This is by far the best instalment yet of the apocalyptic drama Left Behind. Where recent instalments have been somewhat lacklustre, Assassins is fast-paced, constantly changing and contains substantial plot developments.Talking plot, the “due time” constantly referred to be Eli and Moishe and the Wailing Wall (christened the Jerusalem Twosome by Carpathia) finally arrives with serious consequences for the two witnesses, Peter the Second and Carpathia himself. The novel makes no secret about what all these characters have in common, even before it happens.In the Trib Force, there’s character arrivals and departures that are dealt with in a mature way. Leah Rose joins the team and has a bizarre clash with Rayford, showing it’s not all roses in Team Trib.Speaking of Rayford, his continuing journey reaches new levels as the exploration of his tortured mind and broken heart carries on. His persona and demeanour change rapidly, leading to friction within the group that is believable and powerful. The effect which the balance of the Tribulation will have on him will be interesting to see.The second woe is unleashed and the horses get a better outing than the darkness did in Apollyon but still seemed to be window dressing.The challenge for Jenkins & LaHaye is to keep fresh the torment that repeats itself and surprising the plot that is foretold in the Bible. They rise to it very well by injecting character-centric plots around the titular assassinations.Besides Rayford, who is the star of this instalment, Hattie and Chaim have good storylines. Once again, Carpathia is weak and second fiddle for much of the book to Leon, who gets much more airtime. The GC top brass remain inconsistent and verging on parody.As we race towards a thrilling cliff-hanger, it’s undeniable that Assassins has been the most exciting, gripping, fast-paced episode yet, and Part 7 looks no different.
This book made me truly made me think about salvation, and the aspects of human nature when chaos irrupts. Some of the characters in the book are rather annoying, such as Hattie Durham. I understand that while she wants to get revenge on the Anti-Christ she puts the people that she stays with in danger, by getting caught by the GC Peace Keeping Forces in order to Assassinate Nicolia Carpathia (Anti-Christ), her former lover, whose baby she was going to have until he had her poisoned, in which her unborn child died, since it took in the poison. I understand her anger, who wouldn't be angry at the person who did such a thing. Instead of being smart and having a plan she gets caught then some how later in the book isn't in the prison. While Hattie leaves, Rayford is going crazy, and is trying to find out where Hattie can be. She knows where are and can basically destroy there refuge, Rayford sets out to try to find her, but in midst of trying to her, the two who were helping him fly back and forth are executed in Israel. Well any ways he grieves, he is upset, he is irrational. It was a rather interesting book, but I was getting rather annoyed with Hatties and Rayfords selfishness. Instead of thinking about the people around them all they can think of is killing Carpathia. I would recommend to any anyone it doesn't matter whether you are religious not. It captures the readers imagination in a world where the Anti-Christ is actual and ruling the world. With the split between good and evil. How the prophecies in the bible come true, and how those who believe in Christ are persecuted to imprisoned or more likely be put to death.
Do You like book Assassins (2000)?
I think this is going to be the last Left Behind book for me. I usually have a hard time stopping a series once I've started, but the last two have been abysmal. The writing has not improved, the characters have gotten even more annoying and unlikeable, and to top it off it's become very boring and repetitive. I had a hard time even finishing this one, and actually skipped ahead to the last 30 pages when I was only around page 250. I just couldn't take it anymore! The ending was good, and ALMOST made me want to read the next one. But even the parts of these that have been good in the last few books are spaced between pages and pages of rehashed boredom. I think I'll just look up how this series finally ended and be done with it. These books were a good idea and fun while it lasted, but they tanked pretty quickly for me, unfortunately. What a shame.
—Alex
Book 6 of the Left Behind series is perhaps the best in the series thus far. In "Assassins" we find the various members of the Tribulation Force under attack & fighting for their lives in various parts of the world. We also witness the arrival of the 6th Trumpet Judgement of 200 million demonic horsemen who wipe out a third of the world's population in addition to Rayford Steele's intended quest to assassinate Carpathia. The story moves extremely quickly & keeps the events of the prior stories moving along at a rapid pace. Granted there is a 3 month gap in the timeline toward the end of the story, but it serves as a necessity rather than bore us with the details of the deaths of more than 1 billion people. LaHaye & Jenkins do an excellent job with the paranoia factor of the people who still don't believe & that of the Antichrist (Carpathia) himself who is still convinced that these events can be explained away. A very daring & interesting entry in this series that really hasn't missed a beat & is now at it's midpoint.
—Paul Lunger
I have never really cared for Rayford as a character; he very obviously considers himself better than others, and often makes snide comments to this effect, but he is in full on douchebag mode in this book. He is obsessed with getting the killing shot on Carpathia, to the point where he abandons his fellow believers to whatever fate and runs off on his own to be the big hero. Everyone in the "Trib Force, North America" comments on this and is aware of it, but they are all too chicken to call him out on the fact that he has been acting like a total jackass for the past two books. Leon is turning into an interesting character though. I honestly enjoy his Renfield level sycophantism, and I'm sure it's only going to amp up in the next book when good old Nick becomes Satan embodied. Why the hell was Rayford in such a hurry to kill this dude when he was only going to rise up again as some jerk possessed by Satan? I don't really understand, but I suppose that's because I'm a heathen (or a pagan, as they love to call them in the books) who is too stupid to grasp such lofty supernatural things.The book is normally best when it's laying on the action, but many of the action scenes were destroyed by the utterly stupid supernatural threat of 200 million invisible horseman with lion heads, or something like that. When you take the bible absolutely literally, you sometimes end up something that unintentionally hilarious; I'm sure it was meant to strike fear into people, but they've already done the horseman thing in the form of those little dudes with stingers and human faces. Also, they threw in another earthquake, though localized to Jerusalem. I guess the ancients ran out of ideas while writing those portions of revelations.
—Shannon
