Imagine a world where we are controlled by what we see on television. Oh…wait. Well, in Bill Myer’s “Leviathan,” he takes that idea to the extreme as he begins cycle three of the Harbingers series.
In “Leviathan,” the oddball team of tattoo artist Brenda, the Professor, his assistant Andi, and lovable jock Tank–along with their gifted, young friend, Daniel–find themselves being thrown into another other-worldly situation by the group they know only as The Gate. When the team is invited to Hollywood to view the taping of a new television pilot, Live or Die: The Ultimate Reality, they find that there are many ways to dull the senses of the public and to help them cheer on the demoralization of society. When they find the source, they are running low on time. Will they be able to stop evil before it takes over the world?
Once you unwind from the nerve-wracking and eerily realistic possibilities of “Leviathan,” you may be ready to read another story of mind control in Frank Peretti’s “The Mind Pirates.” Sent to an island to uncover the mystery of how a man could lose his clients’ money without knowing a thing about it, the team find themselves enthralled with a 17th century pirate show that seems very life-like. But when the Professor and Andi are kidnapped, can the team find the key to why Andi has been acting like a pirate before more people are killed?
Angela Hunt’s “Hybrids” was almost too much for this mama to read. When two black-eyed children (isn’t there a movie like this?!) show up at Andi’s grandparents’ door, she knows that something isn’t quite right. And when her pregnant neighbor goes missing, she is sure that the black-eyed children have something to do with it. When her neighbor is found, she is no longer pregnant, and no one can understand why. Will the team be able to uncover this mystery before more babies go missing? And what is going on with the Professor?
Finally, Alton Gansky takes the team to a small town in North Carolina in “The Village.” Living very close to the North Carolina mountains, this one really creeped me out as well! The team has been invited to stay in a small, mountain town; but when they show up, the only hotel in town doesn’t want their business, and there don’t seem to be many residents either. While trying to overcome their uneasiness as they eat breakfast in a diner, a white light suddenly appears, and they find themselves “waking up” in another diner, very similar to where they were, yet quite different. When their old friend Little Foot shows up, they know that they are “not in Kansas any more”–or, um, North Carolina. Is it possible that they are in another realm? As they try to make sense of their situation, they realize that they are aging quickly and very close to dying. Will they be able to find their way back to their realm before it’s too late?
This is the third book on which Bill Myers, Frank Peretti, Angela Hunt, and Alton Gansky have collaborated. Similar to a television series like X-Files, this series provides the reader with different “episodes,” making it very easy to read in short sittings. While all of the episodes are tied together, they are also complete in themselves.
If you like a good thriller in Christian genre (a rare breed, indeed), then I highly recommend this series.
*I received this book from Bethany House Publishers in exchange for my honest opinion.
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