Search - The Rising: Before They Were Left Behind (Left Behind)

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.

A little slower than the rest of the Left Behind series and not a lot of action, but very interesting to see how the Antichrist and young Ray Steele developed as youngsters.

A great pre-beginning of the Left Behind series. I just read this series and now want to re-read the Left Behind series again! Great book!

I loved this entire series!!

I am collecting all the books in the Left Behind series so I ordered this book. I have to say that I found it interesting and wanted to know how the story would unfold.
I caught myself thinking "Do people really fall for this stuff" after reading how the character Marilena Titi fell for the phonyness of Viviana Ivinisova. But I realize people can be vulnerable when they are like Marilena.
I wanted to shake Marilena when she heard the enemy speak to her and God speak to her in the same evening and chose to listen to the enemy instead of God because the enemy was going to give her what she thought she wanted. Supposedly the enemy put an unquenchable want for a child into her thoughts so she couldn't think straight. That is when her life got really bad. She was artificially inseminated and literally gave birth to the child from hell.
I was taken by surprise when I found out that her so-called husband was in on the whole deception plan with the enemy and Viviana Ivinisova.
The book kept jumping back and forth from Marilena's life to Rayford Steele's life starting from when he was a boy in school and ending when he was a man with a wife and children. Rayford's life was centered on making right choices even though you really would rather do something else, and helping others, and planning for your future. It tells how he struggles with life choices, like his dad wanting him to take over the family business but he doesn't wish to.
Roller coaster ride comes to mind when I think about how this book jumps back and forth between the characters lives. But I would recommend it to others because I think it was written well.