Customer Reviews

Soon (Underground Zealot Series #1)

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

I had never heard of Jerry Jenkins until I started reading the Left Behind series. I was skeptical about this book, mostly because the flaws of Left Behind are in that it isn't extremely well written (powerful and compelling, but not exceptionally well written). I wasn't sure I wanted to read another religious End Times type story, especially from the same guy. Parts of the premise started sounding more interesting, and I finally decided to give it a shot. The style is very similar, it is a fast paced novel and rather simplistic at times, but a lot of fun to read.

It is 36 years after World War III (which happened in 2009). The war was a religious war and the end result was that there is a worldwide ban on religion. This would ensure that there would be no more conflict as most of the world's conflicts had to do with religion. Now, 36 years later, whatever religion that exists has gone underground. Religion and all aspects of it are illegal, and it is hated, feared and denounced by most of the world's population (think a Big Brother sort of indoctrination against religion).

Paul Stepola is an agent for the National Peacekeeping Organization. He is rabidly anti-religious, though he is a religion scholar (know thy enemy). His role is to kill (persecute) believers. There are reports of Christian groups popping up all over the country and it is his job to track them down and shut them down, with force. Paul begins the novel as rabidly anti-religious as you can be, but over the course of the book he softens and his journey mirrors that of Paul the Apostle (in the Bible, see the book Acts of the Apostles).

There are some very interesting concepts in this book, specifically the vision of the future where religion is outlawed. We know from the beginning that this book will have a Christian tint to it and will naturally support a Christian worldview, but this is also just an interesting book to read. I mentioned earlier that it was a fast moving book, and it is. This is the kind of book that I just fly through. Like the Left Behind novels, the writing is simplistic (not necessarily a bad thing) and this time there weren't any names that felt amateurish and grating like Buck Williams did. I didn't expect to enjoy this novel, but I did. It is the first book of a proposed trilogy, and considering how fast Jerry Jenkins writes, you won't have to wait long for book 2 to come out. If you like religious fiction, give this one a try.

Fans of the Left Behind series (which will conclude with the final book, GLORIOUS APPEARING in March 2004) have wondered what's next for the co-authors. For Jerry Jenkins the road has led to a new trilogy, which begins with SOON.

SOON is a futuristic thriller. The prologue, which starts with some hard-edged powerful writing, is more in-your-face chilling than anything in the Left Behind series. It's edgy and graphic. It is the reader's opening clue that Jenkins is pushing the envelope further with this new series.

The story is set in 36 P3. What is that, you ask? World War III ended in the Fall of 2009, and with it the world as we know it has changed. The religious war has eliminated entire countries and redefined the world, and a tsunami caused by exploding nuclear warheads has obliterated most of Asia, Hawaii and Southern California.

The war's result: the world ends up committed more than ever to peace. How can this be achieved? By banning religion and enforcing a law where anyone caught practicing their faith is punished with death.

The United States is now divided into the United Seven States of America, and its National Peace Organization seeks out religious terrorists in the goal of maintaining peace. This story takes place in the 36th year after the war's end, post-Word War III, or P36.

By the time readers have gone through the opening chapters, Jenkins has laid out a huge concept. Thinking about the wars over the centuries where man has fought over religious turf and religious beliefs, readers will take pause at the concept of life without religious conflict. Jenkins is at his best when he lays out an idea like this. He plays with it from a number of angles, and by the time he is done, readers have moved into this new world to hear the story.

Paul Stepola is a zealous agent in the National Peace Organization. He takes his role as an enforcer seriously, and travels around the country killing believers on sight. Along the way he starts to see some startling new trends as there are some unexplained supernatural events, which defy meaning. The NPO labels them as conspiracies, but Stepola starts to see them as signs of something else --- a force that is greater than man, but illegal.

After he has a miraculous healing of his own after a blinding accident, he recognizes that religion is a force that should not be denied. He begins to work with religious zealots to spread the word of God while embracing the concept that the rapture will be coming "soon." Thus there is an urgency to get religious information into the hands of those who are not yet committed, as only believers will be assumed into heaven.

While I appreciated the concepts outlined in SOON, there are times where I felt the writing hastened the story along way too quickly. There needed to be more tension between Stepola seeing a concept and embracing it. All too often the reader sees the challenge and the setup, and the resolution within a few paragraphs instead of exploring it with more tension, or questioning.

Also, whenever I read Jenkins' writing I harken back to my college English professor who once told me after hearing the dialogue in one of my stories --- "people do not talk like that." He was right. The words I used were herky and jerky, and not as smooth as the natural cadence in people's phrasing. I always think of this reading Jenkins. His dialogue should be punched up, as well as descriptions of body language and personality. It's all black and white, and the characters plod more than glide. The awkwardness of the writing becomes more apparent when so much energy has been put into the set up and the plot.

That said, when I read the last page, I was wondering what happens next. The futuristic angle had drawn me into the overarching premise, and after years of listening to the nightly news filled with stories fraught with religious conflict, the concept of life without religious tension definitely gets a reader thinking Those who enjoy wondering what if, those who want to know how others have had their faith tested and emerged stronger, and those who enjoy futuristic theories will be interested in SOON.

--- Reviewed by Carol Fitzgerald

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. However Paul's and his Christian friends' compassion don't seem to include unbelievers, when they pray for 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.

This is a more than acceptable follow up to the Left Behind series, taking the reader in a different and fascinating direction. In this compelling story, Jenkins answers the question, "What if all religion was outlawed completely? Would the world be better off for it?" The answer is, of course, a resounding "no." Protagonist Paul Stepola's life mirrors that of Paul the Apostle ("Stepola" is a scrambling of the word apostle) in a series of compelling circumstances that includes the literal stoning of a man named Stephen and a bout of temporary blindness. The book is a thrill ride from beginning to end, with the reader always wondering when the other shoe will drop and Paul's double agent status will be discovered. The only criticism I had was that Stepola's conversion experience seemed a little flat when compared to the Biblical Paul's, though it could be argued that it's more typical of what happens to most people who come to Christ. All in all, a worthwhile, interesting read.

Jenkins produces a fast-paced tale that avoids some of the scatteredness of the Left Behind books. He focuses on one man...a religion scholar in a world that has banned religion. The near future world of SOON has survived a devestating war that was, indeed, spurred on by religious animosities. The surviving governments decided to ban religious practice in order to squelch these violent impulses.

The Paul character has so many intentional parallels to the New Testament Apostle Paul--being struck with blindness on his journey to persecute Christians, then embracing the truth of the Christians. There are also parallels to John's letters to the seven churches, found in Revelation 2-3. Jenkins clearly had fun infusing so many characters and types from Scripture.

The major weakness is the lack of character development. Yes, we know, in a generic sense, what people are feeling--but we do not engage Jenkin's characters on an emotional level. Paul's conversion is the perfect example. He resisted, resisted, could not possible believe, and then, over the course of a few days came to see Christianity as truth. Within a very few weeks, he was an inside leader in the movement. Surely such dramatic changes would bring powerful emotions and struggles--but we really do not sense much of it. The changes just happen.

Bottom-line: This is a solid apoclyptic novel--fun for Christians who remember their Bible stories, and engaging enough for anyone. Action drives the plot. If you love to identify with characters and get into their heads, this may not be your first choice.

World War III, brought about by opposing-religious factions, left the global population vastly depleted. Mankind pulled back from the brink of the abyss when a tsunami caused by the detonation of two nuclear warheads destroyed much of Asia, Hawaii, and Southern California. Religion was internationally banned and people were forbidden to practice or preach their faith upon the penalty of death.

The United Seven States of America creates the National Peace Organization to weed out religious terrorists leading to three decades of Pax. NPO Agent Paul Stepola wants all people who practice religion killed and volunteers for the Zealot Underground task force when it becomes apparent that there is a large outbreak of Christian activity surfacing. Paul sees things that he believes are the work of terrorists but which the Christians believe are God's miracles. An incident occurs that makes a believer out of him. Now he is the highest placed mole in NPO diligently working to help his fellow believers while appearing to obey the orders of NPO, but one mistake will get him killed.

Jerry Jenkins delivers a stirring and exciting novel about a world afraid of war yet surprisingly the consequences are not what one would expect. Instead the secular survivors in power ban religion of any kind while the true believers, expecting the Rapture to be coming soon, fight to be heard despite the threat of death. The hero goes from one extreme to another but it is believable and readers will take him into their hearts because he honestly believes and is willing to act on that belief. SOON is a must read for anyone who follows the Left Behind series or for those readers who love futuristic thrillers.

Harriet Klausner

America after World War III is a vastly different place. It is divided into 7 large States, technology has significantly advanced, and no one is permitted to practice organized religion. As with any activity that is banned, there is always an underground movement afoot. This is where we find Paul Diapola, the main character in this novel. He finds himself torn between the only way of life he has ever known and the temptations of the New Testament.

This book has the same fast paced page-turning story telling of the books in the Left Behind series, however it was a bit strange getting adjusted to the state of America and the world at first because it is so vastly different from what is described in the early stages of the Left Behind books, especially given that the premise is that this series of events leads up to the End of Times and the Rapture where Left Behind begins. However fans of Jerry Jenkins and his entertaining writing will not be disappointed.

This book is not likely to win any awards for superior literature, but the story telling does not disappoint and this book is overall a very entertaining read.

When I first read the review for this in Publisher's Weekly, I immediately thought, "What an interesting premise for a end-times book." Jerry Jenkins actually does deliver on his promise. This novel is quite riveting at times and you do tend to forget that you are reading Christian fiction. I really enjoy Jenkins' books for the simple fact that he doesn't tend to be as preachy as his counterpart, Tim LaHaye. I really appreciate that. Granted, Jenkins does present scriptures and Christian theology into the story, but they are only laid out by the author, and Jenkins recognizes that his readers are smart enough to carry them forward to more study if necessary. I really appreciate that! There is nothing worse than a preachy book!

I thought the premise of church-state being truly and totally separated to the point of persecution by the State if religion is even practiced was a very interesting one. Jenkins uses this premise to basically make statements about how our government is acting towards Arabs and others today. It's quite unsettling. Another good use of the non-religious premise is Jenkins' ability to show us just how much religion does effect our lives...even in small, subtle ways. Granted, Jenkins could have come up with some better names for renamed religious holidays, but still, the idea gets across.

Overall, Jenkins does a good job with introducing us to a good apocolyptic thriller that could easy fill the void that will be present when the Left Behind series wraps up next March. I just hope this series doesn't get cancelled like the Omega Trilogy by Gilbert Morris once it hits the final book! Grr. Otherwise, enjoy this one...it's action packed and thought provoking.

If you are ready for the Left Behind series to be over, don't pick up this book!! I did not know it was another series until I got to the last page. I was hacked! I didn't particularly enjoy the book at first, but I have to finish once I start. It starts out quick, a bit violent, then slows way down. It's got a lot of cliches and too obvious parallels to Revelations. The main character is Paul, he persecutes Christians, he goes blind and has a conversion experience. Hmm, sounds like Saul becoming Paul almost verbatim. There are a ton of those uncreative similarites! Jenkins has written just about every scenario for a lost soul converting to Christ in his other series so there's not much new here in that arena. They already did Left Behind, why write more about the same thing with a different host of characters? The futuristic devices are not all that creative. I wish he'd spend his time finishing the series he already has going instead of starting another one. It's about the money not the message at this point, in my opinion. IF you've read all the Left Behind books you can skip this trilogy. If you have NOT read the LB books and feel there are too many to even bother, you might like this new series. I enjoyed some of Jenkins' other novels, but this set is just too much like what he's already written.

Jerry Jenkins writing style is fast paced. I finished this book in a day. I didn't particularly care for it though. If there had been some sort of resolution to this book, I might have given it another star or two. It really irks me that I picked up this book and it ended between chapters. There is no resolution at all. I can understand some sort of cliff hanger, but this is ridiculous. It felt like the author chopped off the back part of the book.

I have no interest in starting another series. If I realized this was a series I wouldn't have picked it up. I thought the premise was pretty good, but when I got into the story it felt too similar to Left Behind. Been there, done that, not gonna read it again.