Rating: 
Summary: Great Novel That Will Transform Any Skeptic of Religion
Review: After God's rapture of all true believers from Earth, the world is devastated. By fate or some stronger force, Bruce Barnes, a now reformed preacher, Rayford Steele, an airline pilot, Chloe Steele, a student and Buck (Cameron) Williams, a reporter for the Global Weekly, come together to form the Tribulation Force. They swear never to lose their beliefs as only one out of four people in their group will survive the seven most turbulant years the Earth will ever see.
The main reason I gave this review five stars is because Left Behind really transformed my beliefs in God and the Catholic church. For this, I am deeply indebted to the authors of the Left Behind series. These books have gotton me to better appreciate what I have and to cherish life while it is still in my grasp.
Rating: 
Summary: How did this ever become a bestseller?
Review: "Left Behind"" is an attempt to blend religious writing with a murder mystery and a story of political intrigue, and it fails. We get a mystery that's not mysterious and a suspense story that's not suspenseful. But let me back up for a minute. The story concerns airline pilot Rayford Steele and ace reporter Cameron 'Buck' Williams, both of whom are on board a transatlantic flight when many of the passengers are raptured away. For those not familiar with the terminology, the rapture is part of an interpretation of bible which predicts, among other things, that all the true Christians in the world will spontaneously disappear from Earth and be transported to Heaven. Rayford returns home to Illinois where he soon learns that his wife has vanished; luckily, her pastor sticks around so he can finish up the conversion business. Meanwhile, Buck heads to New York and then England to investigate a suspicious death.Surprising enough, Rayford turns out to be a respectable character, and his internal religious experiences are decently realistic. On the other hand, Buck Williams is about as convincing as your average used car salesman. Consider that in the space of about a week he survives a full-scale war, experiences a worldwide cataclysm, sees a friend get murdered, barely escapes being framed for that murder, covers the toppling of a government, and reacts to all of this as if it's a walk in the park. None of his dialogue every comes close to sounding like a normal human being, much less like anybody who's undergoing heavy stress and life-threatening experiences. I should add at this point that Jenkins' attempts to add slang to their dialogue are downright laughable, since the words they use are usually fake-sounding or outdated("Haywire"? "Confab"?? "Scuttlebutt"?!?) So the authors deep-six any hope they have of achieving literary merit, but they still could come up with a decent piece of mystery/spy fiction. The problem is that their plot intrigues are a lit bit too outlandish, with improbable conspiracy theories and even more improbable behavior. For instance, what's the probability that every bank in the United States is actually secretly controlled by the same individual? Or that a highly sophisticated assassination that was supposed to look like a suicide would be easily seen through because major details were botched? Let me add one comment on the book's religious angle. You may have frequently heard the claim that "Left Behind" is a well-researched book that carefully follows the prophecies of Revelations and other portions of the Bible. In reality, it's only intended to satisfy those who have just a passing knowledge of the prophetic texts. For instance, consider the prediction that Israel will be attacked by Gog, the Biblical name for the Middle Eastern tribes of Meshech and Tubal (Ezekiel 38:2). The problem is that even if these two tribes ever existed, which is doubtful, they were wiped out years ago. LaHaye and Jenkins skirt this problem by declaring that in their version of events, Gog is Russia instead, and they then have Russia launch a massive attack against Israel for no particular reason. Of course, people such as the notorious Hal Lindsey have spent tremendous effort trying to prove that modern-day Russians are actually the descendants of Meshech and Tubal, but such claims would never hold water with people who have any understanding of Russian history. In summary, I advise you to not even bother with this one. Too long, too preachy, too far-fetched.
Rating: 
Summary: Great Story...
Review: I'm not religious so I find this series very preachy. However, I do appreciate the story line. It reminds me very much of Stephen King's "The Stand." I do enjoy the series, but..., there are a lot of parts I skip over, as it's very repetative. That's where it's preachy. Certain characters keep repeating about how they became Christian. I understood the first ten times they axplained it. Even reading it three books later, I haven't forgotten it. Otherwise the series is really good.
Rating:
Summary: Great Fiction
Review: This book is really great, but you have to remember it IS fiction. Based on the book of Revelations in The Bible and a very interesting interpretation that really brings you in and makes you think. Also great fun to read!
Rating:
Summary: The Rapture Comes Alive
Review: Every religion as well as every person has a view about the end of the world. It is something that every living person dwells on from time to time. How is the world going to end? What will the events be that lead up to the last days of earth? Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins are Catholic scholars that have done extensive study into the book of Revelations. The book of Revelations and the visions of John leave much room for interpretation, where the line "locusts with stingers on their tails" can be seen as evil little bugs, or Apache attack helicopters. The "Left Behind" series is a cast of fictional characters moving through LaHaye and Jenkins' theory of the end of the world, and at the same time they are able to slip some Catholic teachings to the reader without sounding overly preachy. The book opens high over the Atlantic Ocean on Rayford Steele's 747 flight to London, when nearly a hundred passengers suddenly disappear leaving behind piles of clothes, glasses, blankets and shoes in their seats. The world in turmoil because a significant part of the world's population has disappeared. Pilotless airplanes crass to the earth, driverless cars create major traffic accidents, and every child under the age of twelve is gone. This idea in itself was enough to start me reading this series. The point of view of the story is shared between Rayford and a Pulitzer Prize winning columnist named Cameron "Buck" Williams. Buck is trying to find answers to this disappearance, while at the same time trying to cover the rise of a brilliant politician from Romania that can do no wrong, Nicolae Carpathia. Nicolae has a new vision of world peace and disarmament. Rayford, along with Bruce Barnes, are trying to convert people to a religion he might have taken up too late to save himself, starting with his daughter Cloe. The world is in chaos. Will they be able to make sense of the situation? "Left Behind" is very gripping, and will drag you into its pages. At a couple of points, the story becomes a little convoluted and difficult to understand when we're involved with Buck's friends abroad and a couple of bankers. I don't think any of these characters added to the story, and probably detracted from it as the authors tried to give an air of conspiracy. Besides these two incidents, I couldn't put the book down, reading it in the better part of a day - which is rare for me. The author's writing is light, tending to focus more on action and dialog than details, which makes for a quicker read. I'm hooked, I'll continue with the series.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Series
Review: "Left Behind" is one of the best books I've read. I'm on book #5 right now, and let me tell you, these books are addicting! I can't read them fast enough. If you're a believer, you'll be blown away. If you're not a believer, you just might be after reading these books.
Keep in mind, this isn't depressing reading, but it's heavy reading. None the less, these are excellent books!
P.S. Check out the movies, too!
Rating:
Summary: Very unhealthy reading
Review: I developed a sort of horrified fascination with this series - I read the first six books before getting hold of myself. And I find it hard to explain to myself what I saw in them. Was it the writing? Surely not. The writing is poor. The appealing characters? But there aren't any. Do the books have any great spiritual value? They do not. (God isn't mentioned all that much.) No, I think it was sheer prurient interest in the depiction of evil, if anything. If you're a Christian, you might want to evaluate your motivations for reading this stuff quite carefully. If you're not, you'll find them amusing - but please try not to laugh at the fantasies of sincere people. It's unkind, and bad for the soul.
Rating:
Summary: Is It Just Me, Or . . . ?
Review: Yes, I know millions of people have bought this book, and (I assume) enjoyed it. Sorry, I've tried twice to like it, but I just don't get it. Granted, I'm pleased that one of the most popular novels of recent years is so incredibly G-rated, but that isn't enough to make it interesting. Simply put, it is obvious that author Jenkins has no notion of how to write dialogue that even remotely resembles the speech of real human beings. I know some evangelical Christians, and they don't talk or behave as the Christian characters in this novel do, ditto for the non-Christian characters. I think the author could profit from simply listening to actual people speaking to each other. I keep hoping that Christian publishers will produce fiction that is not only G-rated, but (even more important, as I see it) somewhat in touch with reality. For me, the characters are so one-dimensional (i.e., uninteresting) and the dialogue so absurd that the "page-turning" quality I hear so much about is missing. I can only hope that books like this will stimulate competent authors to produce some genuinely high-quality Christian fiction.
Rating:
Summary: Left Behind Book Review
Review: While people are often intrigued about what the future has in store for them, most give little or no thought about how they live life today, which will directly affect what tomorrow may bring them. In the novel, "Left Behind" Dr. Tim LaHaye and Jerry B Jenkins give their theory about the events that will unfold in the Earth during the last days. both authors are accredited for their writings in many different genres: biography, marriage, family, and fiction. Dr. LaHaye is the founder of Tim LaHaye Ministries and The PreTrib Research Center and holds a doctor of ministry degree from Western Theological Seminary, and a doctor of literature degree from Liberty University. Presently he speaks at major Bible prophecy conferences in both United States and Canada. Mr. Jenkins is the former vice president fro publishing for the Moody Bible Institue located in Chicago, as well as the editor of Moody magazine. He is currently the Moody's writer-at-large. Both come together in their expertise of Bible prophecy to write a New York Times best seller with one specific goal in mind, - to persuade people of every race, origin, age, and gender not to misuse the time they have, but prepare themselves for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. (So that they would be counted worthy to escape the perils of the last days of earth, hence comes the title of the book, "Left Behind".) The book is broken down into twenty-five untitled chapters, and ends with a suspenseful climax that lures each reader to continue in the twelve books "Left Behind Series". My opinion of this novel is that the authors have definitely displayed an appropriate piece of writing about their concerns for humanity both in the book's contents and though the analyses.
The content of the story starts with three of its main characters on a flight over the Atlantic Ocean. All three had personal agendas that didn't include what was about to happen, but would forever change their lives. In a twinkling of an eye millions of people everywhere just simply vanish while leaving all their personal possessions behind. While the disappearances caused widespread turmoil, the effects caused much more choas. Planes, cars, and trains that were once operated by individuals have suddenly been left unattended. Crashes, fires, and hysteria ran rampant though every society. People who had been separated from their families not only had to hope they weren't taken, but now will reports of massive fatalities all they could do was pray that they were safe. The deaths that day caused by the disappearances were astonomical which ultimately led to many suicides because of the grief of suddenly realizing they lost their children (all the children though out the entire world vanished during this catastrophic event), their wives, and other members of their families. There were many speculations of what had happened from some top-secret government experiment, to aliens invasion from outer space, to the rapture of the church, which ended up being the must widely accepted opinion. While most of the world was recovering from their loss, many turned toward making a profit for themselves. Some vandalized, others practiced price gouging, and other like Nicolae Carpathia use politics to their advantage.
The authors writing styles also help to dramatize this novel. This book is written in a fictional format even though it is based actually upon Biblical truths found in the Bible. This creates a technical style of writing, especially as the main characters draw out their conclusion to the vanishing of millions of people. The authors draw the contrast of the strange occurrences to several passages in the book of Revelations. The authors also seem to write in a persuasive style. After Rayford (main character) is converted, he becomes devoted to tell others of his new found hope. Oftentimes you can feel the persuasiveness though the words of Rayford, as though he was actually speaking to our hearts. The writers told the story using a cause/effect method. The cause is based upon the story being basically centered on the people that were left behind. This in turn supports the authors' argument that people need to cherish the precious time they have, and be prepared should the Lord come back today, so that they would not be part of the effect - being left in a decaying world. The strongest evidence of their argument was a certain scene that was retold. Bruce Barnes (associate pastor) was in bed one evening with his wife who was sleeping while re read. he felt the bed move as though she had gotten up, but after several minutes passed, he went looking for her. She was gone along with the three children, nowhere to be found. After pulling back the bed covers, he discovered his wife's nightgown, her rings, and even her clips on the pillow. He soon realized that his family was gone, and he alone was left behind. This left me wondering what it would be like if I was in his situation, knowing my wife and my young son were gone, and I had been the one left behind. The evidence and the argument are clearly and completely illustrated.
Overall the book seemed to be fundamentally sound, having no seen weakness. The comprehensive strenghts of the book certainly will cause the reader to think about today a little differently, as well as to examine the issue would they be ready to go, or would they be "left behind" which seem to be the objectives of the authors. Often books don't hold my attention long enough to finish them. This one not only held my attention but also left me hungry for the second book in the series. This book certainly met my expectations!
Rating:
Summary: WOW!!!!
Review: I bought this book because someone lent me book #4 in this series & I was so blown away by it, it made me curious to see where/how it all started. This is a wonderful series. And, in my opinion, all you have to do is believe in God and the Bible, to get this series of books. I am Catholic, and my beliefs are a little bit different than some of the authors'; but I still can imagine exactly where they are coming from. These books are fast paced, with wonderfully drawn characters, scenes that stretch the imagination, and filled with action and adventure. I am normally a Stephen King, James Patterson, Sue Grafton, Patricia Cornwell, John Grisham, etc. kind of gal. I think these books rate right up there with the best.
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