Now, first let me say, I loved Angelwalk, Fallen Angel and Steadfast. I even loved Darien, Guardian Angel of Jesus. I own the whole Angelwalk series and was delighed when I stumbled upon this book.

However, when I actually read "Where Angels Dare", I was left thinking, 'What is this?!' It's definitly NOT an Angelwalk book. Oh sure, Darien is in it and so is Steadfast, but it isn't even really a story. There's no plot to speak of. It's really just two angels who go down to earth and see all of the evil, horrible, vile things gambling does. This might make a good article, but makes for a boring story!

Plus, I personally feel even his arguement goes too far. He not only attacks those who gamble immorally and illegally, but also makes statments such as even the concenpt of gambling came straight from the pit of hell, all gambling income goes straight into the Mafia's pockets, and people cannot even live in cities like Los Vegas or Atlantic City without becoming corrupted.

I really loved a lot of Elwood's works, but this one is not worth even reading. It simply ruins a fine series with a poor excuse for a story. Elwood should stick with what he is good at, or write straightforward articles in Christian magazine about his personal feelings.

I love the Angelwalk books, but this one was not as good as the others. I was expecting to be left soul searching after reading this book like I was after the other books in this series, but I wasn't. The author makes several good points, but he didn't write them as good as he did in the other books.

I actually hesitate to criticize this book since I wish more writers would do as Elwood has done: refused to contribute to the degrading of our civilization in the name of realism, and therefore kept the language and plot clean. However, the poor character development of this story makes it disappointing. The plot has potential, though it, too, is weakly worked out.

Maybe the action of the story will keep young readers interested, but adults will probably want something with more substance.

I bought this book because there was nothing else to read at the time, and its sad to say that reading nothing would have been better. I am a huge fan of the Angelwalk series, but in this book Elwood is reaching. It is around 100 pages and is not entertaining at all. It is simply about a powerful diplomat who might be the Antichrist, and about a man trying to find out if he is. The end is rather surprising, but hardly worth the effort getting there.

(This review refers to the Audio version of this book). A crisp clear rendition of the book with good special effects, BUT a boring boring boring story. I made it all the way through (90 minutes), but almost not worth listening to. Also, way too short for the purchase price. Your money is better spent elsewhere.

I have enjoyed Elwood's past novels (Angelwalk, Darien) but I found "Without the Dawn" to be very confusing. For example, the book is primarily supposed to be about the discovery of a plot to destroy the world with a secret biological weapon. Yet throughout, there is an element of unreality that makes the story and characters seem almost surreal. Although the story takes place in modern times, the characters and their surrounding make you think you are reading a book about medival England. Simultaneouly, the author addresses the evils of the INTERNET but this, too, does not seem to pertain to the main plot. In the end, the book deals more with "whales" than anything else. I just don't believe this book was written as well as what I have come to expect from Roger Elwood, an author I deeply admire and respect.

I've never read Elwood before, and I probably never will again; this book left a less than pleasant taste in my mouth. The story is set in 1994, but the characters talk with a verbose, Old English speech pattern; thus, everybody seems to talk the exact same way. The all but absurd style of dialog really puts a damper on character development. Then again, there isn't much development here to dampen. Book One wasn't available to me, so I had to grasp a little with the plot in reading this one, but I could have dealt with that just fine if I would have gotten to know some people along the way. At first I figured that the absence of character depth was because they were all developed in Book One, and that was my loss . . . but by the end, I was seriously doubting that any of these characters were ever given more than names. The hero is witty, intelligent, determined to save the day, and respected by everyone else (including the very sick villain) . . . overall, the epitome of "good guy." But there's not much more to him than that. And the bad guy is . . . *really* bad. Somebody reviewed a different book in the series and said they found these in the children's section? These are NOT children's books! There are several very ADULT innuendo's (or just statements), and the villain is not just a power-hungry murderer--he's a whole lot more. But all in all, even if the sexual appetite(s) of the villain hadn't ruined the book . . . How can you create a cliffhanger if nobody cares about the hero? And how can you care about a hero you don't really know? Fortunately, I only paid a dime for this book! I also bought Three and Four (also for a dime apiece), but I won't be reading them. I simply can't make myself care.

Although I have enjoyed books by Roger Elwood in the past, I found this one to be confusing in both style and storyline. The characters talk and behave as if they lived in medival Europe. There are even knights on horses; yet, this story takes place in modern times and supposedly deals with biological warfare. A biological threat is the crux of the story but Elwood weaves subplots throughout the novel revealing very little about the main idea. Because of the clashing styles and the scant attention given to the main plot, this book has a sense of "unreality" that makes it hard for the reader to enjoy or understand the story.

This book basically attempts to warn us about the evils of gambling thru the eyes of two angels. It is a dull book. I cannot believe that the same man who wrote Angelwalk (a fine piece of literature) wrote this uninspiring novel. I agree with Mr. Elwood's position on gambling, however, it would have been better suited as a nonfiction book. A disappointing read!!

In Roger Elwood's final book in this 6 part series he attempts to tie together all the various plot lines in the past 5 books. Unfortunately, this book as the others falls short in literally every aspect. Elwood continues to place characters from the middle ages into the 1990s. What do I mean? The characters talk and react as if they are in King Arthurs court. This is confusing when you realize that the book is primarily about the evils of biological warfare and the internet. Why are there knights on horses fighting with longbows and swords at the end of the second millenium? Equally frustrating is the scant attention to detail. Europe has been decimated by a genetically engineered plague. Yet, we are given no details as to how this occurred and only the vaguest of descriptions of government(s) response. This is a confusing, frustrating, and very unsatisfying book and series. Unreal, one dimensional characters and plotlines, and poor theological treatises on evil make this an amateurish book to be avoided. I have enjoyed Roger Elwood's books in the past. But this is probably one of the worst books I have ever read by him (or any other author). I hope his next book will be a vast improvement.