What do you think?
Rate this book
Trials and Triumph #1
The Rise
Jesus Christ s cryptic question has puzzled Christians for twenty centuries: If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? (John 21:22) Now, when a bizarre death shatters the serenity of a New York monastery, and a mysterious, Semitic drifter is accused of murder, the ultimate forces of innocence and iniquity are set on a collision course, careening to the Apocalyptic end of the Age. Highly researched and eerily reflective of today's global headlines, this trilogy races around the world and through the centuries to a pulse-pounding climax. Based on details derived from true, but little-known, prophecies of saints. Praise for The Rise: ..". very cleverly written ... about the power of sin and its influence in the world.... [The ending] was very much a surprise; it brings all storylines together and is dramatic ... [and] hard to put down ... (CatholicFiction.net) ... paints a fascinating picture.... Nowell s obviously in-depth research ... gives the story an eerie edge of reality. (Michelle Buckman, Author of Rachel s Contrition) ... highly recommended ... a riveting story with plenty of Christian history weaved in, [it] will be ... hard to put down ... (Midwest Book Review - 5 stars out of 5) ... more twists and turns than a Hollywood thriller... one imaginative writer! (Brian J. Gail, Author of Fatherless) Catholic Writers Guild Seal of Approval. (The Trials and Triumph Trilogy: The Rise, The Rebellion, and The Return.)
408 pages, Paperback
First published November 14, 2011
About the author
Kenneth E. Nowell
14 books27 followersKenneth E. Nowell—entrepreneur, lawyer, legislator, and author. An avid pilgrim and purposeful traveler, Ken has completed six Camino backpacking journeys in Spain and Italy. The landscapes, challenges, and unexpected encounters of those adventures helped inspire El Camino Loco, his latest, humorous adventure novel. He lives on the Treasure Coast of Florida with his high school sweetheart, Betsy, and their lovable pug, Bear Bear. His previous works include: Rome and the Vatican: Guide 4 Pilgrims, which became Amazon's #1 bestselling Vatican travel guide; as well as The Trials and Triumph Trilogy, apocalyptic thrillers based on true but little-known prophecies of saints. They are individually titled: The Rise; The Rebellion; and The Return. Also, he has edited a variety of Christian master works, known as Vero House abridged classics.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review
July 20, 2013
This novel is the first of a trilogy, and is definitely of the Christian Fiction genre.
From a character development point of view, as I read my way through this book I noticed that the majority of characters were, or seemed to be, a hodgepodge of current day cultural icons spanning from generic political figures through to well-known media ‘darlings’. Using this approach to their characters, I felt that the Author had negated the necessity to give them any real depth or back story, as it was assumed that we would know everything we needed to about them from their intrusion into our everyday lives. I think this book could have been taken up a notch by using more original characters, giving them back stories and personalities a reader could actually relate to and, in turn, come to care about the characters themselves.
Some readers may pick this up and feel like they have read it before, this is due I feel to the great similarities this book has with ‘The Left Behind’ series; it is nothing like that series. The Author has a great writing style, and this makes the book flow along at a nice pace, they have filled it with footnotes that support the great amount of research the Author has put into writing this novel, and are there for any others who may want to dig deeper into this subject for themselves. However, there are times when the book becomes a little derailed, and the reader can find themselves lost as to what is actually occurring. Whether or not these loose ends will be picked up and tied off neatly in subsequent books would be interesting to see, even if they are it will be still hard for the Author to justify the inclusion of suicide in these books.
Unfortunately, and here I must apologise to the Author, this book was not for me as at times I felt I was being preached to and told that if I didn’t follow steps A-Z I was a lost soul. I have read some great Christian Fiction but, sadly, this was not one of them and I doubt I will be reading the remaining books in this trilogy.
I would recommend this book to lovers of the Christian Fiction genre, but if you are expecting to find a budding C.S Lewis or Tim F. LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins combination, you will be sorely disappointed.
Originally reviewed on: http://catesbooknuthut.com/2013/11/20...
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
From a character development point of view, as I read my way through this book I noticed that the majority of characters were, or seemed to be, a hodgepodge of current day cultural icons spanning from generic political figures through to well-known media ‘darlings’. Using this approach to their characters, I felt that the Author had negated the necessity to give them any real depth or back story, as it was assumed that we would know everything we needed to about them from their intrusion into our everyday lives. I think this book could have been taken up a notch by using more original characters, giving them back stories and personalities a reader could actually relate to and, in turn, come to care about the characters themselves.
Some readers may pick this up and feel like they have read it before, this is due I feel to the great similarities this book has with ‘The Left Behind’ series; it is nothing like that series. The Author has a great writing style, and this makes the book flow along at a nice pace, they have filled it with footnotes that support the great amount of research the Author has put into writing this novel, and are there for any others who may want to dig deeper into this subject for themselves. However, there are times when the book becomes a little derailed, and the reader can find themselves lost as to what is actually occurring. Whether or not these loose ends will be picked up and tied off neatly in subsequent books would be interesting to see, even if they are it will be still hard for the Author to justify the inclusion of suicide in these books.
Unfortunately, and here I must apologise to the Author, this book was not for me as at times I felt I was being preached to and told that if I didn’t follow steps A-Z I was a lost soul. I have read some great Christian Fiction but, sadly, this was not one of them and I doubt I will be reading the remaining books in this trilogy.
I would recommend this book to lovers of the Christian Fiction genre, but if you are expecting to find a budding C.S Lewis or Tim F. LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins combination, you will be sorely disappointed.
Originally reviewed on: http://catesbooknuthut.com/2013/11/20...
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review