Audible Book Review: The Remnant (Left Behind #10) by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B Jenkins

I was surprised how I jumped right into the story.

The Remnant
(Left Behind #10)
by Tim LaHaye
Narrated by: Jack Sondericker
Series: Left Behind [Abridged], Book 10
Length: 3 hrs and 12 mins
Abridged Audiobook
Release date: 02-05-15
Publisher: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.
Genre: Christian, Inspirational, Religious Fiction
My Rating: 4.25 of 5.0 Overall; Story 4.25; Narration 4.25.

The Great Tribulation unfolds as the forces of evil and the armies of God prepare for mankind's ultimate battle. Millions of Christians are protected by God as the anger of the Antichrist, Nicolae Carpathia, burns against them.

Review:
The Remnant is the 10th book in the Left Behind series. The series begins with a handful of characters who are left behind when their loved ones disappear with many other Christians. That is when the star characters realize that the Godly messages they were told, but didn’t believe, were true. Many of them gather together establish the Tribulation Force to fight the coming lawlessness and rise of the antichrist.

The Remnant picks up right where the last book, Desecration, left off. The personable and powerful Antichrist, Carpathia, is gleefully about to eliminate the believers at Petra by dropping nuclear bombs on them. The Christian leaders, known as The Believers, are still involved in spreading the message of God’s salvation. They are prepared to die if that is what God has in store for them.

The antichrist team is unaware that there is a Christian spy in the New Babylon headquarters. This one man is able to coordinate aid to the believers who are spread around the world. His inside information may save the lives of many although even he can’t stop a bomb. But someone he knows can -- the supernatural hand of God.

It really has been years since I read the early books in the series. I was pleasantly surprised how quickly the characters and plot were brought back to my mind. I like the action that is a large part of the story. There were scene shifts, for example from Jordan to Chicago, which are only distinguished by the change in characters. I had to get used to recognizing those changes. This would be more difficult to follow for anyone not familiar with the series, but I would recommend this to those who have read the series.

Audio Notes: Jack Sondericker does a fine job with the narration. He provides distinct voices for the characters. This version was abridged and there were occasional moments in the presentation that seemed to jump from one scene to another which I suspect were portions of the longer story bypassed. That did not hurt the story for me. I was fine listening to the abridged audio.

Source: 2003 Audible. This qualifies for 2019TBR and 2019Audiobook goals.

Audible Book Review: This Present Darkness by Frank Peretti

This is a life-changing story of spiritual warfare.
This Present Darkness
Written by: Frank Peretti
Narrated by: Jack Sondericker

Length: 17 hrs and 25 mins
Unabridged Audiobook
Release Date:06-30-08
Publisher: Books in Motion
Genre: Religious, Inspirational, Suspense
My Rating: 4.25 of 5.0

Publisher's Summary
A small town newspaper editor and a local minister uncover a web of conspiracy while an unseen battle between the angels of good and evil takes place in the town of Ashton.
©1986 Frank Peretti; (P)2005 Books in Motion

Review:
Ashton is a small college community that is being overtaken by proponents of a belief in ‘Universal Consciousness’. This society group promotes meditation that allows people to open themselves to demons disguised as spirit guides. The town leaders including the mayor, the sheriff, a church pastor and college trustees, are all involved in corruption that pushes non-conforming people out of their jobs and out of town. But there are two new men in town, unknown to each other who are about to make a difference.

Marshall is a big city newsman who bought the local newspaper so he could semi-retire. He is still committed to quality news and it isn’t long before he begins to wonder what is going on when his attractive and effective reporter is arrested as a hooker. As they begin to investigate the ‘misunderstanding and mistaken identity’ they realize that they are getting different stories and there is a lot of tension in the town.

At another end of town, Henry Busche is the new Pastor of a small community church. He is insisting on following the Bible even in the face of forceful opposition by wealthy, powerful and influential members in the congregation.

Angels begin to gather in the town to give strength to Pastor Busche and his small but ardent congregation. Although the angels are gathering, they are not permitted to take action until certain events take place. Then they have to hope that their ranks, and the prayer coverage of the faithful, will be enough to defeat the demon hordes who have been planning to overtake the college and the town.

The author presents a clear picture of the battle of good and evil wrapped in a suspenseful story. Demons whisper in the ears of men until they work their way into control. On the other side are the faithful remnant who provide prayer support for the angels in the heavenly battle. I had never truly pictured spiritual warfare this clearly until I read this book in the 1980s. Reading this completely changed my prayer life. As I started listening to the story this time, I again felt the strength and powerful awe of the message. I know several of the ladies in the book club had trouble getting into the book but others felt the same excitement that I felt. I highly recommend this book, and the sequel, Piercing the Darkness, to anyone who has a desire to visualize spiritual warfare.

Audio Notes: The character voices are well done by Jack Sondericker. Sadly, the production sounded like it was inside a metal room with an echo. Although that was initially distracting, I pushed past it and still enjoyed the narration.

I have not read this since the late 1980s. We read this for our Ladies' Book Club. Our August meeting was postponed so we won’t be discussing this until September. I purchased this in 2012 so it qualifies for Mount TBR Challenge as well as my Audio Challenge.