Jim O’Shea. The Reluctant Disciple. Greenville SC: Ambassador Int’l, 2015. Print.

There is a tendency, even a trap, for many Bible-believing novelists in the English-speaking world to say that the end times have to follow a certain pattern. The Reluctant Disciple takes many prophetic images from the Bible, especially Daniel, Revelation, and the Olivet Discourse, but it tells a story without being dogmatic. It is even refreshing in that sense. Readers familiar with the “Left Behind” genre may find this novel among the best—except for Lewis’s The Last Battle, which is still the one to top. The Reluctant Disciple‘s only flaws are a few misspellings and a couple of geographical anomalies (Connecticut does not border the Atlantic Ocean).

Ryan Kates hosts a television talk show that features “the fourth dimension”—the paranormal, UFOs, ESP, ghosts, etc. His TV network, Philidor News Network, has promoted him to give an exclusive interview with Esa Sayed, a representative of Arab nations who has just brokered a peace treaty with Israel that includes all its Near Eastern neighbors including Palestine and Iran. The Temple in Jerusalem has been rebuilt to accommodate the Dome of the Rock.

By the way, Esa is Arabic for Jesus.

Sayed will be speaking from the United Nations backed by representatives of ten nations or nation groups: The nations include China and Israel, the groups include the Arab League and the European Union.

Kates investigates a haunted apartment as he re-connects with an old girlfriend who is now a widow. But the biggest mystery is that people have been disappearing.

This is a secret rapture, but unlike Left Behind it happens gradually; there are no plane crashes and that sort of thing. There have also been many sightings of mysterious triangle-shaped UFOs. Even Kates sees one. Are these alien abductions? Sayed’s speech will surprise everyone—except for the Bible believers.

The tale does focus on Sayed and his U.N. speech. The “false prophet” promoting him (See Revelation 13:11-14) is the head of Philidor, a kind of Rupert Murdoch or Ted Turner media magnate who knows he is lying, but it is OK because it is for the good of mankind, right?

As some Bible prophecies came from dreams (think of Joseph or Daniel), so a recurring dream plays a role in this story. I was reminded of the dream in Molière’s Athalie or even Calpurnia’s dream in Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar.

Bible prophecy uses symbols (think of Joseph’s fourteen cows or Daniel’s four beasts); similarly, The Reluctant Disciple uses a clever symbol. The Philidor Defense is a famous chess gambit using pawns. So is Kates a pawn in the devil’s game? Are we?

Disclosure of Material: We received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher through the BookCrash book review program, which requires an honest, though not necessarily positive, review.