chaim’s young driver accepts the Lord with a glad heart after an incident at the mass meeting of witnesses. He becomes zealous for the Lord, spreading his faith to his family and friends.
Mac McCullum and David Hassid are the Tribulation Force’s inside guys, working as pilot and communications specialist respectively. They gather and pass on information that will be helpful to the Force.
Nicolae Carpathia and Leon Fortunato are the main foes of the Tribulation Force in this novel. There really don’t get a whole lot of focus in this book, but they’re as evil as ever.
My Thoughts
I really liked “Apollyon,” and would probably say it’s second only to “Soul Harvest” as my favorite novel of the series.
This book was action-packed and very intensive. There were times when I would wonder how the characters would get out of the troubles they were in, but it always seemed to work out. Well, almost always.
The truth about Amanda, Rayford’s wife, wasn’t what I would have liked it to be. I don’t really know why, but I would have preferred to be what everyone had concluded she was.
I was quite saddened to find that in this novel we lose a character I had found to be quite endearing. The manner in which this character is lost is terrible, and that make the situation even sadder.
My Recommendation
I would highly recommend this novel to all Christians. I would suggest that your read the first four books first, but that isn’t necessary. “Apollyon,” like the novels that come before, can be read as a stand-alone novel but is more thoroughly enjoyed when you have the background the comes from the other novels.
In the latest volume of the Tribulation series, a plague of locusts torments those not sealed for five months, and a war will destroy a third of the p...More at Buy.com
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