The Remnant

I'm almost done with the Left Behind series - just 2 more to go...but it's going to be tough finishing it. Just when I thought the series couldn't get any worse - it did.

The Remnant follows the characters we've been introduced to throughout the books. They are being openly hunted by the Global Community, but those who stay in the refuge city of Petra are kept miraculously safe from harm. Plagues continue to strike, and the Tribulation Force tries to persuade the last holdouts - primarily Muslims and Orthodox Jews - to follow Christ. Adventures follow the crew.

There were four things that REALLY bothered me about this book.

1.) Time jumps. The first two thirds of the book runs as the last several books have - taking place primarily over the course of a few action-packed days. Then, inexplicably, jumps 6 months, gives a chapter or two long summary, jumps another 6 months...until the eve of the armageddon is upon this crew. Wait - what???? The plagues in these last two years are skimmed over, potential adventures cut out, and major events discussed in just a few paragraphs. Clearly, Jenkins is completely unable to write anything of any depth. Rather than carefully developing characters, he spends a sentence or two describing how they changed over the two years. Jenkins can only write action-packed adventure and nothing else - and mind you, he doesn't even do that very well. Complete garbage.

2.) Um...science? Not present. Just one example (because I don't want to write a book of my own right now): the characters get into a wheat-water trade. The claim is made several times after freshwater turns to blood that "water is worth as much as wheat now." Here's something we teach our Elementary school students: it takes a lot of irrigated water to produce wheat. Wheat will always be more valuable than water because it requires water for its production. If water turns to blood, guess what? The price of wheat skyrockets exponentially - and probably wouldn't be available anyhow. Same goes for all of the other food that is produced during that time. Freshwater turning to blood kills everything rather quickly.

3.) The characters are really trigger happy. Literally. In the first half of the book, each character extols the virtues of carrying dangerous killing weapons and claims to be ready to kill their enemies. So much for loving your enemies and turning the other cheek. This glorification of violence disgusted me, and I think counters the teachings of Christ...which gets me to my next point...

4.) There is a character in the book that becomes interested in Christ after already receiving the mark of the Antichrist. He wants to give his life to Christ but apparently cannot, according to the teachings of the Tribulation Force. WHAT???? The "God" that Jenkins and LaHaye believe in has a shockingly limited grace. I don't know what the end times will be like, but I know that the God I know and love is a God of second chances. Even in this hypothetical situation that I don't particularly believe, I think God's grace could overcome the mark of the Antichrist.

All of which gets me to my final point - I do not think that Jenkins and LaHaye, at least by this point, are acting on any kind of divine inspiration. In fact, if anything, Satan is getting into their heads. Glorification of violence, hating your enemy, limiting God's grace...I just can't imagine that coming from the mind of Christ.

Rating: 0.5 out of 5 stars. This is pure garbage, however I suppose there could be worse...I'll hold the 0 star rating for now

27 books, 114 days...at this rate I'll read 86 books.