Finished 1-30-11, rating 2/5, Christian fiction, 266 pages, pub. 2010

“If you think about it that way,” Brian said, “then the ones living in disobedience caused the babies to die.”

Jason felt a flush of pride in his heart for his son.  “That’s right, son.  Our national defense is not in our satellites or computers.  It is not in our military or planes or submarines.  It’s in God alone.  The rest of those things are merely tools.  I think that’s what that preacher was trying to say.”

“I don’t know if all Christians believe that way,” Valerie said, “but we rely on it.”

Julie sat back on the bench.  “You rely on the belief that God will find some way to protect those who are obedient to Him?”

Jason nodded.  “We were protected from the missile attack, and with this boat He will keep us protected for the rest of the mess that’s coming.”

Chapter 9

What would you do if instantly you did not have access to everything you needed for your day-to-day life?  No electricity, no water, no accessible money, no fuel, no food.  That’s what happens to Jason and 80% of the United States when a series of nuclear attacks takes out our electricity.  Things fall to chaos, but Jason and his family are lucky enough to have a boat and live in South Carolina close enough to the ocean that they gather supplies and almost immediately board the boat and take it out to the outer islands to weather the terrorist storm.

So, this is why I agreed to read the book.  I really liked the premise and the fact that the author had some relevant experience as a Navy man and one who had worked in the power distribution field.  His knowledge gave this story some weight in my view.  He’s in the know as far as what could happen, right?  And what could happen is scary.  I loved the first few chapters.  The first chapter was the best one and asks the question husband and I are still talking about.  What would we do with only the resources we have right now.  It’s a great question.

But as much as I loved the premise and first chapter the rest of the novel became less about the terrorist attacks and mostly a religious and political book.  If you like the tidbit I gave you above then you would enjoy this book.  But it was way too heavy-handed for me.  It was less a story than a way to express how some view the end times.  It was about halfway through that I really felt it completely falling apart for me as a story.  And by the end when liberals and atheists were linked together as to why this county had been attacked and why this was no longer a great country, well, I was more than ready for it to be over.

I think church groups would find a lot to discuss in this one. 

This book was generously sent to me by the author.