Review: An absorbing read!
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 01 9, 2014
I am fond of End-Time novels.  They are usually full of great characters, interesting plot twists and superb writing.  Mr. Telbat's book, God's Colonel was no exception.  Though I found his characters to be just shy of five-star, they were a whopping good four stars!  And though the story presented me with a few scenes that were hard to accept, most were easy to absorb and they fit in well with how the story went.  What was an able plus on his side was the absence of any kind of denominational jingoism.  There were no left-handed slights against our Catholic brethren, no automatic assumptions that there was the "right" denomination to belong to out there.  God's people were recognized as God's people no matter which spiritual tradition they cling to.  That was most refreshing in a sea of stories where the Catholic Church is deemed to be the Whore of Babylon from the git-go.  If I had any regrets it was this; the Tribulation, if indeed Revelation is prophecy about the end times (and there are solid doubts about that even among some Evangelical scholars) will be a whole lot worse than postulated in this book.  The world will be suffering from ecological collapse followed by economic collapse.  That is how the Antichrist will be able to sink his claws into the world's psyche, as far as I can tell.  He will be able to confront a world teetering on the abyss and tell them that he has the solution, the way out, and no one else does, but only if the world unites under him.  The rest of the world will have seen so much death, will be so desperate to find a way out of the sinking quagmire that they will line up right behind him and march in step to the playing of his pipes.  Or at least, that is my reading of the book of Revelation if it is interpreted as end time prophecy.  In Mr. Telbat's novel, no such horror was happening around them, or if it was, it was fleeting and was forgotten by the next chapter.  At one point Telbat even says that Europe and the rest of the world were pretty much fine; only the USA was having extreme difficulty.  (Reviewer shrugs his shoulders).  He could be right, but my reading of the seven trumpets, the seven plagues, the seven seals, and so on leads me to believe that there will be little peace in the world even when a triumphant Antichrist sits at the head of a world government.  At least that's my two cents worth.Still, as I have said, this was an engaging book.  The characters grew, they learned of their faith, of their Lord's care and love, and they learned to endure.  For those of you looking for some captivating way to spend the afternoon this winter, pick it up. You will not be disappointed if you do.And as a final thought, here's this; why is the Antichrist always portrayed as a man?  As I think through the passages of scripture that treat with his appearance, I cannot remember one thing that insists that he be a he, except for perhaps the occasional pronoun--which could easily be gotten around by an imaginative author.  I'm looking forward to seeing some mischievous and imaginative author take that character and make him a her.  There's one very large benefit to doing so--no one would be expecting a female Antichrist.  And the author could play that up to the hilt and get away with it.  Anyway its a thought.Buy this book and then read it.  You will not regret your choice.