Search - Apollyon: The Destroyer Is Unleashed (Left Behind, No 5)

I found Apollyon to be a plodding, slow rehash of earlier works... At least the first 3/4's were. Lessee Ben Judah preaches, Rayford acts holier-than-thou, various non-essential characters are killed, Chloe speed-dials buck, and Buck does his Indiana Jones routine. The Trib force stops and tries to convert every Tom, Dick, and Hattie they meet and have instant gratification by seeing the 'sign' appear on their newly converted forheads. Bingo! You've just won a believer!

There were some seriously annoying plot points in this book. Chloe/Buck decide to have a baby? What reasoning thinking couple would have a baby in the endtimes? I vote them off the island. Second, they go off to Israel to listen to Ben Judah and abandon Hattie poisoned and dying....? Huh? They can hear Ben Judah speak anytime. This seemed cold and callous to me. Rayford lectures doctor Lloyd on 'not having a relationship with Hattie.' Um, excuse me Ray...But do you remember book 1? Ray is such a hypocrite. In fact, the entire Trib's forceful attempts to convert Hattie at the end of the last book and the beginning of this one made me ill. Let the woman make her own decision, shall we? Let her worry about her own soul. Badgering and pestering her is not only annoying, but likely to produce the opposite result.

I was disappointed in the ending.

Whether or not you believe in the Bible, Left Behind does make for an interesting tale of comfort through crisis (especially post 9/11), conspiracy, a father's relationship to his daughter, and how a newsman deals with removing his feelings to get to a story. The best way to read this series is as a fictional novel in which extraordinary events have happened, people will start to believe in religion. Details are taken out of the Book of Revelation and fiction is added to make it an enjoyable read. I enjoyed the book and the and the rest of the series intense action and feeling which makes them page turners.

Did someone say "Apocalypse Now"? Get ready for Apollyon: The Destroyer Is Unleashed, Book Five in the millennial drama of "those left behind" at the Rapture! Since the fall of 1995, the first four books in what is now planned as a 12-book series -- Left Behind, Tribulation Force, Nicolae, and Soul Harvest -- have become the fastest-selling works of Christian fiction ever, with millions of copies now in print. Now, in Apollyon, the last of the true believers are converging on Jerusalem for a showdown with Antichrist Nicolae Carpathia, while Apollyon, the chief demon of the abyss, unleashes the greatest plague yet upon a world racked by the Tribulation.

The entire Left Behind series has been captivating and informative to me. It is the easiest way I know to become familiar with the scriptures regarding the End Times, and enjoyable too. Apollyon The Destroyer Is Unleashed is just one of the thirteen book series that kept me on the edge of my seat. Don't read if you want to relax just before going to sleep.

Very good fiction, hard to put this book down and ready to continue on with the series.

Excellent Series. Read them in order.