Acts of God (Book Three of The Christ Clone Trilogy)

Rating:
Summary: Upon further consideration...
Review: Reading the Christ Clone Trilogy was a very emotional experience. I did not realize how much so until months later. Illusions were shattered. Although I enjoyed it, I did not recognize how angry it made me. I felt duped and regretably took it out on Mr. BeauSeigneur. He actually did such a magnifigent job that I didn't recognize it at the time. If hindsight were 20/20, we'd never make the same mistakes twice! My apologies.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting, exciting, totally captivating.
Review: My husband and I both loved this book. We found ourselves putting everything else aside to finish the book. We could hardly wait to get books 2 & 3. You'll get hooked too!

Rating:
Summary: Best End Times Novel
Review: "Acts of God" is the longest book of the Christ Clone Trilogy. The final book of the series covers the last 3 1/2 years of the Tribulation period, but the bulk of the book focuses on the final months leading up to the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. The rendering of the "bowl" judgements are quite intense! I doubt most horror books can out perform Beauseigneur's graphic portrayal of the Wrath of God. As with the previous two novels, "Acts of God" delivers an intriguing plot, well-developed characters, and pain-staking research. One of the most fascinating aspects of this series is the portrayal of the Antichrist. You really like the guy up until the end of "Acts of God." This book (as do the others in the trilogy) reads like a mystery, a techno-thriller, and a science fiction novel all rolled into one. I'd give it five stars except for the mild profanity. You'll probably want to think twice before using the Christ Clone Trilogy in a Bible study.

Rating:
Summary: Brilliant - Pulls you in
Review: If you liked the Left Behind series you will like this trilogy on the end times. James Beauseigneur has an excellent writing style that pulls you in and draws you along with well told stories, plausible scenarios, and thorough descriptions of catastrophic events. His writings appear to be well researched and Biblically based. You may not agree with some of his theology, timelines, or conclusions - as you may not have with some things in the Left Behind series - but you will like his storytelling.
In order to enjoy these books, you must read all three in order. In the first two books I would sometimes think "that's not the way that would happen," but in the last book my eyes were opened. I realized that Beauseigneur has such an ability to write from different perspectives that you actually begin to believe something different about the "villain" of the story. The last book is the best of the three and you will look back and say "he really had me going there for a while". That's probably why the author says in the front of the first two books - "I would ask for your patience and remind you of the words of Ecclesiastes 7:8 `the end of the matter is better than its beginning.'"
I read all of the Left Behind series and started several other series. This is the best written series I've read so far.

If you're a Christian fiction end-times enthusiast you will love this trilogy.


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Summary: A LOOK AT THE NOVELS OF REVELATION
Review: I am a very big fan of novels that deal with the Biblical Apocalypse and, with so many different types, thought it would be worthwhile to give an overview of the ones I have read.

Left Behind, by Tim Lehay- The series that started it all. These novels are, in truth, somewhat boring, but it covers the bases with a depth that none of the others do, probably owing to the fact that there are so many of them. They lack character development and deep theology, but are a fun, if shallow read

The Christ clone Trilogy by James Beauseigneur- Well written novels that focus on the scientific and political. Tom Clancy meets Left behind is not too far off the mark. I greatly enjoyed these books although I felt a little let down by the ending. Overall, a good political take on the End.

We All Fall Down by Brian Caldwell- Certainly the most controversial of these novels. The focus here is the individual and why someone would ever in their right mind reject salvation. Very brutal, although probably more realistic, in its depiction of the End. This is certainly not a book for the timid, but for the rest, I found it the most intelligent, well written, and, oddly enough, spiritual of the bunch. It's hard to walk away from this book with feeling to need to take a fresh look at one's own relationship to Christ.

Blood of Heaven, by Bill Myers- These are intelligent, character focused novels. I found the theology again to be a little weak, but really enjoyed following the distictive characters.

The Last Gentile Trilogy by Cary Bybee- Better written than Left Behind, but lacking the scope of that work. Like conquest of Paradise or Christ clone, it it based in science, but perhaps too much. Not enough religion for my taste.


Rating:
Summary: A Near Perfect Conclussion to Trilogy
Review: WARNING: The chances of you enjoying ACTS OF GOD without previously having read the first two novels of the Christ Clone Trilogy is lessened greatly.

The author's finale is grand picking up the action where he left off in IN HIS IMAGE, the second entry in series. Christopher is busy as the Secretary General of the UN preparing a de-populated humanity for the New Age. Decker Hawthorne his left hand man (and ironically posible betrayer) gets kidnapped again this time by the KDP and fundamentalists just before he can receive the communion. (The communion is taken to expand human's lifespans and decrease disease and all who have partaken of this treatment bear a mark as predicted in Revelations.) Doubts begin to stir in Decker Hawthorne's mind as he is treated well by his "captors" and has debates over religion with them.

This last title is full of action. Many things happen heralding the dawn of a New Age, and the Apocolypse. de Beauseigneur narrates in the same style sa his other novels as an objective observer stating the action as signs permeate the story. He also very clearly reinforces his warnings written prefacing each title by ending his dark, mysterious trilogy in a very Christian manner. Disposed are some of the controversial ideas espoused in earlier titles. He does not preach to the reader yet very clearly states that his characters reflect his own religious beliefs and seems to use his novelization as a platform to critique where society is heading, (away from faith in powers greater than themselves.) So on this score I would pat him on the back and call him successful.

My quibbles are similiar to the first two volumes. While the story telling is overall exciting, there are moments when I felt a less detached narration may have been useful. One of his footnotes was wrong, and almost made me put off reading this thrilling conclusion indefinitely. Luckily for me I lay to rest the miffed reference and enjoyed the action reach its stunning and worthy finale.

Rating:
Summary: ....and then it fell flat on its face
Review: I've been reading Christian oriented fiction for years now and thoroughly enjoyed the first two books in the series.

For the Christian who needs affirmation of their faith (I'm not one of them) perhaps the third volume "redeems" the first two, which propose an enjoyable "alternate" theory to existing religious dogma. However, for someone who was seeking an entertaining perspective on the "end of the world" the series took a notable turn for the worse The series is, pretty much, destroyed, with this third volume.

The first two volumes build on a certain premise (no spoilers here) and we, the "suspending disbelief audience" are called on to go along with whatever the author is purporting to communicate, taking any pre-conceived ideas and putting them in a closet (Without suspending our disbelief and with a bit of knowledge regarding the scriptures, we are a frustrated audience screaming at the book "But what about this, and this, and this?!!") With this third volume, we are given the author's true motives and have that suspension broken into pieces.

As readers, we are manipulated, and unfairly so. We are treated as unintelligent whelps at the whims of the author who feels justified by including a preface that excuses what he is writing and advises the reader to withhold judgment to the end of the series. Having done that, I am ashamed at the bold facedness of this manipulation. Shame on you, Mr. BeauSeigneur!


Rating:
Summary: Simply Terrific!
Review: ACTS OF GOD is a gripping and wonderful conclusion to the riveting Christ Clone trilogy. These three novels are three of my favorites of all time. As an avid reader I count Cussler, Clancy, Demille, Crichton and Pat Conroy among my favorites and I welcome James BeauSeigneur to the list. As a Christian, I've been quite disappointed with much of the Christian fiction on the market, until I devoured this awesome series - full of great characterization, dialogue and suspense. Written from the perspective of Antichrist this book (and series) is frighteningly realistic but wonderfully Biblically accurate. BeauSeigneur paints and the story without being in-your-face evangelistic which is refreshing. I can really see end times events unfolding in exactly this way. I recommend The Christ Clone trilogy to all my friends, Christian and non-Christian alike!

Rating:
Summary: Promised much, but didn't deliver
Review: Having read the first two books in the series, I was looking forward to what fresh ideas the author might surprise us with. The idea of the God we know not being the "real" God was scary to me, albeit not unknown. The gospel of Thomas also alludes to this theory. Sadly the final novel was a rehash of old ideas from a fundalmentalist viewpoint. I wish I had known this before investing my time in the series. Nothing new or revealing here.

Rating:
Summary: The worst of the triology
Review: The first two books of the triology were extremely well writen and did not give away the end in advance. They had one thinking that some good might come from the new age. Acts of god gave away the end too soon, shortly after the middle one could know that it was hopeless for the Antichrist and his followers.
One other thing, while it would seem that the author himself believes what is writen in the bible. The end in Acts of God highly suggest an exclusive view as to who would go to heaven.