Sunday, January 27, 2013

Tribulation by Phillip W. Simpson


Tribulation(Rapture Trilogy#2)  by Phillip W. Simpson

Book Name: Tribulation(Rapture Trilogy #2)

Author Name: Phillip W. Simpson

Genre/Tags: Fantasy, Dystopia, paranormal,   Angels&Demons, Adventure, action

Publisher: Pear Jam Books

My Rating: 4 stars

Halfway through the desolate Tribulation, half-demon Samael is still alone, with only his beloved Samurai swords and memories of the dearly departed - especially his beloved Aimi - to sustain him. Fighting for the innocents who remain behind, Sam has thwarted the plans of the Antichrist once before. Now, having already conquered Europe, America remains a thorn in his brother’s side. 

At the head of a massive invasion fleet, an army of 
demons, and his sights firmly fixed on New York, he will not be denied again ...

Beset on all sides by adversaries, aided by friends old and new, Sam must stop his brother before America falls. And if that means killing him, then so be it. He failed once before; this time he will succeed - or die trying.

The long-awaited follow-up to Rapture, Tribulation is the second in the Rapture Trilogy. Look out for Apocalypse, coming soon


                                                   My Review


I would like to thank the author Mr Simpson for gifting me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

 Being a second book in the series it had both its advantages and drawbacks. Let’s get the negative out of the way first so we can move on to discuss the awesomeness of the book. When I read Rapture, I was enthralled by it. Although Tribulation maintained the fast pace of the first book, it didn’t really provide anything new. What we read in Tribulation was more or less same what we had in Rapture.  Secondly what irked me about this book was how it had only one character that carried the book. Sam was mostly alone, being on the road and at times his inner monologues used to get a little (read very little) monotonous.

Okay, the drawbacks out of the way, it was an interesting book. It has been three and a half years into the tribulation. Sam is still trying to help the innocents who are braving the hellish Earth and fighting the demons. He is utterly alone and constantly thinks of Aimi. Those were my (one of the) favourite moments in the book. We (along with Sam) get to learn that he will never set foot in the Heaven when Christ returns to Earth at the end of the tribulation. Moreover, he would be cast off to the pits of hell along with his father (the Satan), brother( the Antichrist) and the False Prophet (he will be surprising you…more like shocking you…well, it really shocked me!). Now all this made me really angry (along with Sam). What about all the good he is doing, saving innocents and all. What about his humility, love and selflessness.  All that counts for nothing? But our dear Sam replies with 
“It doesn’t change who I am. I’m not suddenly going to stop doing [saving innocents]  what I’m doing. Just because Heaven doesn’t keep its word, doesn’t mean I don’t have to.”

“It was never going to be easy, he reflected, reminding himself why he was doing this. Not for those in Heaven. Not for Him. This was for the innocents. Those who didn’t deserve to be the targets and subjects of the Antichrist’s rage. If Sam killed the Antichrist, surely he would save many innocents.”

Now if these aren’t the words of someone who deserves Heaven, I don’t know who does. Even with all this, he carries on with fierce determination and sheer will power, knowing that it may kill him and it almost did! Even after all this, nobody showed even an ounce of gratitude. Take Grace for example, Sam went to hell to save her but instead of being thankful she snubbed Sam that what made him wait that long! What the nerve! I really couldn’t figure out what her problem was.

One of the best things about this story was the entry of Yeth, a hellhound that became Sam’s most trusted and loyal companion. What the author depicted through Yeth and Sam was that absolutely nobody is born evil. It’s the influences in our lives that deviates us from the path of good.

Overall, I find this book a good read. The plot was consistent and there were no holes or missing pieces in the story. This book has got some cliff hanger. What happens to Sam now that his powers are stripped? Does he get Aimi back? I am definitely awaiting the next installment in the series!

Buy this book at:

Also see my review of Rapture, book #1 in the Rapture Trilogy


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