The Rapture
Liz Jensen
Doubleday
ISBN: 9780385528214
295 Pages
Liz Jensen, in The Rapture, certainly has given quite a few twists to the potential “doomsday” story known by many of us from the Book of Revelations and other places within The Bible. Many kudos for tackling a difficult topic and creating a new look at an old, old prediction! Is The Rapture near?
Bethany, just 16, is placed in a psychiatric hospital for the murder of her mother. Her father is an evangelist. With the considerable knowledge of the Bible that is drilled into a preacher’s kid, Bethany is constantly predicting disasters to anyone, highlighting that the Rapture will happen soon. The latest listening to her ramblings is her new therapist, Gabrielle.
Gabrielle has a few of her own problems, having lost mobility through an accident and being referred to this hospital as the only place at which she could probably find a job, since her own therapists felt she was not ready to resume professional counseling. Bethany is assigned to Gabrielle who quickly takes advantage of her, calling her Wheels, since she is confined to a wheelchair. Frankly Gabrielle is somewhat afraid of Bethany’s potential physical aggression!
But when Gabrielle realizes that one of her predictions for a disaster actually occurred, she begins to investigate. She finds her previous nurse, who is now on medical leave, and is told by her that Bethany is not only predicting the disasters—she is causing them!
Coincidentally, Gabrielle meets Frazer Melville, a physicist—and also a man who doesn’t seem to mind she is in a wheelchair, quite content to enjoy her beauty from the waist up! Although Gabrielle has doubts from time to time, they begin to care deeply for each other and she shares the story of Bethany and her predictions. Melville is hooked immediately and asks if there were other predictions that could be verified to have happened.
There were many; and his research showed that all of her predictions had actually occurred on the day and in the place she had foretold.
And she was now predicting the major event that would flood over the world...
Once again, he started researching the possibilities, contacted experts, and found that what she was saying could indeed actually happen. The experts were so sure, in fact, that they were willing to announce their opinions to the world so that people could prepare for the disaster.
Bethany’s father did indeed prepare. Bethany made sure she was where he would be when The Rapture was scheduled to occur...
Liz Jensen has created a fascinating thriller that totally reverses the roles of the characters as we may have thought would happen when, indeed The Rapture occurred. Whether you believe in the potential event is irrelevant; Jensen’s story is believable...and a must-read in my opinion!
G. A. Bixler
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