"Thunder of Heaven" Review

Thunder of Heaven by Tim LaHaye and Craig Parshall was sent to me by Zondervan Publishing as an advanced review copy. It is the second book in “The End” series by these authors and picks up shortly after the first book (Edge of Apocalypse) ended.  Joshua Jordan and the Roundtable are still the main focus of the story.  The U.S. government is still unhappy with Jordan and out to get him.  He in turn is trying to help Israel, America’s longtime friend, set up their own version of the RTS missile defense system.  Additionally, the group of people trying to control the new global community is continuing to flex their muscles and move the chess pieces around on the enormous chessboard set before them.

A new wrinkle has developed in this book.  Global warming has become a major problem and a rallying point for the world to come together to create a new world religion.  Humanity creeps closer to the second coming of Christ as more and more biblical prophecies are coming true.

Meanwhile, Joshua Jordan has to deal with old enemies coming after him, and he continues to try to come to terms with his own faith.  His friends and family are pushed to the limit as they and the nation they love are put into danger.

This book was good, but I think I enjoyed the first one (Edge of Apocalypse) better. Perhaps it was the fact that this was the second in the series, so it wasn’t as new and fresh.  The story was still good, but it didn’t hold my attention as well as the first one. 

As a fan of Christian writing, it is fun to read about looking toward the second coming of Christ. However, I usually like for my novels to have the “good guys” win, and it doesn’t seem as if that is going to happen in this series (at least not until the very end when the good guys really win). It was kind of hard emotionally for me to read about the downfall of America as a nation.

Also, the authors tend to criticize the current political leaders and their policies by name in this novel.  I understand the desire to warn about possible problems current policies might lead to, but that is a fine line to walk and something I would rather not read in a fiction novel. I would have preferred for the authors to use fictional names for political leaders in order to maintain respect for our current leadership, regardless of their political beliefs.

Like the first book in the series, this one was very fun and scary to read at the same time.  I enjoyed the story very much, but I tremble at the implications of how easy it might be to get caught up in the pitfalls in which the characters find themselves.

My husband read this book, too, so he helped me with the review.

We will give Thunder of Heaven … 3 ½ BookWorms.

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received this book free from Zondervan Publishers as a review copy. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this is accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255:  “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”