Desecration: Antichrist Takes the Throne

Action heats up as the temple is desecrated... and extra drama in the tribulation force. But rapid and confusing scene-changes rather spoil what could have been a good novel, unrealistic slang talk is annoying, and the lack of character development after nine books in the series is appalling. I simply couldn't feel any emotion for any of the main characters.

I enjoyed the story as fiction. I laughed, cried, fumed, and shouted--all positive things--but I want to temper that strongly by saying that I wouldn't suggest it as theological or eschatological material, as some have. I'm not really concerned with the order and how's of end-time events and believe we waste too much time trying to figure it out. As Jesus said: "No one knows the times or the seasons, but my heavenly Father." Do worry about it. Live and hope. You don't need to have it all marked out on a calendar.If someone were to ask me what fictional literature I would suggest, this series wouldn't occur to me at all, and I wouldn't suggest it if it did. But, seeing as I have read it (except the last one and the prequels), I felt like show more I ought to review it. For story, I would give it three stars, maybe four. But my reservations pull that rating down to two. show less

Desecration: Antichrist Takes the Throne is the ninth book in the Left Behind Series by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins. In my opinion, this novel is bogging down possibly due to being popular and making money for the authors and their causes. The one thing I like about this series is the struggles the characters go through in rationalizing bad behavior for the good of the cause. This is a struggle that all of us face in daily life. The one thing that I detest is that as in the previous novels, the opposite side can do nothing right, although, LaHaye and Jenkins do take steps to toss that aside towards the end of the novel. I hope that this continues in the next book in the series.

It is interesting to note that less and less people own show more the subsequent books in the series. As of March 14, 2008, on Library Thing, 1360 people have registered the first book and only 611 people have registered the 9th book. show less

Very little happens in the first half of Desecration however the latter half ups the tempo somewhat and offers some genuine surprises. This entry in the series is rather heavy handed with it's gospel, at times preaching the Word for pages at a time where it could have easily been more succinct. The authors could have up-scaled the action too, as a few of the scenarios presented could have been more exciting; more narrative allocated to them. It's a fair assumption that it is a deliberate effort to not glorify the warfare and the horror within this series. An essential book in the series which ends with a real cliffhanger.

It took a few weeks to find these last 5 books in this series of 13 books circulating in the used bookstores. I guess most people peter out by this time. Conversations continue to be short and choppy and unnatural feeling. I’m still not connected to any of the characters. That’s too bad because I still have four more books to read in this never-ending series.

We are now 42 months into the Tribulation and 25 days into the Great Tribulation.

Revelations 16:1-2: Then I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels, "Go and pour out the bowls of the wrath of God on the earth." So the first went and poured out his bowl upon the earth, and a foul and loathesome sore came upon the men who had the mark of the beast and show more those who worshiped his image.

This book was basically all about the reformed Israeli statesman, Dr. Chaim Rosenzweig, who actually killed the Anti-christ, leading the newly reformed Jewish Christians out of Jerusalem and into hiding in Petra after Carpathia desecrates the Holy Temple by sacrificing a pig and committing murder inside the temple.

Here, God tells the first angel to pour out his bowl upon the earth. All those receiving the mark of the beast begin to itch, then painful, infected boils begin breaking out all over their bodies. Carpathia’s army becomes incapacitated.

God provides Chaim with anointed powers to get the job done. Carpathia has no choice but to comply if he wants to see the end of the plague upon his followers. The believers of Christ see and experience great miracles as God provides His protection while the saved Israeli's run and are exported to their designated place of refuge in Petra. Only the one million saved converted Jews from Israeli would have the full protection of God for the rest of the Great Tribulation. Others only have spiritual protection at this point and will most likely have to prove their loyalty to God or to the Antichrist.

The Archangel Michael appears often to encourage the people not to fear upcoming events because the Lord has them. He appeared the very day, standing in front of those million saved Israelis, as Carpathia’s army of 500,000 headed toward them in a cloud of dust that could be seen miles away, then 1/4 mile away, then 500 yards away, and finally 10 yards away, when suddenly the earth opened up and swallowed the entire army, including over 200 of Carpathia's commanding officers. The ground recovered instantly and, as the dust settled, the entire army was completely gone. The GC planes and choppers, who came after the dust had settled, could find no trace of their army from up above. Carpathia then calls top leaders together in New Babylon. Their plan? To flatten Petra filled to the brim with the saved Jews and wage a world-wide war against all Christians and Jews.

The 2nd angel pours out the second bowl upon the earth. All sea water has turned to pure blood. All sea creatures are dead and rotting, as well as thousands of humans stranded on ships out at sea and others living along the coastlines who depend on that sea life, are dying. Inland, rivers and streams are yet to be affected, but will be, and water will soon become more valuable than gold.

The end of this book actually leaves you hanging a little. As Dr. Tsion Ben-Judah, the spokesperson for Christ who has millions of followers across the world, returns to Israeli and enters Petra to give encouraging words to these million Jews gathered so far, Carpathia’s army flew over and dropped two atomic bombs directly over the people….

...onto to Book #10: The Remnant: On the Brink of Armageddon. I'm expecting another big miracle. show less

These books are giving me nightmares -- and yet I keep reading them! Personally, I think they're not well written at all. However, every chapter and book ends on a cliffhanger and it sucks me in. I keep reading them solely to find out what happens next.

I'm going to take a little break before moving on to book 10. I would like to get some sleep once in awhile!

Same problem here as with their other "Left Behind" books - characters who are essentially identical to each other because they are all goody-two-shoes, refusal to actually research what the Bible says, white-washing the holes in the plot and so on, and bad guys who are annoyingly stupid.