By Jori Hanna | Contributor
The Harbingers series is designed almost like a TV show.
Each author writes from one character's point of view, and each novella both has its own story arch and fits into a larger story arch of the whole series.
The suspense novel "The Assault" (Cycle Two of the Harbingers series) by Bill Myers, Frank Peretti, Angela Hunt, Alton Gansky picks up where Cycle One, "Invitation," left off.
Myers begins the book by sending the team to Rome. Brenda Barnick can occasionally predict the future through art. Bjorn "Tank" Christenson can occasionally heal through God's power. Andi Goldstein is an analyst and can see patterns and connections where most people wouldn't see anything. Professor McKinney is an atheist and former priest who prioritizes logic.
Through these characters, this book opens a way for discussions of the Bible and the Gospel message; however, it also leans into seemingly supernatural powers and abilities some Christians may struggle with.
In Rome, Professor McKinney, Brenda and her adopted son Daniel, Tank and Andi find themselves in the midst of danger unlike anything on this planet. Animals have been dying without cause, and now they have a clue - a scroll the Vatican was very interested in.
But it is hard to know who to trust when taxi drivers take you where you need to go, rather than asking for your preferred destination.
A few months after their trip to Rome, Peretti brings the team to Florida, where fish and birds have been dying again by no obvious means. But it's not the deaths that gathered them together - it's Andi. She'd been hospitalized because she was seeing things and hearing voices. A search for the cause of Andi's ailment leads the team to floating orbs, near death experiences, and an organization called The Gate.
Hunt picks up the story a few days after the resolution of Peretti's novella and deals with the aftermath. For once, the team has a chance to study, learn and try to get one step ahead of The Gate and their plans for world domination.
But can they truly learn as much as they need to if Andi continues to struggle with the effects of the death and destruction around her?
As she studies the orb they collected in their previous encounter, she also spends time with a therapist, trying to get back to her normal self. Unfortunately, the orb she has been studying has not been dormant and the situation promptly escalates.
Finally, Gansky brings this collection to a close by taking the team to a fancy retirement party in California. Their purpose there soon becomes apparent as fog fills the streets and monstrous creatures prey on the lives of those unlucky enough to be at ground level. The team must race against the fog to find it's connection to The Gate before the creatures reach the fiftieth floor of the building.
Readers who enjoy supernatural thrillers would enjoy this book. There can be some graphic scenes and descriptions of creatures and monsters, but there is always hope in the face of adversity.
