CindyJean's Full Review: Tim F. Lahaye and Jerry B. Jenkins - Desecration: ...
Introduction
I became a ‘Left Behind’ junkie a little later than many people.
I didn’t read the first book, “Left Behind,” until December of 2001 and quickly devoured the remainder of the series. The only book I had not read (until yesterday) was the most recent one to be released, “Desecration: Antichrist Takes the Throne.”
I was in quite a quandary about “Desecration,” I was desperate to read it and have recently moved away from the church library that had supplied me with books one through eight from the series. The problem came from the fact that I am also quite cheap and just couldn’t stomach paying over $15 for a new hardback book (which is the lowest price I found it for at Wal-Mart).
Doing what any good Internet user would do, I headed on out to eBay to see if I could pick it up there cheaper. I was able to get “Desecration” for $10 (counting shipping), which had me tickled pink.
Note: This book reflects the authors’ perception of the unfolding of the events of the Biblical book of Revelations.
Nuts & Bolts
Authors
Jerry B. Jenkins writes “Desecration” and the rest of the ‘Left Behind’ books.
Tim LeHaye conceived the idea for the ‘Left Behind’ series and does the Biblical research upon which the books are based.
Publisher
Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. of Wheaton, Illinois is the publishing firm behind the wildly successful ‘Left Behind’ series, and “Desecration” in particular.
Miscellaneous
“Desecration: Antichrist Takes the Throne” bears a copyright date of 2001 and contains 405 pages in hardback.
Characters/Story
Note: As this is the ninth book of a series, I will write this review as if readers are familiar with the characters.
Rayford Steele
Rayford is the leader of the Tribulation Force, which by this point in the Tribulation has become almost paramilitary in nature—with a distinct ‘pecking order.’
In “Desecration” Rayford is one of the main flyers of Operation Eagle, the massive effort to airlift the believing Jews to the safe haven of Petra to await the time of the Glorious Appearing.
Rayford struggles to avoid any armed conflicts with the Global Community (GC), but he comes to the realization that if it comes down to “them or us” that must die it with be ‘them’ (GC) that do the dying.
With Chloe pressuring for a more active role in Tribulation Force work, can Rayford let go of his position as father and look at her through the eyes of a commander?
Cameron “Buck” Williams
Buck gets a very busy ‘part’ in “Desecration,” mainly stemming from his accompaniment of Chaim to Jerusalem to confront the Antichrist after the temple is defiled.
Buck goes from the ‘strong’ one of the pair (Buck and Chaim), the one doing the inspiring and faith building, to the one who needs to be inspired and guided. He gets a bird’s eye view of the events planned by the Antichrist to mock the Jewish and Christian faiths.
Chloe (Steele) Williams
Chloe is fairly quiet and inactive in “Desecration” until the latter half of the book, but when she is brought into the story it is in a big way.
Chloe is chomping at the bit to be a more active participant in Tribulation Force activities. She goes so far as to train others to help with the running of the co-op so that she can free herself up to go on a mission. While awaiting her chance, Chloe makes a discovery in the bombed out wasteland of what used to be Chicago that could be of use to the Force. Will Chloe’s impatience bring GC attention to their ‘safe’ house?
Chaim Rosenzweig
God calls Chaim to lead the Israeli believers to the safe haven of Petra, but he must struggle through his own human weakness to accept the calling—much like Moses in the Old Testament.
Chaim finally acquires the strength needed to confront the Antichrist after a single act of unbelievable faith from someone even ‘younger’ than himself (in terms of faith). Now he faces the task of sharing the Gospel with unbelieving Jews and leading all the believing Jews in Petra.
David Hassid
David pulls off his masquerade of dying in a plane crash (along with Mac, Abdullah, and Hannah Palemoon) and sets off for Petra to set up the communications center there.
David and Hannah have a close relationship, but will it be anything like the relationship he had with his late, beloved Annie? Does either of them really want it to be?
Chang Wong
Chang is in a state of confusion, not knowing what the mark of the beast he received (unwillingly) will mean to his eternal soul. The Bible says God will give strength in resistance even unto death, but he never did tell his father or the mark administrator that he was a believer.
Through investigation of surveillance tapes Chang gets the information he needs about what happened when he got his mark and his mind is put at ease. With this out of the way, Chang is freed to do the inside work that the Tribulation Force needs within the GC headquarters.
Nicolae Carpathia
Nicolae (a.k.a. the Antichrist) is risen from the dead and indwelt by Satan himself. This is evidenced by the awful things that this man does in the name of bringing global peace and the lengths to which he will go to thumb his nose at God (Christianity and Judaism).
Antichrist also starts to “loose it” and becomes more and more agitated with those within his inner circle.
Others
Tsion Ben-Judah is still at the Strong Building (safe house) in Chicago writing and transmitting his messages to his Internet congregation.
Hattie Durham is in the Middle East and unaccounted for, a loose cannon that the rest of the Tribulation Force are nervous about. She knows things that could sink the Force, but will she?
Albie, Mac MacCullum, and Abdullah Smith are all helping out in the piloting efforts of Operation Eagle, and Mac even gets to take the lead (albeit temporarily) when Rayford is incapacitated.
There’s a new guy introduced in this book (aren’t there always) that works for the Tribulation Force. George is an American man with a military background who pilots choppers for Operation Eagle. He hasn’t been around long enough to trust with the ‘big’ info (safe house location, etc.), but he knows enough that he could cause some problems.
Leah Rose, Hannah Palemoon, Ming Toy, Miklos, Zeke, Steve Plank (a.k.a. Pinkerton Stephens) and the two youths rescued from the mark facility in Greece by Buck all make appearances too.
My Thoughts
In every series of books you will have some good books and some less than stellar ones. “Desecration: Antichrist Takes the Throne” is (to me, anyway) one of the better ones in this series.
“Desecration” was packed with action from beginning to end, never giving the reader a lull in the story to put the book down and get anything else done (like housework, laundry, cooking, etc.).
I am a bit partial to the character of Chloe, so to me her part in this book was understated. I would like to see her featured more prominently in the action of the series, but I guess you just can’t always have what you want.
This book was very unpredictable, nothing ever seemed to happen the way I thought it would. I was rocked by some of the events of this book, seemingly coming out of the blue.
In keeping with the series, characters we know and love will die. The real ‘kicker’ in this is that it isn’t the people you really expect to be killed off. Usually it’s new and peripheral characters, but in this book we will lose a couple big players—one from the beginning of the series.
Recommendation
I really, really enjoyed this book, and I think that many other readers would enjoy it also. My recommendation has some conditions though.
I recommend this book very highly, but only to readers who have read books one through eight first. This story could be enjoyed on its own merits, but it really comes together and the story is better understood when you have the background provided in the first books.
If you haven’t read any ‘Left Behind’ books, read them now and read them as quickly as you can to arrive at “Desecration” in a timely manner!
The exciting ninth book in the Left Behind series that has sold over 2.5 million copies in hardcover is now available in trade paperback. In November ...More at HotBookSale
From the Publisher: Nicolae Carpathia, now the total embodiment of evil, desecrates the temple in Jerusalem by entering and declaring himself god. The...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
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