Shadowed by: Jerry Jenkins

Shadowed
Jerry Jenkins
July 2005
Tyndale House Publishers

Yes, this is one of the authors of the famed or infamous ‘Left Behind’ series (over 63 Million copies sold), and though that series started off well, it slowed down so much and became so dry I could just not finish it. This, on the other hand, is a third book in a new trilogy. It reads like a spiritual Tom Clancy or Dan Brown. The first two books in this series are Soon and Silenced and now finally Shadowed.

The premise or background in this series is based in a post World-War III world. In 2009 a new world government was established in Bern Switzerland. This WW3 is known as the religious war. Since then all religion has been banned and has been persecuted. The world has stopped using A.D. (anno Domini, ‘in the year of our lord’) with the new designator P.3. (Post-World War III) Our book takes place 37 years later in 38 P.3. and our hero is an unlikely religious hero. Paul Stepola did a Masters in Religious Studies after serving in the military. He worked for the regime in power as a sort of cop and intelligence community officer. He often infiltrated religious groups to break them up and persecute them. In the earlier books, Paul’s life went through a drastic change, from finding a letter his father wrote at his birth, in which his father declared his faith, to being blinded in an explosion, to being a believer.

Paul’s journey went from being undercover to being under suspicion for being a double agent. In most of the second book he is suspected of having turned, yet continues to convince the government of his loyalty. In this final installment he has to go underground, and not only that, he has his wife and two children with him. He has been found out and is hiding with the Columbia underground when former colleagues start helping him evade authorities.

Can he save his family, can he help bring religious freedom to the world again? Will faith prevail or finally be squashed forever? Read this fast-paced book or the whole series and find out!


(First Published in Across the Creek the St. Jerome's Students' Union newspaper column 'Book Look' December 2005)