Apollyon, the 5th book in the Left Behind series starts off with a lot of self doubt on the part of the characters. Hattie Durham, former fiancee to Nicolae Carpathia (the Antichrist) doesn't know what to do about her unwanted pregnancy. Rayford wonders if his wife Amanda was really working for the other side.
The inhabitants of earth left behind after the rapture have already endured much-war, famine, plague, death, earthquake, fire from the sky, poisoned drinking water. In this installment they endure even more. Nicolae is more intent than ever on eliminating the members of the Tribulation Force, especially since the meeting of the witnesses is about to take place. Once again phenomenon which are clearly spelled out in the Book of Revelations continue to occur (1/3 of the earth goes dark, a plaque of locusts descends and attacks non-believers) and once again Nicolae and his cronies explain everything away. The Tribulation Force is even deceived by some pretending to be a believer.
The tribulations in the book are very interesting when they occur and this time the authors give a little detail on some of them instead of just glossing over them like they have in previous books. A couple of things continue to annoy me though. The events as they unfold are following the Book of Revelations to the letter yet people refuse to believe what they are seeing and experiencing. If I were confronted with such overwhelming evidence as the characters in the book are, I don't think I would have such a hard time acknowledging it was a work of God and couldn't be explained by anything else (although maybe it's because I already believe in God). Also Hattie continues to be a thorn in their side and mucks things up, yet the whole Tribulation Force continues to stand by her in an effort to save her soul. At what point are they going to realize she is endangering their entire operation and at the very least move her to a different location than their headquarters?
I understand that the whole point in the series is to tell the story of those left behind and the battle between good and evil but I don't think every book should follow the same pattern. That is what has happened in all five novels so far and it is getting a bit redundant. I am enjoying the series because I am learning quite a bit but it feels like more of the same. I'm hoping things pick up in the next book.
If the FTC is wondering: This book was loaned to me by a coworker
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