This book is a great read for those interested in learning a story of one man's tours in Vietnam. Simons gives an unemotional story of his tours in Vietnam. The story tells of the beauty of the countryside, the people, the conflicts and the attacks he incurred while serving. The book is almost two stories in one: Simons personal tours; and letters to and from officials telling of POW/MIA sightings and what they did or didn't do to help the investigations. The book also has a list at the end of those missing and their status. Some of the official findings include letters to President Reagan and testimonies of those involved in investigations of the sloppy jobs that were done in identifying the bones of the so called 'found'. Also included is Simons' letter to President Reagan of his own findings of inadequacies in the governments methods of finding facts and implementing a rescue. This is a must read if you are interested in learning about the POW/MIA dilemma! I read with great curiosity about the situation, learning much I didn't know.

The book is very intersing. this a great book for everyone who is thinking or is going into the criminal justice field. The book is well thought out and is great for reference use.

It is a great book with an extra touch to it. I will be using it to teach my students about different variations of stories for the next school year. The illustrations are colorful also.

The oft-overlooked Jewish contribution to the development of southern Africa and Zambia in particular is superbly chronicled in this thorough and well researched account. Easy reading. Highly recommended.

this book is hard to rate. for john grisham it's 4.5 stars. for a typical page turner it's 4 stars. for a novel it's 3 stars.

this book is typical grisham. if you've read his other books and enjoyed them you will like this one. if you hate his other books then you'll probably not enjoy this one.

his writing style has become a formula and quite predictable (like the ending) but The Testament is a nice read for a plane trip, beach or lazy afternoon. i felt the whole christian part of the book was a waste and should have been edited out a bit more.... like a bad writer he made his point way too obvious... his point should've and could've been much more subtle yet much more effective.

the protagonist was very disappointing. he was extremely weak and pitiful. and it was so hard to believe that he would "find god" so quickly and easily. i was just hoping that in the end he would die in the jungle because i was so sick of him and his juvenile tendencies.

while the characters are written well for the most part there is not likable or sympathetic one in the bunch. they were all so very disconnected and childish.

but overall it was a nice read... nothing special.

I have read several Grisham books (The Firm, The Chamber, The Pelican Brief). Some of those books had interesting beginings but The Firm and The Pelican Brief went off to become like a James Bond or Mission Impossible episode. This book does not suffer that fate and is far better then the other books.

The first chapters are told in the first person and are some of the best writing I have ever read. The main character Nate is a very "likable" loser. He is someone with smarts who let liquor and bad choices in his life lead to a life of ruin. He is in and out of rehab with only temporary results. He meets a missionary named Rachel that he ultimately falls in love with. I guess he loves her because she is the most happy person he has ever met and surely the most G-d-faithful person he has ever seen. He comes from a world where lawyers have no interest in their clients, only in their fees and how they can maximize their hourly billings. The missionary lives in a primative environment and has absolutely no interest in the 11 billion dollars that has been left to her. The proverbial two ends of the spectrum.

It is Rachel's spiritual beauty and her fervent religious belief that does for Nate, what none of his expensive rehab has done. Get rid of his desire for alcohol. It is a good attempt by Grisham and it plays out very well. However, I cannot figure out Rachel's attraction to Nate (unless he is a lovable loser).

The Phelen clan is quite large and it is difficult to keep track of who is who. Maybe Grisham should have supplied one of those tree diagrams with all the players (like Toltsoy did for War and Peace).

Hark Gettys is the leading lawyer representing them and though he is a villian, he is quite likable. It is interesting how he gets Snead (the star witness for the Phelen clan) to build his testimony.

All in a good read (but don't take it on a trip since there are plane crashes and boat sinkings in it).

I've haven't read any of the other Grisham novels, but when I heard what this one was about, I decided to give it a try - and was delightfully surprised! As a Christian, I am used to Christianity often being ridiculed in secular novels. Not so with this one.

Nate O'Riley, a twice-divorced alcoholic right out of rehab, must find Rachel Lane, a Christian missionary nobody seems to know, amongst the Indians in the Pantanal of Brazil. Almost like finding a needle in a haystack. The reason: Rachel has become single heir to the tenth largest fortune in the world! The encounter is destined to change both their lives forever.

Contrary to some of the other opinions here on the site, I find the ending perfect. John Grisham knew exactly what he was doing, and if they make a movie out of this book, I hope they don't change it. What absolutely startled me, but in a very positive way, was the grasp that John Grisham seems to have of Christianity and Christian missions. He seems to have received much of his information from Carl King, a Baptist missionary friend of his that lives in Campo Grande and has actually taken Grisham into the Pantanal. Finally a bestselling author who really knows what he's talking about (at least regarding information on various aspects of religion)!

So if you're looking for some food for your soul and a possible way of changing your life's perspectives, read this novel! And to John Grisham: keep up the good work!

"Dune: House Atreides" is the first in a trilogy of prequels to the "Dune" novels of Frank Herbert. Like sequels however, the only lesson you'll get from "Atreides" is to leave well enough alone. Frank Herbert was masterful because he could conjure up a vast universe without losing sight of his characters' humanity, and he knew how to both deftly craft his surroundings, and keep the historic details of the Dune universe tantalizingly vague (the appeal of Dune's hidden history stemmed largely from Herbert's refusal to dissect). The new trilogy ignores the qualities of the original's prose and the otherworldly seduction of its myriad plotting.
For those new to the series, Dune is set in a far distant future, when man has spread across the stars. Once enslaved by machine minds, men rose up in a religious crusade whose legacy has been the absolute prohibition against artificial computers. Instead, vast schools enhance the human mind, turning men into living computers called Mentats. Huge starships are guided by "third-stage navigators" - artificially evolved human beings who see through walls of time/space. Though technologically advanced, humanity is ruled by an emperor through an aristocracy (the "Landsraad") perpetually at odds with itself. (Individual houses endlessly plot against each other ala Machiavelli). Outside of Landsraad, various other groups jockey for power - like the insidious Tleilaxu who are masters of forbidden technology, or the Bene Gesserit who conduct genetic engineering experiments designed to create a suber-being called the "kwisatz haderach". Each party wield great power, but is checked both by each other and by their dependence on a mystical spice called "mélange" - a drug which stretches human lifespans, widens consciousness and, in really huge doses, turns humans into navigators. In short, mélange underlies every aspect of this society. Unfortunately, technology hasn't supplied a substitute for mélange, and the inhospitable planet Dune is its only source.
In "Atreides" we meet younger versions of the noble Leto Atreides, the vile Vlad Harkonnen, the slyly murderous Fehnring and Shaddam - the future emperor. Aside from other characters also already established in Dune lore, we meet the royal family of Ix (soon to be exiled when Ix is overrun by Tleilaxu) and Leto's parents. Title aside, " Atreides" tells as much about the Atreides as everyone else. Actually, Shaddam, gets the lion's share of attention. With his father Elrood kept alive through mélange addiction, and showing no sign of releasing the throne, Shaddam conspires with Fenring to kill him. Leto, not yet a duke, travels to Ix, whose rulers develop technology at the limits of the law. Leto's strict mother (whose religious fundamentalism dates this book as none of the original novels had) distrusts the ruling Ixians. The reigning duke is too fun-loving a guy to accord with the duchess' stern dogmatism. Vladimir Harkonnen, already Baron when "Atreides" starts, has yet to become the physically repulsive ogre of the original epic. Shaddam, already considering himself emperor, conspires to "give" Ix to the Tleilaxu, confident can blame it on a feud his father nursed against the Ixian rulers. In return, the Tleilaxu will try to develop a synthetic mélange. None of the original books' intense plotting nor their focus on their characters' perspective are in evidence here. No character possesses any depth. Fenring is a master in the art of murder, even when just giving advice, but here he's just annoying, and his plotting is seldom Macchiavellian. Neither Anderson nor Herbert develop Fenring in a way that suggests his complete reversal in the original "Dune". Leto is the hero of the story, but he comes off as one of those angst-ridden characters of a Dawson's Creek spin-off. None of the myriad subplots reflect an understanding of the Dune-universe. The Bene gesserit never arouse suspicion, even though their plan to breed the messianic Kwisatz Haderach threatens everybody, especially the Navigators (since they possess the closest thing to absolute power in the Dune universe). Instead it's the illegal invasion of Ix that unites the characters in this book - but who cares? (the Tleilaxu turn the Ixians against their rulers for whom they do the most work and reap the least benefits.) The authors completely miss the underpinnings of the age old Atreides/Harkonnen vendetta (they take the feud as the logical product of Atreides nobility and Harkonnen villainy. The point of a prequel is to show how things came to be the way they are, after nearly turning out differently). Another error is Leto's father - described as a cruel blowhard in the original "Dune", he's now a benevolent ruler who lives for his loyal subjects whom he entertains with frequent bullfights. But above all is Shaddam's nonsensical collusion with the Tleilaxu. At Fenring's urging, Shaddam presses the Tleilaxu to develop a synthetic version of mélange in order to both free his throne from spice mining and elevate it over the spicing guild. What the authors fail to grasp is that success would only swap the monopoly of the navigators for that of the Tleilaxu (it would also nullify the industrial complex that mines the spice, one of the economic structures that both ensures the stability of the universe and, because the throne manages it, allows Shaddam to effectively rule. Besides, if the Tleilaxu reneged, how would Shaddam enforce his end?) The unblanced deal would make sense had Shaddam nursed a vendetta against the Ixians - but the grudge against Ix was Elrood's.
Being part of a series, "Atreides" doesn't have to be open-ended (with half-finished plotlines and characters left for the next book), but it is. Some subplots don't come together at all - like the expeditions of planetologist Liet Kynes or the story of C'tair, a loyal Ixian working against the Tleilaxu. But worst of all, the novel lacks a solid voice, a single perspective in its scenes to feel the pain, joy, fear and triumph that all the plotting must create. "Atreides" simply fails because, unlike the spice mélange that underlies much of the plotting, it is neither addictive nor consciousness expanding.

Okay, it's definitely a book about Dune, and set in the Duniverse, and it has all the terminology of a Dune book...but it's not a real Dune Book. Period. Don't get me wrong, I read it and I liked it, but it has NONE of the depth of any of the original series. Even weaker books in the original series tower over House Atreides. The best sections of the book are those that involve situations discussed directly in the other books, i.e. those where the authors had Frank Herbert's hand guiding them. Many of the newer charactors (especially Rhombur Vernius) fall flat and are poorly fleshed out and just plain uninteresting.

Frank Herbert is sorely missed. I went right from finishing this book to re-reading Dune!

I have read many reviews of "Dune:House Atreides" and every single one goes on to compare it to the magnificence of the original series. Nothing will ever come close to the engrossing, complex, and wonderful worlds that Frank Herbert brought to us (unless the Tleilaxu have secretly made of ghola of the man himself). But I think in all fairness that Brian Herbert and Kevin Anderson have made one hell of a go at it. The plot is rich with so many colorful layers and the daunting history of the DUNE universe. The charaters seem real and the familiar ones stand up to what they are to become later in the DUNE timeline. Yes, any diehard fan knows exactly what's coming, but going back to the pre-Mau'Dib era and seeing the events that led up to the original series is like looking back at an old family photo album with fond nostalgia. Also I think these two fine authors need this prequel trilogy to get their proverbial feet wet to get themselves and readers re-familiar with the DUNE universe so they can adequately take on the emense task of taking up where "Chapterhouse:Dune" left us hanging. "Dune:House Atreides" kept me reading and interested, made me feel and think. It felt like coming home to the DUNE universe that I and so many others have come to love. Not perfect, not Frank Herbert, but still worthy of a Freman's loyalty.

This book was given to me by a reletive after I had watched the movie "The Horse Whisperer". I had already fallen in love with the movie itself so I was a bit skeptical about reading the book (usually the books differs somewhat from the movies). Yet, eventually I read the book and was not at all let down. Of course the book differed in a surprising way----there was another twist in the book besides the horse Pilgrim's behavior. If you have seen the movie then you have a basic idea of what the book is about but if not.....

It features a teenage girl (Grace) who becomes involved in a tragic accident where her best friend dies (along with her horse), and Grace herself is nearly killed while her horse Pilgrim is on the verge of death. Grace ends up loosing part of her leg and from that point on she ripens into an angry sulking sarcastic teenage girl. Meanwhile her busy business mom has to solve the problem of the half crazy horse Pilgrim. She comes up with the idea to venture out this "horse whisperer" out west and is VERY determined in doing so. The story leads on from there out west with a determined horse whisperer, a troubled horse, a broken down teenager, buisness mom, distant husband, and the beauty of the west and country folk around them.

All in all I found this to be a very satisfying read and the twist at the end surprised me. It's one of those books that you either like or you don't but the chances are in your favor that you will enjoy it (as I did). Read it and fall in love with it's desperation, hope, and love.

Breathtaking, tragic, compelling, and inspirational, all these words and more can't describe the amount of significance that The Horse Whisperer endures. Nicholas Evans produces a very touching and moving novel, which has rendered the lives of many horse back riders. What starts out as a lovely, fresh and crisp winter morning, quickly turns into a gruesome meet with a large transport. Two girls who didn't thing to check the trail before their ride had paid the price, Judith and her horse died, while Grace and her horse Pilgrim, had suffered incredibly with broken bones, ligaments and predominately scarring their heart and soul. Tom Booker, the whisperer, is kept much a secret through the entire story. His thoughts and feelings are subliminally placed in every chapter that he was present, and more and more is revealed about his character in each one; thus giving the reader a challenge to figure out what he's really like. The Horse Whisperer is filled with subliminal messages, which provokes an excellent in-depth read through all of the twists and turns of the novel. A well-constructed story that fills in many gaps that the movie couldn't cover.

She magazine said it is a 'Cross between The Bridges of Madison County with Black Beauty intensify the elements of True Grit and romance, and you have The Horse Whisperer'

I have seen all three films and I can honestly say that whoever wrote that knows their stuff.

The Horse Whisperer is a wonderful novel written by a fairly new author, Nicholas Evans, with only two other books under his belt. The book tells the story of how a 13-year-old girl, Grace, and her horse, Pilgrim, survive a horrific accident with a 40-ton truck. But both are physically and mental scarred. Grace loses her right leg and the Pilgrim breaks his nose and becomes consumed with fear.

Annie, Grace's mother, refuses to have Pilgrim destroyed, as she senses that if she does, something in Grace will die too. So her quest begins to find someone who can help Pilgrim. She hears about a man in Montana, a 'whisperer' who is said to have an incredible gift of healing horses. She abandons her job and takes Grace and Pilgrim across the continent to this man, Tom Booker. Under the massive Montana sky, all their lives are changed forever.

The story is told in the perspective of four people, Robert - Grace's father, Annie, Grace and Tom. Which may seem daunting but Evans does it in a way that makes it so simple yet very effective. You understand more as you see the story unfold from a variety of people's eyes. He also adds in information about the history of some of the characters and the places they are in, it all adds to the experience of the novel and although it makes the novel longer it is well worth the extra pages.

A novel has never so profoundly touched me as The Horse Whisperer has. Usually when I finish a book I go right ahead and start the next one but I am reluctant to do this, as it will be ending the lives of the characters that have been a part of my life for a short but wonderful period of time. I was mesmerised with the characters and the story for five days, I just couldn't put the book down and if I didn't have to go to classes I would have finished the book a lot sooner!

At a whooping 479 pages the book is fairly long but well worth the paper! I definitely recommend that you read this book. The Horse Whisperer will forever be in your heart if you read it, I will certainly not forget it in a hurry.

I have to be among the #1 fan of the Left Behind series. I'm usually on the waiting list for the next copy to come out because the suspense kills me! However, book 7 (7 of 12 now) left me really asking "where's the meat"? There was so much unnecessary fluff during the first 300 pages of this book that instead of my usual 1 day reading time, it took me almost 4 days because I kept getting bored! This book clearly did not move with the same intensity as the others and neither was it able to keep my attention. I really have to ask, what was the point? Is this to be expected of the remaining books? Is this a marketing angle now to get us hooked on the books, expand from 7 to 12 books to make more money, and totally leave the audience numb! I thought Left Behind was a good witnessing tool to give a copy to friends who may not know Christ; however I don't feel that way about this one. Unbelievers would be just as lost as the characters in this book. Lahaye and Jenkins are excellent writers which is why I'm totally disappointed in this book. Please, oh please tell us we can expect more from the next one! Or perhaps we should stop at this one and just chalk it up as the world's marketing strategy...the old bait and switch!

As many of you have also done, I waited for months to read this next addition to the Left Behind series. While I found the "action" to be somewhat lacking, the book flowed very nicely. To make the prophetic facts seem more real to me, I enjoy keeping my Bible next to me and looking them up as they occur. One important thing to remember about this series is that it is FICTION based on FACT of what will happen when our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ comes again to claim his children. You can make fun of the characters as much as you want to, but what would any of us do who were put in the same situation? This is a battle of good vs. evil; if you lose, you die. While dying as a Christian means eternity in heaven, I can't think of anyone who actually looks forward to death. During the tribulation, the only two things that will matter will be witnessing for Christ and survival. I praise Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins for their lifelike casting of the Trib Force. Here are perfect examples of sinners, just like me, who were saved by putting their faith and trust in Jesus Christ. The authors are not afraid to make the characters human, like Rayford and Chloe. Both had strong, sinful desires that show them for what they are -- sinners saved by grace. I can't wait until this fall to read the next book. Hopefully, Jesus will return before then and we, who are truly born again, can leave this old world behind. I also highly recommend Are We Living in the End Times. This is written by the same authors. If you are like me, this book will send chills up your spine when you see how close we truly may be to the rapture! Hopefully, it will spur you as it did me to be a better witness for Christ!

'The Indwelling,' book #7 of the 'Left Behind series' is set just midway through the seven-year Tribulation. The whole world mourns the death of the renowned man. Except those who know the truth. As Nicolae lay dead after being wounded, he is resurrected, the Beast takes possession [Revelation 13: 3-14] and the Tribulation Force faces it's most dangerous challenges yet. Now eternity and destiny of mankind hangs in the balance.

I absolutely loved The Talisman and The Dark Tower series so I was incredibly pleased when I received The Black House as a gift. I couldn't wait to see what King and Straub had come up with this time.

Having just finished it, I have to say that I was incredibly disapointed and that only two such big authors could have gotten away with publishing a book that required so much editing. Overall the story was majorly unbalanced -- the first 100 pages were just pure description and meeting characters. I have nothing again description, but come on! Any other book I would have put down long before this one finally started to pick up. I hated that "floating camera" narrator -- it was extremely irritating and distracting and robbed many scenes of their punch by hinting at future events. The final showdown at the end of the book was strangely anticlimatic and very underdeveloped. Much too easy for all the buildup that went into it.

Normally when I get a new Stephen King book I read it in a matter of days but this one didn't tempt me to stay up all night as others have. It took me a couple of weeks to slog through it.

Save your money and get it from the library if you must read it -- that's where my copy is going.

This King/Straub collaboration reads differently than a typical Stephen King novel. Some of the first half of the book does not flow well and you are drawn to writing style as much as the plot. (Wondering, which one wrote this chapter? And noticing at times that Stephen forgot to take his own advice in his recent book, On Writing. Such as slipping in needless adverbs, and some prose that doesn't advance the story much.)

The subject matter of Black House is disturbing, which made the story emotionally difficult to read at first and I almost didn't make it past the first 100 pages or so. In the story, the "Fisherman" is responsible for the gruesome deaths of several children. For me, this is going too far, even if the book is in the horror genre.

That being said, as the plot evolves, the suspense builds and there are many "real" characters. (Not that you would read a King/Straub book for realism, anyway.) You can definitely feel the pain and fear of the parents, and the different ways they react to the violence in their town. There are some interesting connections to the Dark Tower books - so a lot of this plot feels like a bridge to some future sequel that more firmly ties Talisman and Dark Tower.

I found the second half of the book to be more of the classic page-turner that I expect from these world class authors.

The Talisman was the first book by King and Straub that I ever read. I have been a fan of both since that time. Reading Black House was like a stroll down memory lane. Old characters brought back (at least mentioned in some cases) was like visiting old friends that you haven't heard from in a while.
I thought the tie in with the Gunslinger seriers (Dark Tower) was a brainstorm. That Straub bought into the premise is a wonder.
Jack, now middleaged, is called from retirement to help solve brutal murders of children. Gradually he is drawn into crimes so gruesome that they stretch credibility. Of course, after the twin towers were laid low, can anything be doubted.
New characters, Henry, Beezer (an educated and lovable brute) Sophie, and others.
As expected, the territories play a major role in this new story, but not to the extent as in the Talisman. This is typical King/Struab...tight story, believable characters, suspensful storytelling. Don't listen to the nay sayers. Buy (or borrow from your public library) the book, read it and make up your own mind.

Just how did I manage to finish "The Mark," the 8th book in this interminable series, you may ask? By major PAGE SKIPPING, that's how! This past weekend, not an idle one by any means, I "read" books 5 through 8 of this series. It's easy when you skip the long sermons, and the inane dialogue and wait until some kind of action happens.

That said, I do keep reading the books, though thanks to the American library system, I have not had to shell out a dime for the privilege. Though thin on substance, the first books did have enough meat to be occasionally satisfying. That hardly seems true of the last books, which seem to have hit some sort of time dilation mode where one book can spend hundreds of pages chronicling a few dull days.

What's wrong with these books? For one, outrageous premises. Knowing the level of rabidity of American gun enthusiasts, who could imagine US citizens (militias excluded) eagerly acceding to the removal of 90% of our weaponry? We're a paranoid bunch! We spend more money on arms than the next ten countries combined, and we are still afraid of being outmatched. Yet in Left Behind, we give it all away --- to the UN, of all groups! It's not that this is an impossible scenario, but Lahaye and Jenkins don't even bother to acknowledge the problem.

And wouldn't it be interesting if L&J were more up front with which of our planet's 6 billion souls would not make the cut into the 1 billion who are saved? Why not fess up that practically all Buddhists, Hindus and Muslims would land in hell? How about having Tsion put that in his pipe and smoke it? Did the Muslim children get raptured? Do Christians who were left behind still continue to their pathetic church attendance, not realizing that they are the "wrong" kind of Christians? And how about the wholesale, unimaginative ripoff of the Bible, as when Tsion has a dream that is taken straight out of Revelation 12? Couldn't the mark of the Beast have been something more original than the tired, old computer implanted scenario? And how about a little work convincing the reader that implanting the mark in hand or forehead wouldn't be a colossal tip-off, even to the biblically illiterate?

This entire series is bloated, lazy and offensive. I have been skimming along, hoping for imaginative treatment of the Apocalypse. Yet now that I am 8 books into the series, I'm afraid that even skipping the dreary parts is becoming an exercise in futility. It's really a feat to make the end of the world seem so tedious.

By the way, it's awful to see the supposedly Christian heroes of this series act in such an ungospel manner. Except for the imbecilic Hattie Durham, there is barely a whit of caring for the throngs of the damned. Steele realizes that Carpathia is about to vaporize a whole city, and all he worries about is that his own family makes it out. Steele nurses vengeance against the Antichrist without even an editorial tsk-tsk from the authors. I guess "turn the other cheek" went out the window after the Rapture.

Hint to L&J: read a little less of Revelation and a lot more of the Gospels!

'The Mark,' book #8 of the 'Left Behind series' the Beast Rules the World. His Excellency Global Community Leader Nicolae Carpathia is resurrected and indwelt by the devil himself. The Beast tigthens his grip on the world. The Tribulation Force (Rayford, Buck, Bruce and Chloe) now undercover outlaws spread the truth about the AntiChrist. Can they help save millions from being branded with "the mark" that will seal their eternal doom? It is written in Revelation 14: 6-13. It is this time, that Jesus predicted in Matthew 24:14, the gospel would be preached throughout the world for a witness to all nations; and then shall the end come [Matthew 24:15-35].

After reading "Conquest of Paradise" by Britt Gillette, I was instantly turned on to biblical end times literature, and I quickly began reading the Left Behind series. From book one, I was totally hooked, and I've read up through book eight in less than a couple of weeks.

In "The Mark", LaHaye and Jenkins continue their unique view of the prophesied end-times. Having been assassinated in book six, and indwelled by the devil in book seven, antichrist Nicolae Carpathia counterfeits the resurrection when he rises from the dead after three days. The world stands in awe and begins to worship Carpathia as a god, giving birth to a new religion known as "Carpathianism"! Followers of Nicolae must be branded with a loyalty mark on their right hand or forehead, and those who refuse it are put to death. "The Mark" is one of the more gripping and edge-of-your-seat thrillers in the series. It will cause you to empathize with the characters, questioning whether you would accept the mark given similar circumstances.

I can't wait to find out what happens next. I look forward to reading books eight through twelve, and I encourage other Left Behind fans to pick up "Conquest of Paradise: An End-Times Nano-Thriller" as additional reading. That book got me interested in this series, and what a great book! What "Left Behind" lacks in realism, "Conquest of Paradise" adds in abundance. The prose is much more advanced and the international politics are identical to the current world scene and the war on terror. Peppered with biblical verses, "Conquest of Paradise" will turn even the most hardened skeptics into believers, or at least it will make them think twice. It's one lovers of end-times fiction shouldn't miss.

Book nine, "Desecration" continues the adventures of the Tribulation Force, and deals with the antichrist's desecration of the Jewish Temple long ago foretold by Jesus and the Old and New Testament prophets. Can't wait to read the rest!