I thought I was going to blog about my kid's graduation from college this month and the random drunk dude who crashed the party, and maybe I'll get to that. I've jotted down enough handwritten notes about it that could conceivably infuriate, bore or amuse any potential readers. But I'm still a bit enraged by that whole incident, and I don't want to have my fingers fly across this keyboard to unleash my anger upon the innocent. Maybe another day. It would be a long blog, and I don't want to lose my audience.
Instead, I'll share this short, angry review of this book; Left Behind, by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins.
 |
| Image courtesy of www.tynedale.com |
You may say to yourself, this book is over 25 years old! It's proven its success as a series, in movies and TV. Over a million copies sold! Why review it now? All of these things are true. It doesn't matter what I think, because the authors and publishers of this book have reaped their reward. The Christian public has spoken.
That doesn't make it any less of an awful book. My mom gave me this book -- about 25 years ago, and I promised to get to it. And I did, now...because back then the book didn't appeal to me. But now, having written my own trilogy of a religion infused horror/thriller, I thought maybe it was time to read up on more books that defined the Christian thriller genre, and this first book is one of those Christian fiction game changers. In all honesty, I didn't expect to love this book. My Perfect Prophet trilogy has a bit of a religious backdrop, but it's not designed or intended to convert anyone whereas I had a feeling that Left Behind was hoping for that end.
And it does hope for that end, absolutely. But it's also just badly written, in my opinion. It's okay, I can say that. The authors have received plenty of money, I'm sure, to prove me otherwise. Maybe my own books are worse--I don't know--but...I had a hard time fighting a numbness brought on from reading this book.
I have to admit that the cliffhanger ending was a welcome twist. It helps explain why everyone so easily dismisses who the obvious villain is, whether you’re familiar with interpretations of the book of Revelations or not. That having been said, I cannot dismiss all the things that made this book a real chore to read. Buck Williams is such a cliché, but I sort of like him. He’s the most proactive character of the piece. But every character is a cardboard cutout, superficial person to the point where I failed to sympathize with them. Rayford Steele, the pilot who finds God, is an arrogant ass. The woman he’s thinking about, Hattie—who he’s never touched, although he wants to (as told to us in the very first paragraph of the book), is vapid and superficial too.
And let’s not talk about how this book utilizes women in light of the Bechdel test. I know, I keep bringing up that test lately in my reviews, but I can’t avoid it here. It’s that bad. I had hope for Steele’s daughter, but the book ultimately failed her too.
The book is indeed preachy—look, it can’t not be, given the subject matter. I get that. But it got repetitive fast. It’s an easy read. I blew through this book, not because of the heart pounding action but because the overly repetitive parts were skim-worthy.
I did not like this book. Sorry. I rated it 2 stars out of 5, and that's being generous. But the plot was a plot, so I guess that has to count for something. Plus, over one million books sold! I don't know, maybe the 25th anniversary edition has been revised and edited. I can only hope.
And that's it. That's the review. I won't heap on more anger and bitterness with that drunk party crasher at my son's grad party. Maybe next time.
And if you like religious tinged horror fiction, maybe give the Perfect Prophet series a try. I can only pray for better reviews than this one. It's a risky suggestion, I know. But hey, you get the entire eBook trilogy for the price of one Left Behind!
 |
| https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/perfect-prophet-diane-m-johnson/1129393450 https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/prophet-reborn-diane-m-johnson/1137467727?ean=9781098314477 https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/perfect-sacrifices-diane-m-johnson/1143268447?ean=9781667890999 |
