End of State series
By Neesa Hart

With the magazine now going to a quarterly publishing timeline, I thought it would be a great time to explore a triliogy for my book review. I'm sure you faithful readers have long since figured out that I prefer series to stand alone books, since it gives me an opportunity to get to know the characters and spend time with them. And this quarter, I'm reviewing the End of State series by Neesa Hart, which is a companion to the Left Behind series I already love.

End of State

The beginning of End of State has us looking in on Brad Benton, White House Chief of Staff, as he watches people disappear from in front of his eyes, during a nationally televised basketball game. Frantic, he tries to reach his wife on the West Coast as the call comes in to report to the Situation Room. Brad, as well all know, will soon learn this was the Rapture.

As Brad copes with this newfound knowledge, Neesa Hart drops us in on Reverend Marcus Dumont, as he stares out the window of his conference room. Marcus needs no time to understand the cataclysmic event that has occurred. As he looks across the D.C. area, Reverend Dumont is filled with the guilt of having been left behind.

Mariette Arnold, Assistant Director of FEMA, wakes to the terrible news when David, her assistant calls in the middle of the night. While at first, she thinks that David is seriously overworked from the last disaster, she soon understands that his information is real, and her first concern becomes reaching her son, followed only by getting into the office and doing her job in emergency management.

These three characters are pivotal to this trilogy that compliments the Left Behind series. Through these key Washington players, we are given a greater glimpse of the theoretical happenings in our nation's capital of when the Rapture occurs. And it shows us that even the most catastrophic event may not curb our politician's motivation to get to the top. Murder and intrigue begin to plague Chief of Staff Benton while he mourns the loss of his wife and welcomes the new found friendships he makes along the way.

Though I am not a fan of political fiction (yawn) I am a fan of Rapture based fiction. So I was torn when I decided to read all three books in one month for this new quarterly based edition. But I was pleasantly surprised, and may have actually learned a thing or two as well.

Impeachable Offense

The cover states it clearly “The conspiracy grows…” and that it does. Fresh from surviving a sniper attack that hospitalizes his assistant and a bomb that destroyed his apartment, Brad continues on his clandestine mission to find out what happened to White House press secretary, George Ramiro. In the midst of this search for answers, Brad comes face to face with awful truth that the Antichrist is in their midst. As Brad builds his relationships with Reverend Dumont, Mariette Arnold and her grown son Randal, he draws them all into his web of danger.

While Randal has taken a job as Brad's driver, Mariette has traveled to New York to assess the issue of transportation in and out of the massively gridlocked state. As she travels, she carries with her the bible belonging to Brad's wife, who was spirited away in the Rapture. It's the only thing Brad wants back and after Mariette's car is broken into, she tucks it safely away. And only God would know that the bible in her briefcase would lead her to find an unlikely Christian brother in the Big Apple. An ally she will surely need as the Antichrist takes an interest in her shortly after.

As another failed attempt is made on Brad Benton's life, the small group of believers prays for guidance and God's will in their individual paths.

Necessary Evils

In this conclusion of the End of State series, Brad discovers the shocking truth of George Ramiro's secret White House partner as he suffers the loss of a new found Christian brother. Armed with the information he needs to blow open the scandal of George Ramiro's murder, Brad sets out to expose the culprits and finally bring a sense of safety and peace to his small circle of friends.

While, as I said before, political fiction is not my preference, I actually enjoyed reading this series. The characters were well defined and interacted reasonably with each other. The tie in to the characters from the Left Behind series was done well, and as I have been re-reading the Left Behind series for fun, I have kept these new characters in my mind to intertwine them in my own head. I hope if you choose to read them you will enjoy them as well!