"Strong Left Behind prequel"

After spending forty days in the desert, Nicolae Carpathia bows down to his master who is the deceiving Lucifer that he has worshipped these many years. He builds up his business and has as his advisors the woman who raised him and Leon Fortunoto, another disciple of Lucifer, who would rather be a kingmaker than a king. They eliminate their opponents, the incumbent to the lowest house of the Romanian government, listening to the spirit guides of the netherworld for future endeavors.

Rayford Steele has attained his goal of becoming a pilot and has a wife who adores him and two great children. However, Rafe is bored with his marriage in part because his wife Irene has become an evangelical Christian and pressures her husband and daughter to be open to her beliefs and she prays that in time they will accept the evangelical approach to religion. Rafe is called on to make friends with the pro American, anti-terrorist Jordanian Abdullah Smith to get his idea on how to make flying on airplanes safer. Abdullah's life changes for the worse when his wife converts to Christianity against his wishes. Cameron "Buck" Williams achieves his goal of working for Global Weekly and is in Israel as the Russians invade the country.

Readers learn about the characters who feature prominently in the Left Behind series and why they became the persons who were left behind during the rapture (except for Irene). Readers see how subtlety and cleverly Carpathia begins his rise to power, how he and Leon became partners and what are his true feelings about Viv Irving. The storyline is exciting and knowing what is to come will not distract from the audience's enjoyment of this book one iota.

Harriet Klausner

Reviewed by Harriet Klausner
Posted October 12, 2005

Summary

The second prequel will continue the story of the rise of the Antichrist and the journey of the other main characters as, unknown to them, time hurtles toward the Rapture. Readers will want every possible soul saved to avoid the sevenyear Tribulation, and they will see why characters such as Rayford, Chloe, and Buck fail to believe. Events in Israel will be heating up, and some main characters like Rayford and Buck will be thrust into the thick of the drama.