Review by Nyambura Githui -- The End-Time Foretellers

Nyambura Githui · Post by **Nyambura Githui** » 08 Jul 2019, 17:51

[Following is a volunteer review of "The End-Time Foretellers" by Ran Weber.]

2 out of 4 stars

Share This Review

The End-Time Foretellers by Ran Weber is an apocalyptic thriller about end-of-days prophecies and digital terror. The protagonist is Yoav Sharf, a former Mossad agent. He spends all of his days in a computer gaming store he owns. He’s a computer hacker who prefers to be by himself, away from his friends and family. He blames himself for Yossi's death.

Rami, Yoav’s ex-IDF operator, recruits Yoav for a mission to hunt down a cyber-terrorist group calling themselves The End-Time Foretellers. The terrorists’ main goal is to find and pass the secret codes that unlock the Pillar of Fire in order to unleash a great war. Yoav’s mission is to retrieve the secret code, to prevent the Iranians from getting them. This mission takes him to LA where he meets Binyamin, a mysterious American Jew, who provides him with somewhere to stay. Yoav encounters with Iranians that want him dead, the FBI, weapons dealers, and other Israeli spies. In his journey, he has to find out who the Foretellers are, and what connects the mission to the death of Yossi.

The characters in the book are well developed. Yoav is a loner. He secludes himself from his family because of the Yossi's death. He does not have a good relationship with his father. Binyamin, on the other hand, is caring and warm. He sees something different in Yoav. He openly welcomes Yoav to his home and offers him a place to stay. He shows Yoav a kind of life he hasn’t experienced before. Slowly Binyamin wins Yoav over. Weber gives brief backgrounds on all the characters. The culture and ways of the Jewish people are clearly explained. The descriptions and details were simple and understandable, especially the technological parts of it. Weber didn’t get too technical on it.

However, there are many chapters in the book, which kind of discouraged me from reading it. The chapters are short, which is good, but it’s a jump from one scene to the next without any transition to aid the switch. Yoav sometimes acts naïve and makes decisions that end up getting him in trouble. He is too trusting for a spy. There are some grammatical errors and a few misspellings.

I give this book 2 out of 4 stars. Due to the conversations between Yoav and Binyamin, the book felt like it was more about philosophy. I would recommend this book to those whose interests are in apocalyptic prophecy books and spy books.

******
The End-Time Foretellers
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon

Charlie19 · Post by **Charlie19** » 10 Jul 2019, 00:18

Prophecies about endings are one of the most thrilling things in the world..Liked the review

Connie Otwani · Post by **Connie Otwani** » 11 Jul 2019, 18:12

A spy that is too trusting is obviously in the wrong profession, and when he happens to be the protagonist in a novel, then the reader may get frustated at times. I dont mind apocalypse thrillers but the philosophy twist doesn't make this one enticing. Great review!

danielleamy · Post by **danielleamy** » 17 Jul 2019, 04:17

I think the short chapters without transitions would be too distracting for me. It's a shame, as the premise of this sounded interesting. Thanks for the review!

Post by **Kibet Hillary** » 14 Aug 2019, 11:43

I like the fact that the characters were well-developed but the grammatical errors and the misspellings reflect poorly on the book. Thanks a lot for the review.

Kelyn · Post by **Kelyn** » 28 Aug 2019, 19:31

This book is supposedly apocalyptic, but I really don't see anything in it that points to that. It seems to be more of a spy thriller than anything else. I love apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction, but I think I'll have to give this one a pass. Thanks for the review!

Wanjugush · Post by **Wanjugush** » 30 Aug 2019, 23:25

This doesn't sound like a book I would love to read. Apocalyptic thrillers doesn't do for me. Thanks for the comprehensive review.

DD129 · Post by **DD129** » 31 Aug 2019, 09:50

I like these types of books, but the various errors, abrupt switches from scene to scene, and disconnect with the main character have turned me off from reading this one. Great review!