Book Review

I finally got around to reading Left Behind by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins.  First, let me assure you that I realize that this book is 15 years old.  I know that the 'cool' people read it then.  I just had other books on my plate and tim and I wanted to read them all together.  He has read them before.

I read the trilogy prequels last year and I wasn't all that impressed.  But of course, I didn't know what to expect.  Tim had read the first 12 books years ago and finally got around to reading the trilogy.  He wasn't that impressed with the prequels either; I feel validated.

I actually got through this book pretty quickly.  The story moves along at a pretty good pace, but there were some things that were a little predictable, like what happened when Buck was in London.  (I'm going to skip the spoilers, in case there is some random person who hasn't read the books yet.)  I also think that some of the conversion stories fell together a little too neatly for my liking. 

There was a lot of dialogue that felt a little forced.  I mean, the story flowed along pretty decently, but I found myself questioning whether or not the characters would actually say the words they were given. 

I also found myself wondering about the believability of the some of the characters.  I really wanted to like Buck and Rayford and Chloe, but sometimes I just thought they were lacking in something.  I wanted the authors to give them something that made them deeply likable or relateable people.  Instead, I found major character flaws in all of them.

Just writing that made me change my view.  I guess the point is that all Christians have flaws and imperfections and that is why the sacrifice of Christ is so important.  I just refuted my own point.

So, while I can't possibly give this book 5 stars, or even a solid 4; I am looking forward to the rest of the series.  I'm invested enough in the characters to want to know what happens to them.