Desecration: Antichrist Takes the Throne (Left Behind Series Book 9)

Rating:
Summary: He will stand in the Holy Place and proclaim himself God.
Review: .
The new Jewish Temple has been rebuilt, and the next step in fulfilling the Book of Revelation prophecies about the antichrist (Carpathia, in this series), is that he will defile this temple. He has now raised himself from the dead and called forth his dead prophet to life; many false prophets have arisen and performed acts of sorcery in his name. It is, however, when the antichrist goes into the temple and proclaims that he is God that brings forth the wrath of God.

This proclamation causes an uprising in the Jewish community and blood baths in streets all around the world. Many Carpathian believers, who had not yet taken the mark, begin a journey to discover who will own their souls. However, the Carpathians are targets as the plagues begin. God protects his own which are those who have not taken the mark of the beast and bear the believer's cross.

This is where Chang Wong, the young Chinese man who was drugged by his father and given the mark, flirts with suicide. He is the only one who has both marks, and it is a fascinating concept. Since he did not choose the mark of the beast, God keeps him protected with the cross of the believers. His passage through his crisis is powerful.

Water turns to blood. This was fascinating when cases of bottled water became blood, but not in the hands of those who believed. Demonic creatures attack everyone with the mark of the antichrist that causes boil like sores. What did Carpathia do during this time? He hid out in a completely self-contained building so that he would not be attacked. When the moon turns to blood and 1/3 of the sun is darkened, he can do nothing for those who accepted him as God. He can do nothing period except require that his loyal army seek and destroy any who do not have the mark. This is rather humorous since most of them cannot move without severe pain and pustules that break open.

Do not start with this book. If the series interests you, then you must start with Left Behind, otherwise no one will matter and the continuity is gone.

Each book seems richer than the last to me. I must read the next. When a book or series catches my attention like that, then I must give it five stars. Remember, it is only one person's opinion.

Victoria Tarrani


Rating:
Summary: Better than people give it credit for
Review: A lot of the reviews I have read of these books tend to put it down by comparing it to other end of the world books. And while I will admit that these are not as smart or engaging as some of the the better books that cover the same topic like Fire of Heaven or We All Fall Down, I still really enjoyed them. A friend introduced me to the first book and I cut through all 12 books over the past two months. In a way, it's not really fair to compare them to some of the other books because they are trying to do different things. Left Behind seems to me to try to simply tell a great story about the end of the world. It's light, but what's wrong with that? I really felt like I NEEDED to know what was going to happen next when I finished a book and the very next day would order the next one. I call that a success. A book like We All Fall Down is obviously much more intense and thoughtful, the characters seem much more like real people, and it gives you more to think about, but why does that make Left Behind bad? Can't The Ten Commandments and The Passion both be good movies?