Book Review: The Rising by Jerry Jenkins and Tim LeHaye

Stars: 2 out of 5

Pros: Quick read

Cons: Nothing really happens we don't already know about

The Bottom Line:

Book is a fast read

But it's pretty much pointless

So you can skip it

Pointless

While never confusing them with great literature, I enjoyed the previous books in the Left Behind series. I was skeptical when I heard about The Rising, thinking it was just an excuse to make more money. My fears were justified.

This book goes back years before the series starts to find Rayford as a nine-year-old. He knows what he wants to do, be a professional athlete or a pilot. And there is no way he is taking over his father's tool and die business. In fact, his parents embarrass him. They're older then his friend's parents are and poorer then Ray would like. He is determined to become rich no matter which career path he takes.

Meanwhile in Romania, Marilena Carpathia has become surprised to find a longing for a child. Trapped in a marriage without romance, she searches to find a distraction. That distraction leads her to Viviana Ivinisova's class on spiritualism and a potential solution. Should she accept the offer even if it means raising her child as a spiritualist?

The problem with this book is that it really doesn't have a story to tell. We already know what will happen to the characters, so much of the suspense is gone. It serves more as biography then novel. I was also rolling my eyes as Ray spent time analyzing his actions toward his parents. I know of no nine-years-olds who have the incite he did. Heck, some adults wouldn't look at things that way. As with other books in the series, the writing style is poor. The books are written on an elementary reading level. It makes for a quick read, but really has little else going for it.

There were some points of The Rising that held my interest, but these were few and far between. The lack of a story made the poor writing of the previous entries stand out even more here. My advice is to stick with the originals and skip the prequels. You aren't missing much.