Novel: Left Behind

Overview
Left Behind (1995), co-authored by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins, launches a long-running Christian apocalyptic series that imagines a contemporary, global-scale fulfillment of biblical prophecy. Written as a fast-paced thriller but structured around dispensational readings of Revelation and Daniel, the novel blends disaster fiction, political intrigue, and conversion narrative as ordinary people grapple with the sudden disappearance of millions.

Inciting Catastrophe
Commercial airline pilot Rayford Steele is midflight to Europe when passengers and crew members vanish, leaving clothes and personal effects in their seats. Among the passengers is star reporter Cameron “Buck” Williams, who had recently survived a miracle in Israel that obliterated an invading air force. Rayford, stunned yet functional, diverts and lands in a ravaged Chicago, where freeway pileups, hospital overloads, and plane crashes signal a world instantly thrown into chaos. He returns home to find that his devout wife, Irene, and young son, Raymie, are gone, while his college-age daughter, Chloe, remains.

Confronting Loss and Searching for Meaning
Rayford wrestles with guilt over his lukewarm faith and a flirtation with flight attendant Hattie Durham. Seeking answers, he visits New Hope Village Church, where associate pastor Bruce Barnes confesses that he preached about salvation but was never truly converted, and therefore has been left behind. A prerecorded message from the raptured senior pastor outlines the Rapture and Tribulation framework. Convicted, Rayford embraces faith; Chloe resists at first, wary of opportunists in the crisis, but she is gradually persuaded by the convergence of prophecy, events, and integrity she observes in her father and Bruce.

Journalistic Investigation and Rising Power
Buck pursues the biggest story on earth: the vanishings and the forces moving in their wake. His contacts, Global Weekly editor Steve Plank, financier Jonathan Stonagal, and Israeli statesman Chaim Rosenzweig, lead him to a charismatic Romanian politician, Nicolae Carpathia. Carpathia’s meteoric ascent is aided by uncanny charm, media mastery, and a vision of global disarmament, a single currency, and a reorganized world under the United Nations. In a shocking scene at UN headquarters, Carpathia murders Stonagal and British banker Joshua Todd-Cothran, then seems to cloud the memories of everyone present. Buck alone retains a clear recollection and, recognizing a supernatural deception, keeps silent to survive.

Faith, Community, and Resolve
As world institutions steady themselves under Carpathia’s leadership, Bruce forms a small fellowship at New Hope to learn prophecy, share resources, and prepare spiritually for the Tribulation they believe has begun. Rayford repents and dedicates himself to living openly for Christ. Chloe, after fierce skepticism, yields to faith and finds common ground with Buck, whose investigative rigor gives way to a personal decision to believe. Hattie, disoriented by events and her attachment to Rayford, is drawn into Carpathia’s orbit through a prestigious job offer arranged by Steve Plank, foreshadowing the moral and relational stakes to come.

Themes and Tone
The novel turns on the collision of spectacle and conscience: mass disappearance forces intimate reckonings with grief, guilt, and hope, while geopolitics becomes a theater for spiritual warfare. It interrogates trust in media and elites, sets persuasion against manipulation, and portrays conversion not as escape from peril but as orientation within it. Its thriller tempo, air emergencies, clandestine meetings, and assassinations, serves a didactic spine about discernment and commitment.

Ending and Series Setup
By the close, Carpathia has consolidated power as UN secretary-general and announced sweeping plans that mirror end-times prophecies. In suburban Chicago, Rayford, Chloe, Buck, and Bruce covenant to stand together as the Tribulation Force: a clandestine band resolving to witness, resist deception, and navigate the judgments they expect ahead. The personal vows and geopolitical realignments form a double cliffhanger that propels the saga into its next volume.