BAND OF BELIEVERS BY JAMIE LEE GREY This end times / dystopian Christian Fiction puts a group of teens out in the woods to survive the elements and evade capture and the mark of the beast.
FICTION STORY
Willow gets wind of a plot to push the mark of the beast and her faith jumps into action. Just a teenager, Willow leads a small group of her peers, a women with a small child, and a couple of goats and chickens in to the forests around their small Montana town.
The chase is on. They must evade capture from a search team with the advantage of technology. Drones. Other dangers come from their struggle to survive the elements, which includes a volcanic eruption; a bear attack; various injuries, and a lack of food.
What I liked: The Increasing tension.
The story did well to pile on tension. But the catalyst, of course, was the over arching tension that capture would mean either the mark of the beast, or death. That threat nipped at their heels, even as an injury slowed them down. When their food supply was exhausted, they struggled to find food due to a near by volcanic explosion that snowed ash on them. The heightening tension finally gave way at the end to a hopeful foresight (leading into book two of the trilogy.)
What I did not like: Lost in the woods.
The story I mean. Even though the steaks continually rose, the progression of the story-line wandered around the woods not knowing where to go. As a result there was no real conclusion, instead, just a smooth leading in to book two. In other words, this book does not stand on its own.
I was somewhat surprised as I tapped to the next kindle page and found out that it was suddenly over. My reflex response is to let the lack of conflict resolution go, especially in light of the fact that it is the first book of a trilogy. Perhaps the second book would make the first more satisfying.
But still, it should have had a higher level of completeness within itself.
CHRISTIAN STORY
The Christian side is kinda obvious. It's the End of Days. But there are a couple of Christian themes in the story that are worth discussing.
Christian Elements
•Forgiveness: Band of Believer may induce the idea of complete unity, but the author was thoughtful enough to include some conflict between the main character, Willow, and one of the "believers," *the woman with the small child- not one of the teens (I'm not sure from the story if she was actually a believer or not - I got the impression not.) Anyway, without spoiler, backstory revealed an issue that made it difficult for Willow to include her in the group. It was addressed as a point of tension, but any real diving in to the issue, or resolution of the issue must have been left for the next book.
•Reliance on God: This story required the main character, Willow to have faith from the get go. Kudos to author Jamie Lee Grey for keeping that theme alive throughout the story.
•Eschatology: I hinted at this in one of my Goodreads updates. Not directly discussed in the book, the view of end-times implied by the author may stand out to readers simply based on the fact that it is not the leading view among believers. I was curious to see if other readers picked up on what I picked up on, so I went to the Amazon reviews to explore.
Yup. I was right. The book has a handful of 1 and 2 star reviews and it seems that the leading cause is eschatological. OK. I'll just tell you. This story takes place after the implementation of the mark of the beast, during "the tribulation," but before the rapture. That means it is not the pre-trib concept that most people are probably used to. Nearly all lower ratings, and some higher ones mention it as an issue.
THE VERDICT:
I will not read the next book. I have no issue with the eschatology, seeing that a later rapture is a viable understanding of scripture. No, my reason is stated in the Fiction Story section, under What I Did Not Like.
My basic run down is that this book is a fast and easy read, a little too telling and not enough showing but has elements of tension adequate to keep you reading. It was only the combination of the story meandering, then sliding, too smoothly, to end without a satisfying conclusion that troubled me.
Then again, many reviewers on Amazon liked it better than I - if you are interested.
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