This one’s a bit hard for me to write, because I had a lot of hope for this series. I have really enjoyed the treasure-hunting, code-cracking mysteries of Dan Brown, though I certainly don’t agree with his theology, so I was also looking forward to this evangelical, Bible-believing version by Tim LaHaye. And while the mystery, I guess, seemed tantalizing enough, the execution was deplorable, and I really could couldn’t help but give more than the requisite 100-pages-minus-my-age.
Where to start? Even before the book began, I had to weigh through all the front matter of LaHaye promising (at least four times) that his character was great and that his plots were exciting, just like in his internationally successful Left Behind series. I think I had to read about that series three times even before this series’ Book 1 began! That didn’t fully turn me off, but the hand was reaching for the dial.
When I finally got into the plot, I recognized it as a desperate attempt to seem edgy, though it just came across as ridiculous. This Indiana-Jones-like professor meets often with a mysterious, rich villain named Methuselah who likes to tease him through life-threatening games with the promise of Bible-proving artifacts that he somehow acquires, though he’s not very religious himself. Don’t get me started.
Then there’s The Seven, a mysterious group of powerful individuals who seek to rule the world, and they hire Talon, an assassin with the knife-sharp index finger who likes to kill people in particularly horrific ways. Such characters really aren’t that far off from the weirdos that Dan Brown invents, it just doesn’t come across as that exciting or even marginally believable. If I can’t see the story in my head—and I tried with the free-fall in the abandoned Raleigh building and the lion attack, but Raleigh!? Lion attack!?—I just don’t want to continue.
Because I was at least intrigued by what artifact would change the course of history in the end, I did a “spoiler” search online. My curiosity is salved and I can now move on without regret, other than the regret I feel for having lugged all four books in this series halfway around the world with me! Woops!
©2017 E.T.
Read More from Tim LaHaye:
- Left Behind (1995)
- Tribulation Force (1996)
- Book 1: The Vanishings (1998)
- Book 2: Second Chance (1998)
- The Mark (2000)
- The Merciful God of Prophecy (2001)
- Babylon Rising (2003)
- Mark’s Story (2007)