“The Seraph Seal” by Leonard Sweet and Lori Wagner A review by Paul Emery

December 21, 2012 at 9:00PM eight children are born each with a unique birthmark, destined for… four for a New Earth and Heaven filled with dominion and control, or four for a New Earth and Heaven filled with the principles of love, kindness, and the dawning of a restored relationship with God through Christ the Lamb, and one child is born who must bring the right group together.  That is the direction this work of apocalyptic fiction takes as several stories begin, and merge into one, the question is what will be the end?

I have been an avid reader of fiction, and have read a wide variety of fiction in my life.  This is the first piece of Christian Fiction I have picked up since the “Left Behind” series.  Over the past couple of years I’ve been moving in the direction of more theological based information, or study helps in my personal devotions.  This book I choose to take a break, and see again what Christian Fiction had to offer, one thing is for sure, I was not disappointed.

As soon as I picked this book up and began to read I was enthralled.  As my wife said, she had not seen me this interested in a book in quite some time.  Even though the book bounced between places, people, and events, each section built upon the last and I was able to begin putting the pieces together.  Dr. Sweet and Ms. Wagner obviously put a lot of work into this story, as they draw a reader in quickly and effectively into the story.  The extra information was well researched, and quite intensive, so intensive is fact that they added two sections, one a look at the notes of the main character, and the second the Alphabet of the Apocalypse. 

The only thing about this book I was not sure about was some of the theological directions it took, even though they added to the story.  There seemed to be a lot of Christian and Hebrew mysticism such as Kabbalah.  This book should be read with discretion especially if one is coming to this book looking for a theological perspective of eschatology.  This book is a great work of fiction, but with any fiction, including the “Left Behind” series, one must remember it is a perspective and not truth.  If this book does encourage someone to study Revelation, Daniel, Ezekiel, or any of the other true prophetic books of the Bible, well I’m all for that. 

Even with my concern with some of the mysticism of “The Seraph Seal” I would gladly give this book 4.5 out of 5.  For those who are interested in Christian fiction with on an apocalyptic nature, I highly recommend this book; again as with other bloggers I have read I would recommend caution and the remembrance that this book is fiction.  With any book, discretion is advised.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com <http://BookSneeze®.com> 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 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”