Customer Reviews

The Son of Shinar (The Time of Jacob's Trouble)

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This started as an intriguing book. It is written clearly and with an excellent use of English, punctuation errors and typos are rare. My first reaction to it, though, was "this is as dry as dust and it's going to be a dull read."
I was wrong in part. There is so much here, crammed into a single book that it is difficult to take in in a single reading. I would have preferred a more "show don't tell" approach - the exhortation to all writers. This, despite closely following several characters, had the feel of a newspaper report rather than a novel. Perhaps this was Chris Hambleton's aim, I don't know.
The first third was interesting, marrying well conceived world events with prophesies from the Bible and showing how these events would come about. I have no problems here, bending history a little is a valid part of story-telling, I think.
The second third became a little hurried, so that world events occurred without clear-cut connections between them. Although the characters were shown to be making decisions, their actions seemed dictated by the author rather than by what was in their minds.
The final third passed in such a mad rush with, it seemed, the only goal being to enact the terrible events prophesied in the most superficial way. This last part seemed too unreal to take the reader with it. In fact, the only thing to come out of it was the sheer capricious selfishness of the supernatural entities involved - on both sides of the divide between "good" and "evil". The prophesies were made by an individual living in a seaside cave on a Greek island, drinking salt water and eating fungi and lichen when his suppliers failed to show. Such a one is hardly going to worry about the moon nonsensically whizzing across the heavens or any of the other phenomena he imagined without reason but the author should. Chris Hambleton really needsto look for more valid rhyme or reason for his signs and portents.
I became more and more disappointed as I realized that this book was simply propaganda for Hambleton's own view of history and the future. A realization confirmed when I belatedly checked his web site and saw the well-known oxymoron: Creation Science.

In The Son of Shinar, Hambleton picks up the story where he left off in The Last Aliyah and takes the reader on a fast-paced ride that does not disappoint. While many sequels are less fulfilling, that can certainly not be said of The Son of Shinar. The book opens with all the children and believers in Yeshua having vanished from Earth leaving the rest of mankind to ponder where they went and why. The Guardians have given their explanation and laid the groundwork for the coming time of trouble and the rise of the anti-Christ. Hambleton does an excellent job of translating the various prophetic images of the end times into a captivating story that keeps the reader on the edge of his seat waiting to see what the next page brings. Hambleton is an excellent student of eschatology and prophecy and has a talent for translating this knowledge into a tale that is both riveting and easy to read. His wonderfully crafted characters bring the whole thing to life. Once again, the reader is left anxious to read the next installment. An excellent book and series.

Chris Hambleton has done it again! He has written another book that depicts what will probably happen in the end times. To know that those who are saved will be removed from the earth before all of this happens is a great comfort, but it is still sad for those who will be left behind. Mr. Hambleton does an outstanding job chronicling the events leading up to and through the first three and a half years of the tribulation. The graphic details of the plagues brought upon the earth help the reader understand the importance of the simple things in life, like the wind. This book is articulate, accurate and impossible to put down.

Son of Shinar

Chris Hambleton has produced another cliff-hanger with Son of Shinar. I enjoy learning from Chris's knowledge of eschatology (the Biblical study of the end-times) and in this book he picks up right where he left off in The Last Aliyah.
The Middle East is in the news again, as Israel struggles to recover from the disappearances of all its children and a few adults, and the recent revelation that alien beings called "the Guardians" are the source of all protection and guidance for mankind, helping us humans to evolve to the next level. Her neighbors are plotting against her again, as they have for thousands of years.

The Guardians now introduce a man who many believe to be the Jewish Messiah, the Islamic Twelfth Imam and the hope of many other ancient religions: David Medine is the son of an Assyrian father and a Jewish mother, and it appears that he is the long-awaited Chosen One. At first Medine appears to be the answer to the prayers of billions, legislating peace and harmony among all the earth. However, shortly after he signs a seven-year pact with Israel and gives the Jews the go-ahead to build their long-desired Third Temple, the world starts to devolve into chaos. Those who have converted to Christianity believe that with the recent Rapture (their name for the disappearances of many adults and older children worldwide who were followers of Jesus Christ, along with all younger children,) the Holy Spirit has also left the earth. The Spirit, sometimes called the Restrainer, was the One who kept war, murder and all other such conduct under some control; without Him, there is no safety at all from evil.

The story primarily follows one Israeli family, the Rosenbergs, as they face the trials and tribulations that occur exactly as the Books of Daniel and Revelation prophesied many centuries ago. Ruth Rosenberg, the only daughter in the family, had converted to Christianity and disappeared during the Rapture, right in the middle of a phone call with her mother. As The Son of Shinar unfolds, we find Ruth's brother Shai going to search for her and eventually becoming a Christian himself. He is then supernaturally called to be one of the 144,000 Witnesses from the Twelve Tribes of Israel (straight from Revelation!) and his mother Naomi becomes a believer too, as events continue to unfold as predicted in the Bible. The Great Tribulation is still to come - and I look forward to the finale, in the third book in this series.

An inspiring author has written a thrilling series of stories about the "end of times" titled "The Time of Jacob's Trouble Trilogy." He has produced two books and a third one is in the works.

The Son of the Shinar is part two of an exceptional continuing story of the "end of times."

The author has a website that displays the first two books of this amazing series. [...] The overview from this second book of The Times of Jacob's Trouble Trilogy; The Son of the Shinar from the author "The Guardians have come, promising to usher in a new era of peace and prosperity for all the earth. But soon after their arrival, the Great Vanishing occurs, removing all the children and millions of people from the planet. And now, rumors of a great leader and healer have begun sweeping through Baghdad. Has the Twelfth Imam returned? Could he be the long-awaited Jewish Messiah?

It is very thought provoking and on target of what it could be like if the truth of the Holy Bible comes true. The characters are magnificent in their adventures and exploration of seeking the spiritual truth between what they believe is the right decision. They faced their fears and doubts head on as they struggled with their conscious to decide their earthly or spiritual fate.


In the author's words" But something inside was still making him hesitate from going down the path that she had chosen. Part of it was the fear of losing his friends and family if he converted to Christianity, but a bigger fear was that what if he was wrong and everyone else was right? What if he somehow couldn't see what everyone else clearly could? Whereas he had once felt fairly certain about his own future, now everything was being turned upside down.


This story explores all contents of the Holy Book and is written in a very illuminating and entertaining fictional story. It takes the reader on a spiritual journey themselves; to decide if their fate is really free will or is there a higher being who is compassionate and wants to proclaim the message; time is running out and you need to decide which door to open, eternal bliss or eternal damnation. If one is seeking the truth this series of stories by Chris Hambleton is the portal to enter, the path to explore by taking time to relish in this author's wisdom. Is it factual or an illusion while having fun reading inspiring tales of the "end times". The conflict is stimulating to the reader's mind, as it describes the theories of the various faiths and how they think the end will occur.

The descriptive details of the hidden meaning of the false Messiah and aliens could be the factor to watch out for, not to believe in false promises and beliefs, to trust instinct and not let anyone sway you from your spiritual destiny. If you are having inner conflict about which path to choose in these chaotic times, start with this author's books, as he introduces the reader to the world of "what if" possibilities. And what could occur at what day or hour no one knows for certain.