LEFT BEHIND by Tim LaHaye & Jerry B. Jenkins

"Where are they?"

"You want to know where I think they are? Do you really want to know?"

"Of course!"

"I believe they are in heaven."

~ Chloe and Rayford Steele

Rayford Steele is just doing his job as a pilot, when a hundred of his passengers disappear right out of their clothes. It is not long before he finds out that this has happened all over the world... millions of people are suddenly gone. A polition by the name of Nicolae Carpathia has risen up to try to bring peace and order to the world, and the people hang on his every word and theory. But after watching a tape made by a pastor three years earlier, Ray knows that they have witnessed the rapture of the church, and that his are the end times. But what can be done? Carpathia is looking more and more like the Bible's description of the Antichrist. Can the small group of believers convince the world before he rises to power? Can Ray convince his own daughter?

This was a book that required an ok from Mom and Dad before I read it. It starts out with Rayford Steele (married man) dreaming about leading his pretty flight attendant on. It is not picuresome or explicit, and he later apologizes to her after he accepts Christ. But I think this part in itself makes this a PG-13 book. A journalist by the name of Buck Williams begins to have affections for Chloe Steele, but it is nothing big at all. The Christian characters are very strong and helpful to everyone else, giving their testimonies several times.

Technicality-wise, LEFT BEHIND is a very easy read. No cussing, and I already talked about the slight adult content. If you are going to read this series, I suggest reading a Dickens book here and there, just to vary your brain a bit:)

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, but you may want to ask your parents permission before you read, or have them read it first. If you are under 13 years, I hear the LEFT BEHIND kids' books are worth a shot, but don't quote me on it:)

Author: Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins ~ Country: United States ~ Language: English ~ Series: Left Behind (series) ~ Genre: Christian fiction ~ Publisher: Tyndale House Publishers ~ Publication date: 31 December 1995 ~ Media type: Print (Hardcover, Paperback; also made into Graphic novel and audiobook) ~ Pages: 320 pp (hardcover) and 468 pp (paperback) ~ ISBN: ISBN 0-8423-2911-0 (HC), ISBN 0-8423-4270-2 (PB) ~ Preceded by: The Rapture ~ Followed by: Tribulation Force

THE LAST SIN EATER by Francine Rivers

"The what?" you say. It's what I said when a dear friend recommended this book to me. "Never heard of it. Sounds like a Ted Dekker suspense novel or something."

"Oh it's NOT!" she says. And though we hardly EVER agree on what is a good book, I was in the agonizing state of out-of-books. So I checked it out at my wonderful library - and got completely blown away.

When Granny Forbes passes away, her granddaughter, Cadi, is devastated. But she goes to the funeral with the healer's words ringing in her ears, "Cadi, you must listen. Do not look at the sin eater. He has taken all manner of terrible things unto himself. If you look at him, he'll give you the evil eye, and some of the sin he carries might spill over onto you." The sin eater? She finds that, in order to have your sins taken away, the sin eater must come and perform the ritual to take your sins upon himself. But as Cadi keeps her eyes shut tight, his voice startles her into looking right at his eyes - and so begins her curiosity to know who he is. With the shame of a terrible sin that has stolen her mother's love away from her, she wants to find the sin eater and have her sins taken away. Maybe her mother will forgive her then. With the help of her friends Fagan Kai, Miz Elda, a strange man by the river, and an even more mysterious girl named Lilybet, she sets out to find out the truth - maybe she can be set free.

This book has a VERY strong Christian message! I was very happy to give over my utter despair of contemporary Christian novels. This book is filled with mild (but not unhealthy) suspense and Christ's teachings. There is violence from the fiery leader of the town who is completely run by his temper, who beats two people up and even kills a man. The writer did an excellent job depicting the Sin Eater: a shady, mysterious character that keeps you wondering and shivering. There are always those characters that seem as if they are behind a black sheet - you hear their voice and see their outline, but not their features; and no matter how hard you look, you can't see anymore until the end and the sheet falls. Rivers does a wonderful job with many characters such as this. The language is clean, but a woman in the story says that her drunk father, "took it in his head that it was his right to use me like a man used a woman" and her lover quickly dispatched the man in anger. But Cadi does not understand, and since we hear the story through her eyes, nothing is taken further. Cadi's brother, Iwan and a girl were described as "tangled up together in the woods". The girl's father calls her a harlot and it is implied he turns her from the house, but they are not central characters and it is not further spoken of, nor is anything described in any detail. I would recommend this book to anyone old enough to understand the consequences of sin and death, probably about ten years and up. But if you think your little ten-year-old would be afraid, maybe you should read it out loud and make explain some things, but there's no reason they should miss out. YOU NEED TO READ THIS BOOK!!!!!