“A moving, fast-paced account of the end times.”-Publisher’s Weekly A typical day at work turns into a nightmare for Emma Grady when her favorite patient and several colleagues vanish in front of her. Fear turns to chaos as Emma begins the frantic race from Brooklyn to Queens, anxious to discover if her boyfriend is safe. Subways are closed, graves are open, and countless people have … countless people have inexplicably disappeared. Mayhem erupts as terror grips the residents of New York City.
What could make so many vanish in a moment? And not just in New York, but all over the globe? Emma wonders if this is the predicted end of the world and begins a desperate search for answers.
This page-turning story will take you on a riveting journey from New York City to Israel, and in the final chapters, Donna turns to the pages of the Bible, where you’ll learn that God has made known to us “the end from the beginning,” and that things aren’t spiraling downward but are actually looking up.
The bestselling author of The Christmas Shoes now explores a future world facing its final days in The Time of Jacob’s Trouble, weaving end-times prophecies into the lives of Emma and her friends as they struggle to survive and come face-to-face with the chilling truth about the disappearances.
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I noticed a lot reviewers didn’t care for this book but I am the exception. I did like it and am interested in seeing how these future books play out. It does make you think . Thanks to Netgalley for the early copy
The Time of Jacob’s Trouble by Donna VanLiere.
I received this ARC in return for an honest review.
If you are a fan of the Left Behind series, you will love this book. It is nonstop, edge of your seat, can’t put it down action from the beginning. I was not disappointed!
It begins with Emma, a physical therapist, trying to get everyone in her apartment building to go to the basement. There is an attack on the city and everyone needs to get to safety. The author then jumps back to one week earlier. This is where the story begins. There are three main characters in this book: Emma, Brandon, and Elliot. Their stories/point of view are told throughout the book. The characters eventually merge into a group, along with other survivors.
The theme of the book is the Rapture and what comes after, such as war, famine, and violence. This band of survivors (those not take with the Rapture) find the Truth and try to save others physically, mentally, and spiritually.
The true jewel of this book is that there are options throughout to read the biblical facts behind the story in that chapter or to continue on with the story. Should one choose to continue with the story, there is a whole section in the back of the book that gives biblical reference to each chapter. While the fictional book itself is an amazing read, knowing the facts behind it are extremely important.
I highly recommend this gem and will be anxiously awaiting the next book in the series.
Set in New York and Israel at the time of the Rapture, seen from the eyes of a few different people who were not taken. There is much confusion as people try to sort out what has happened. One of the characters is in a cemetery and sees the graves around him burst open, the person being buried disappears. Others have people they know, including some family, disappear. These people had tried to give them the message that Jesus would be coming, but they didn’t believe. Now they can see they were being told the truth. Two of the men are Jews and are visited by witnesses and told they are chosen as part of the 144,000 messianic Jews. Interesting story that is excellent at showing prophesy. I ate this right up, greatly looking forward to picking it up again each time. The story is a quick read, the rest of the book is very detailed information with scripture that explains how the Bible tells the prophecy in Revelations and many other passages. A fabulous manual for now and for those who will be left behind. I’m ready! Keep looking up, the time is close. It could happen at any time! Donna shows how many of today’s world events fit right into the end times prophecies. Looking forward to future stories!
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher and NetGalley book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
#TheTimeOfJacobsTrouble #NetGalley
*I received a free digital ARC via NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.*
Not what I was expecting
I would absolutely love to say that I wasn’t the intended audience for this book, but unfortunately I would be wrong. The author’s intent is that everyone reads it, no matter their background, to better understand Revelations and the end of times, and by so doing come to Christ…
As soon as I opened the first pages of the book, and saw which Bible each character was reading, I should have walked away right then. Seriously, being a non-Christian, I couldn’t care less! So it soon became obvious that it wasn’t what I hoped for – a literary exploration of some Biblical ideas. Why can’t someone write something like that without being religiously involved?!
I really tried to see the story amongst the pages, to appreciate the limited amount of actual storyline, trying to ignore the postscript telling you nearly every page to refer to the Biblical explanation of the events that were happening. Some of it did actually have me hooked, but some of the rest was droning, repetitive, and just uninteresting. For the rest, the truth is the overly pushy nature of all the Christian stuff just got to me.
Put it this way, the book actually ends at page 185/63%. The other 37% is entirely dedicated to explaining the Bible (and why am I nice enough to capitalise that word?!) and, oh, that’s where it’s revealed what the author’s true intentions were with this story. After the first couple of pages of the last part, I just skipped the rest. The story was done, there was a cliffhanger waiting for the next, and the rest was just uninteresting babble.
So, as I said, this book was entirely not for me. I’m not a Christian, I don’t want to be preached at. And for that reason, despite what could be good about this author’s works, their purely Evangelistic aim of this book has put me off reading anything else of theirs. Despite all that, well, I didn’t dislike it completely, which surprises me no end. Yet that is still not enough to encourage me to read the sequels. It would need to be far sturdier, and lose all the Biblical and preachy stuff, for me to even consider it.
Final rating: – Sort of liked/OK
Donna VanLiere is well known for her wonderful Christmas novels, so this book is definitely a step outside the box. It is set in the US and Israel. One day just like any other day, people suddenly disappear from all over the world and massive destruction takes place. Emma, Elliott and Zerah all seek to find the answer and believe the answer is the beginning of Jesus’ return. This book is divided into two parts. The first part is the fictional story, and the second part is the Biblical prophecy support for each thing that happened in the story.
It is obvious that VanLiere did immense research to tie each of the end time prophecies into her story line. The second part is so full of documentation that it reads like a Bible Study. This is a book that will either turn people off and they’ll give it a bad review, or it will lead people even deeper into a study of end time prophecy. This book is so appropriate to the events that are taking place now. I definitely will spend time rereading the second part of this book.
I highly recommend it for anyone who is interested in end time Biblical prophecy.
**I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley. Opinions are mine alone. I was not compensated for this review.
This book was just not appealing. The author has the story skipping around between the characters, countries, etc. I typically enjoy Christian books, but this was not well written. The characters were not well developed and I did not develop an interest in them.
Just a dry read that never made me invested in the story.
Thank you to NetGalley and Harvest House Publishers for my advanced review copy. All opinions and thoughts are my own.
I didn’t get along with some of the characters. When I requested the book for review I was expecting something else and few minutes into reading I came across something I didn’t quite agree with.
The story is fast paced and talks about end time. Tells the story of individuals and their search for answers, what happens during the time of the rapture. The biblical references were okay; those caught my attention.
I liked the setting in Israel. The author’s writing style and description was easy to follow and understand.
My favorite quote: Somehow, God is friend to both her mother and Mrs Ramos, and somewhere deep inside she wishes she could be like them.
I received a copy of the book from Netgalley and this is my honest opinion.