Rating: Summary: Danger Surmounts for Our Tribulation Force Heros Review: 'The Indwelling,' book #7 of the 'Left Behind series' is set just midway through the seven-year Tribulation. The whole world mourns the death of the renowned man. Except those who know the truth. As Nicolae lay dead after being wounded, he is resurrected, the Beast takes possession [Revelation 13: 3-14] and the Tribulation Force faces it's most dangerous challenges yet. Now eternity and destiny of mankind hangs in the balance.
Rating: Summary: The continuing story of those Left Behind... Review: After reading "Conquest of Paradise" by Britt Gillette, I was instantly turned on to biblical end times literature, and I quickly began reading the Left Behind series... From book one, I was totally hooked, and I've read up through book seven in less than a couple of weeks.In "The Indwelling", LaHaye and Jenkins continue their captivating series of suspense and end-times storytelling. The plot against Carpathia's life from "Assassins" ends successfully with Carpathia's funeral being attended by millions from around the world. Present at the service is a giant bronze statue of Carpathia that demands that people worship it (Revelation 13:15). However, the crowds do not know that the devil is about to "indwell" Carpathia, just as he did Judas and Cain. While the world falls deeper into the power of Carpathia's orbit, members of the Tribulation Force struggle with personal spiritual matters. Yet again, the Left Behind series keeps its readers turning the pages. So far, this is one of the better books in the series. I can't wait to find out what happens next. I look forward to reading books eight through twelve, and I encourage other Left Behind fans to pick up "Conquest of Paradise: An End-Times Nano-Thriller" as additional reading. That book got me interested in this series, and what a great book! What "Left Behind" lacks in realism, "Conquest of Paradise" adds in abundance. The prose is much more advanced and the international politics are identical to the current world scene and the war on terror. Peppered with biblical verses, "Conquest of Paradise" will turn even the most hardened skeptics into believers, or at least it will make them think twice. It's one lovers of end-times fiction shouldn't miss. Book eight, "The Mark" continues the adventures of the Tribulation Force, and the infamous "mark of the beast" is finally revealed. It will be interesting to see how the authors illustrate this concept which has confounded biblical scholars for centuries. Can't wait to read the rest!
Rating: Summary: Giving up... Review: "The Indwelling" will be the last of the Left Behind series that I read. I am not a practicing Christian, so I have read the series for entertainment only, and enjoyed the first few books. The story is strong, but the execution is increasingly weak and the tone maddeningly pedestrian and mean spirited. Tim LaHaye and his Ed McMahon-like sidekick/co-writer, Jerry Jenkins, clearly have an agenda to sell, and more than that they have a wide yielding ax to grind. It seems that anyone who disagrees with their right wing, literalist mindset will find themselves disguised as nefarious characters in these books. Just a few of their targets-- and these are just the ones I can spot!-- are the U.N. (disguised in these books as the "Global Community"), Roman Catholics, CNN, Arabs, liberals, gays and lesbians, and the B'ahai faith. Even the diplomatic peace process is seen as a front for Satan! There really isn't much spiritual depths to these books -- although I will credit this volume with some interesting celestial waking dreams that unintentionally pay homage to the New Age. It is standard literalist malarkey -- believe in Jesus or fall to Satan. The weakness of this choice is especially evident in the character of Hattie, who goes from adulterous flight attendant to Antichrist groupie to Patty Hearst type assassin in these books. She steadfastly refuses to give herself to Jesus, long past the point it makes any sense, given the fact that she's working for the Tribulation side. I think this very weak plot point is supposed to suggest female willfullness and pride, but it just remains emblematic of the weak character development and writing.
Rating: Summary: Not a perfect series but better than some give it credit for Review: So far, I've read all eleven Left Behind novels, and while they are not perfect, I think that some people don't give it enough credit because of unfair comparisons. People often point to We All Fall Down and The Christ Clone trilogy as better novels, and in a way, they are, but they are also very different. Left Behind seems to be more of an introduction to the subject of the End Times, a series that is reaching out to all people of different ages. It's not particularly well written, but it is clear and straightforward. The characters are not particularly realistic or interesting, but these are not character studies, these are novels that are trying to give people an overview of this concept, and they do that quite well. To compare these to other novels with similar themes is a little bit unfair. We All Fall Down is much better written and more intelligent, but the focus of that novel is much more intensley spiritual and more of a character study that uses the End Times as a backdrop to explore complex issues of evil and salvation. It is for more mature, serious readers and it's aim is very different from Left Behind. Likewise, The Christ Clone is more of a techno-thriller, interested in exploring how, realistically the End Times could arive. I will admit that I enjoyed these other books more than Left Behind, but that does not take away from the fact that Left Behind still does a decent job with the subject. They are not great novels, but they are nowhere near as bad as some people are saying.
Rating: Summary: The beast is in the house... Review: Nicolae Carpathia is dead. Unfortunately, Satan is not done with the body. Maybe next time around they will cremate the body. "The Indwelling" is the 7th book in the popular "Left Behind" series. The time frame in this one is only three days, from just after Carpathia was killed to just after Satan takes possession of him. Although the short time spans in these books is a sore subject with many people, I am a fan of it. As with all the others, this book will grab your attention from the very beginning until the last word.
Rating: Summary: Enough with this series already! Review: I agree with a number of other reviewers that this series has stretched on way past where it should have stopped. The original Left Behind novel started off well, but it seems the length of the series was stretched by publishers who wanted to make as much money as possible off of the series. I see no reason why 'The Indwelling' and 'Assassins' couldn't have been merged into a single book. A lot of what the authors put forward was rehashed in previous books, like a television soap opera with Monday and Friday shows that mirror each other. Those still interested in reading well written, realistic scenarios of the apocalypse should read The Christ Clone Trilogy and Conquest of Paradise instead. Both those books were a lot more believable, and they didn't need twelve books to tell a good story!
Rating: Summary: The Beast takes possession. Review: The seventh book in the seemingly endless End Times series Left Behind continues the tradition of my liking the odd numbered titles slightly more (or a lot more) than the even numbered ones. This entry in the serial picks up right at the assassination of Nicolae Carpathia, with the Tribulation Force running for cover in the resulting panic. Author Jerry B. Jenkins comes up with a unique timeline to keep the pace tight this time around, having the novel only cover the 72 or so hours between Carpathia's death and when he arises from the dead, fully indwelt with the spirit of Satan itself. The novel works best when we get to spy on the autopsy of the slain Potentate or watch a funny (well I laughed) run in between David Hassid and a self-important artiste named Guy Blod. Where it stumbles badly is when it has characters make great, global leaps in a incredibly short period of time. The earth is not THAT small. Jenkins writing remains strictly on the comic book level with the characters painted only in the broadest and most simplistic of strokes. While Rayford Steele threatened to develop a third dimension (character wise) in the previous novel (Assassins), the chance shrivels up and dies here, which is not surprising. This series remains the narrative equal to those old Irwin Allen disaster flicks of the seventies. Those who enjoy this kind of literary junk food will no doubt eat it up, but those that do not will only shake their head and wonder just what it is that keeps its readers so enthralled.
Rating: Summary: these books need to pick up the pace Review: First of all, I can't believe that this book covers a span of time of less than a week. There were so many meaningless and drawn-out details in this book. What was the point of hearing about the endless logistics of the funeral? And remember how Buck and Rayford thought they saw someone who looked like Hattie at the Jerusalem gala in the last book? That still hasn't been explained. Chaim Rosenzweig FINALLY becomes a believer in this book. I was getting VERY tired of hearing everybody try to persuade him to convert, so tired of hearing the same arguments and persuasions over and over again, book after book. Tsion has some bizarre and strange "dreams" in this book that are just too weird, and Rayford and Albie have a seemingly pointless confrontation at the end of the book. There were a few good points in the book. The banter between David and Guy was amusing. There were some "cliffhanger" moments. But the pace definitely needs to pick up in the next books.
Rating: Summary: When is anything ever going to happen? Review: The series was based on an intriguing topic, but the author took so disgustingly long to say anything the only thing left in the series was suspense, and the only suspense was: WHEN IS ANYTHING EVER GOING TO HAPPEN??
Rating: Summary: Let's hope it's over Review: Please, Christ, take them if they want it so badly... Just take them! Get this: either end up in heaven with billions of brain-dead sheep or burn in hell for all time... I think I'll get used to the heat... I would like to refute the childish arguments made in this book with some reasonable analysis but I understand that reason has nothing to do this so called book. Scary that 50 million books were sold. This is scary stuff... what does that say about the 5 million people who bought ten books each?
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