CindyJean's Full Review: Tim Lahaye and Jerry B. Jenkins - Tribulation Forc...
Introduction
Unless you’ve been hiding in a cave for the last five or six years, you’ve probably heard of the ‘Left Behind’ books.
I had also heard of them, but didn’t read “Left Behind” until just a few weeks ago. Having read and loved that book, I knew that I needed to read the next book, “Tribulation Force,” as soon as possible.
Note--This series of books is based on the authors’ interpretation of the Rapture, an event mentioned in the Bible in the book of Revelation. It is not accepted as fact by all Christians, simply these authors’ take on the end times. As a Christian I view this as a potential scenario for the end times, but I am not implying in any way that this is how it will happen. It’s simply a story, but one I consider to be potentially realistic.
Nuts & Bolts
Authors
This book is co-authored by Tim LeHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins. Both are well known authors in the Christian writing world, though this series of novels is the first of either of their works that I have read personally.
Publisher
Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. of Wheaton, Illinois is the publishing firm that puts out “Tribulation Force” and the rest of this wildly successful series of books.
Miscellaneous
“Tribulation Force” bears a copyright date of 1996.
There are 450 pages in this novel, though it really didn’t take me long at all to finish because I couldn’t put it down!
Characters
Almost all of the characters from “Tribulation Force” are carried over from the first book of the series, “Left Behind.”
Rayford Steele
Rayford Steele is a mid-40s commercial airline pilot who lost his wife in the ‘disappearances.’ This event brought about Rayford’s turning his life over to God and becoming saved.
Rayford adores his daughter Chloe, but he can’t help playing a bit of a cupid to help her relationship along. Little does he know that cupid has an arrow aimed at him, in the form of a character introduced in this novel.
Rayford gets the opportunity most pilots only ever dream of, he’s been ushered to the top of the list and will be the pilot of the new Air Force/Global Community One. Knowing Nicolae Carpathia to be the Antichrist, why on Earth would he take this job?
Cameron ‘Buck’ Williams
Recently demoted from the position of senior writer at a major newspaper (at the age of 30ish) to a local writer at the paper’s Chicago office, Buck still has a way of getting the big stories.
Buck also has a way of getting the girl, as he and Chloe Steele are obviously an item. It doesn’t come without some mishaps, but their relationship does happen.
Buck is may be a journalist, but he’s also a Christian. When Carpathia buys up all the major newspapers in the world, Buck ends up working for him. How much can he get away with telling the public, and what is best kept to himself?
Chloe Steele
Chloe is a smart young woman, and very dedicated to her newfound faith. She eventually takes on a job as a research assistant for Bruce Barnes to help ease his schedule.
Chloe is a voice of rationality and reason at all times, and only in dealing with Buck does she let her emotions get away from her.
Bruce Barnes
Pastor of New Hope Church, Bruce was left behind in the Rapture because he had resisted God’s true calling in his life.
Since the Rapture, Bruce has “seen the light”--metaphorically speaking—and makes it his mission to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the world. He starts with New Hope, but it leads him around the world.
Bruce is the mentor of the Tribulation Force, and seems to know just about everything.
Nicolae Carpathia
How can one not include the Antichrist in a listing of major characters from a book?
In the first book Nicolae is charming, suave, and unflappable. He is also that way in this book, at least most of the time.
In this book we get our first look at Nicolae’s more emotional side. The two ‘witnesses’ at the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem unnaturally irritate Nicolae and he wants the Israeli army should put a stop to them—permanently. This is a very harsh statement from a self-proclaimed peace-loving pacifist.
Aside from the witnesses, Nicolae’s got the world at his fingertips—almost literally. He basically becomes king of the world, headquartering the “Global Community” in Babylon in a very upscale setting. With all the money in the world (or so it seems at times), one can do wonderful things.
Minor Characters
Every book needs minor characters to round out the story, and those included in this book were (for the most part) quite unique people.
Hattie Durham is the personal assistant to Nicolae Carpathia, having been introduced to him by Buck in the first novel. You come to see just how ‘personal’ near the end of this novel. She’s a bit of a bubblehead though, and I was annoyed with her almost every time she came into the story.
Amanda White comes into this story as a woman who was led to God through contact with Irene Steele just prior to the Rapture. She comes into Rayford and Chloe’s life, and also into Rayford’s heart.
Dr. Tsion Ben-Judah is an Orthodox Jew and a scholar, commissioned to study what to look for in the Messiah. After an experience with the “witnesses” at the Wailing Wall, he is given the confidence to reveal the truth about what his three years of research have led him to conclude.
The ‘witnesses’ at the Wailing Wall preach that Jesus was the Messiah, as is told in the book of Revelation in the Bible. As Revelations also says, nobody who comes against them can harm them. Those who have tried have been either stopped dead in their tracks or were incinerated from fire coming from their mouths. Carpathia wants them dead, but when can the Israeli army do to two unarmed men who raised not a hand in their own defense and were themselves being attacked?
My Thoughts
I found “Tribulation Force” to be a little less intensive than “Left Behind.” It didn’t have the same heavy, impacting force of a storyline that kept my nerves on edge. That’s not to say it was a bad book, not at all. It was actually almost better for me because I was able to relax and enjoy the story more, instead of just being spellbound by it.
This book was almost a romance novel. This book deals with characters struggling over when or not the tribulation is even the time to begin a relationship or if that was inappropriate. It also has some entertaining misunderstandings between Buck and Chloe that most readers who are (or have been) involved in serious relationships can identify with.
I wasn’t very happy that an 18 month period of time was skipped over in this story, but I can understand why it was done. The authors interpret the Tribulation to include and 18 month period of peace under the authority of the Antichrist, and the authors have so much of a story to tell that they opted to simply ‘fast forward’ through the years of peace and give the reader only the necessary information from that time.
My Recommendation
I loved this book! It had much better dialog than the original, so it seemed so much more believable to me.
I would recommend this book for all Christians.
I also recommend this book to non-Christian readers who are interested in ‘sci-fi’ scenarios. You may go away looking at this book as pure fiction, but there’s always that chance that it will touch your heart!
Have I Convinced You To Read It?
If I haven’t, then here’s my last attempt—
One of the four original Tribulation Force members will not survive to see the third book in the series!
Gods people have vanished from Earth, and antichrist Nicolai Carpathia sits on the throne of power. The six seals prophesied in Revelation are being f...More at Christianbook.com
Rayford Steele and Cameron (" Buck" ) Williams find themselves pressed into service for the man they believe could be the Antichrist. Nicholae Carpath...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
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