Book Review: "The Seraph Seal" by Lenoard Sweet and Lori Wagner

I was really excited when I was given this book to review.  I love historical thrillers, under normal circumstances.  I like how they weave real life into these fictional situations.  This book  seemed like it was going to fit right into this idea.  It is set in the future, 2048, and the time for the Apocalypse is at hand.
The first part of this book was very interesting.  It was an essay titled "Engaging the Apocalypse: A Nonfiction Essay on Scenarios and Semiotics for the 21st Century."  That is quite a mouth full!  Although it sounds daunting, it was the best part of the book.  It talked about using things that are happening in our world today and using them to project/predict what may happen in the future.  The purpose being,  if we think about the "maybes" we will be better prepared if and when they become realities.  I found this to be an interesting concept and enjoyed learning the scientific word for this process, semiotics.
The beginning also talks about the term engaged fiction.  This concept deals with the idea that the reader should be an active participant in the story.  Using this idea, the authors have added a rather large section at the back of the book with additional information.  The reader is encouraged to use this information to develop their own theories and ideas for the story and the future of the real world. Again, very cool idea.
Unfortunately, I didn't enjoy the actual story that the authors wrote.  It just was so jumpy for me.  I found it very hard to follow where I was in the story.  I had trouble remembering who the secondary characters were and if they were good guys or bad guys.  The main bad guy just seemed a bit to fantastical to me.  Maybe I just don't know enough about Revelations to "get it," but it was just too much.
So, after having high hopes, I just didn't enjoy the story.  I enjoyed the concept and ideas that went into the book but not the actual story.  Oh well, I guess you can't enjoy every book out there.


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