Crucible (Left Behind Military #2)

Rating:
Summary: Low Four or High Three
Review: Apocalypse Crucible gave us more of Apocalypse Dawn. I like Odom's characters, action sequences, and the solid level of tension in the storyline. Goose is a true man's man, and his wife cares deeply, thinks well, but allows her heart to get the best of her at times. Jenny's complicated character has moved from the background to the frontline. Amongst this cast, there is someone for every type of reader to identify with.

Perhaps most interesting is how the author is able to slip back and forth between male-think and female think. The Goose storyline is all action, clear-cut decision making, with only short bursts of angst, while the female side is full of inner thoughts and emotional turmoil. We move back and forth between the two in seemless fashion.

The one potential danger in facing Odom's work is that the story is on the verge of either meandering (much as Left Behind began to do towards the middle of the series), or of really taking off. With all the warnings readers have issued concerning plotline drift, Book Three will either make or break this series. My Four star rating is a vote of confidence that the author will deliver!

Rating:
Summary: Disappointed in story line progress.
Review: I really enjoyed the Left Behind series that preceded the Left Behind Military series. The only problem I had with any book in the Left Behind series is the same problem I am now having with the "Military" series. In one of the Left Behind books the authors went in to excrutiating detail describing a mere three days of activity that occurred between the murder of the Antichrist and his subsequent resurrection. I was so bored by the lack of progress in that book that I almost didn't read subsequent books.

I am now at that position with the "Military" series. The author now has two books "under his belt" but, unfortunately, has allowed the timeline of the series to progress only about a week beyond the Rapture. In fact, his plotline has only allowed one of the main characters to accept the full truth and implications of the Rapture and its effect on their lives. The author has taken entirely too long to progress through the first week after the Rapture. In addition, the author has spent entirely too much "book" on minutae details and not enough "book" on moving the parallel story lines along.

I sincerely hope that this author reads this review because I believe that many other readers will share my concerns. I will probably read the third book in the series when it is published, simply because I enjoy reading books concerning the end times. But, I can promise that if book three does not "get off the dime", start moving the story lines along, and start bringing the story lines closer together, I will NOT buy the fourth book.

Rating:
Summary: Tom Clancy Meets the Rapture/Settling In To A New Series
Review: I was quite pleased with the second installment of the Left Behind military series. While this volume does not cover a large amount of time, it gives us a chance to become connected with, and thereby care for, the characters introduced in volume one. You can feel the evil beginning to develop - almost like having the hairs on your neck standing up. I would suggest that readers begin with the Left Behind series before beginning the military set, because it helps to have the entire scenario in your head as you begin the Apocalypse novels - it makes everything that much more suspenseful because you already KNOW what the characters have yet to discover! I read this book in one day. I recommend it,highly!