The Mark: The Beast Rules the World (Left Behind #8)

Product Description

2001 Christy Award finalist!
The international fiction series phenomenon continues. Jerry B. Jenkins and Tim LaHaye pick up the exciting end-times saga where
The Indwelling left off. The evil world leader Nicolae Carpathia officially takes his place as the Antichrist and begins his three-and-a-half year reign of terror over the earth. Technology provides the means to place the mark of the beast on every human, and the Trib Force scrambles to survive.

Amazon.com Review

It’s the dawn of the Great Tribulation, “the bloodiest season in the history of the world.” After lying in state for three days, Nicolae Carpathia has risen from the dead. As the world responds in awe, statues of the potentate and “god” are erected in every major city, and a new religion, “Carpathianism,” is in full swing. Followers of the antichrist are branded with a loyalty mark on their right hands or their foreheads, and “vaccinated” with a biochip embedded with personal information. Those who refuse the mark take a one-way trip to the guillotine. The second coming of Christ is only three-and-one-half years away. But can the Tribulation Force hang on?
“The God who calls you to the ultimate sacrifice will also give you the power to endure it. No one can receive the mark of the beast by accident. It is a once-and-for-all decision that will forever condemn you to eternity without God,” writes Tsion Ben-Judah in his daily newsletter with its cyberaudience of more than a billion. Heavenly power may be the only hope for the Tribulation Force, as it struggles to survive amidst new terrors, the death of more loved ones, and some unexpected twists in its plans.
The Mark: The Beast Rules the World is the eighth installment in the blockbuster Left Behind series. Rich in dialogue, this action-packed thriller delivers the same consistent mix of apocalyptic mayhem and quirky humor readers have come to expect from the pen of Jerry Jenkins and the prophetic interpretations of Tim LaHaye. –Cindy Crosby

From Publishers Weekly

In this eighth installment of the bestselling Left Behind series, Satan has taken full possession of Antichrist Nicolae Carpathia, who demands that all Global Community citizens bow to him in worship and take his mark on their foreheads or right hands. This spells trouble for the members of the Tribulation Force, who have pledged their unswerving allegiance to Christ. Without the mark of the beast, they face torturous persecution and death; several of their associates have become martyrs. Hiding in a bombed-out (but still posh and technologically enviable) Chicago office building, they depend upon a network of other Christians for food and supplies. The believers’ public enemy status doesn’t prevent the swashbuckling men among them from performing their usual task of rescuing helpless female believers. Armed only with phony IDs and Bond-like cell phones, they whisk around the world preaching how the Book of Revelation predicted every calamity that has befallen the planet. There are some worthwhile moments here, but the authors” lazy exposition leads to scenes that don’t ring true. When a Christian woman is killed by a supernatural lightning bolt and her fianc mourns that “no lightning bolt… could extinguish a love so pure,” the sentiment falls flat; their love story has only been told, never shown, and the doomed woman”s character remains undeveloped. Fans who have thrilled to the series’ repeated car chases, airplane runway escapes and glitzy technology will find more of the same. Others will earnestly pray for the hastening of the Glorious Appearing, which will bring the series to a close. (Nov. 14) Forecast: Tyndale’s phenomenal success with The Indwelling, which debuted at the #1 spot on PW’s hardcover fiction bestseller list on June 5, likely will be repeated with The Mark, although sales for the former benefited from a “whodunit” mystery that has no parallel in the new novel. Tyndale has planned a 2.5 million firs