Soon by Jerry Jenkins

Jerry Jenkins is one of the co-authors of the Left Behind series, which I read many years ago and absolutely loved. I still have the entire series on one of my many book shelves. I have been meaning to read this trilogy (Soon, Silenced, Shadowed) for years. This story represents our country after World War III. Religion has been banned, the practicing of any religion punishable by death. The organization that is responsible for maintaining the "no religion" law and "keeping the peace" is called the NPO (National Peace Organization). Their stance is that historically, it's the opposing religious groups/beliefs around the world that causes war. So, no religion, no wars.

Paul Stepola is an agent for NPO. His father-in-law, Ranold, is also a well-respected leader in NPO. Paul is pretty much a jerk and the first 100 pages was a hard read for me since I didn't like Paul at all! He treats his wife, Jae, horribly, always thinking of other women and he had already cheated on her with at least one other woman. He is assigned to seek out underground religious groups and pretty much kill the people involved. Again, he was a difficult man to like, so it was a difficult read initially. Then he gets injured and ends up blind. So after that he is even more or a jerk and I dislike him intensely by this point.

I knew that things would turn around eventually, but the waiting was painful! Paul is befriended by a man called Straight, who unbeknownst to Paul, is a believer. Straight is patient and bides his time with Paul. It takes a miracle (regaining his sight) for Paul to start seeing the obvious signs of the pending rapture. Then I started enjoying the book more. As Paul starts his reformation, with the help of Straight and others, he is asked to be a double-agent in the NPO. This is highly dangerous for himself and his family, but he agrees to do it. Unfortunately good people continue to be discovered and killed, despite Paul's efforts. Then Jae joins Paul on his assignment in Los Angeles. They are both nicer to each other, but both are suspicious of each other's motives. Paul is being closely watched by Ranold, so he doesn't know if Jae is helping her father keep an eye on him or if she is legitimately trying to save their marriage.

A traumatic event in Los Angeles (caused by God) signals the end of this book. On to Book #2, Silenced.

Wendy's Rating: ****