2007-09-08 Soon

Even though I'm not a Christian I got curious about the "Left Behind" series because of the concept. A series of novels about the end times could have been very interesting. Unfortunately, they were extremely slow paced and very preachy, and I gave up after 4 novels. I felt the whole series could have been a good trilogy, and so I got interested in this series instead. "Soon" is the first book in a trilogy, followed by "Silenced" and "Shadowed".

The lead character, aptly named Paul, is your average atheistic stock character. He's unfaithful to his wife, he's a cynic and despises all forms of religion (read: Christianity). While working as an agent exposing Christians, he comes to question his worldview.

The premise, of the entire world (which presently is very much influenced by religion) joining together to ban religion is utterly unbelievable, but it would have been easier to suspend disbelief and enjoy the story if the characters had not been so stereotypical. Paul's conversion to Christianity seems very sudden and not very believable. Once he becomes a believer, he turns from a cold-hearted killer into caring, compassionate man (no non-Christian could ever be that in Jenkins's world, I suppose). However Paul's and his Christian friends's compassion don't seem to include unbelievers, when they pray to god to "shut the mouths of the atheists".

The book starts out promising with an interesting prologue, but quickly slows down. Towards the ending it gets interesting, even suspenseful, for a while, but this doesn't last long.

Christianity and Paul's conversion is such a central part of the book (it includes long quotes from scripture, and at times gets quite preachy), it is not likely to appeal to many non-Christians. I wouldn't recommend it to general readers, but I could recommend it to Christians who like Jenkins's style or can overlook his trademark flaws (slow pace, clichéd characters, preachiness, etc). And those who think "Left Behind" became much too long may want to read this instead; you'll be able to finish it before the world comes to an end.

The pace got better toward the last half of the book, so maybe the sequels are better in this regard. However, "Soon" didn't make me interested enough to want to buy the sequels.