The Last Sacrifice

The Last Disciple #2

by Hank Hanegraaff, Sigmund Brouwer

Helius, Nero's most trusted advisor, anticipates the death of his sworn enemy, the legendary warrior Gallus Sergius Vitas, scheduled to die a gruesome death in the arena. However, the badly beaten man who appears in the amphitheater is not who he seems. Rescued by a stranger and given a mysterious scroll, Vitas is told that he must decipher this letter to find the answers he needs-a letter that Helius is also determined to decipher and to keep hidden from Nero. As Nero's reign of terror grows, so does his circle of enemies.

Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Christian Fiction, Christian, Biblical, Religion, Biblical Fiction

416 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 28, 2005

About the author

Hendrik "Hank" Hanegraaff, also known as the "Bible Answer Man", is an American Christian author and radio talk-show host. Formerly an evangelical Protestant, he joined the Eastern Orthodox Church in 2017. He is an outspoken figure within the Christian countercult movement, where he has established a reputation for his critiques of non-Christian religions, new religious movements, and cults, as well as heresy in Christianity. He is also an apologist on doctrinal and cultural issues.

Reviews

[Donna · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is Historical Fiction/Christian Fiction and this didn't work for me. This mixed Nero's time in Rome with early Christianity. It wasn't a successful mix for me; it felt like two different stories. Now I will say, that this is the second book in a series and I didn't read the first one. So I definitely felt that I was missing some much needed back story on a few of the characters. So 2 stars.

[ClaraBelle · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was such a disappointment to me. I picked it up thinking it was just a book that brought to life the reign of Nero’s terror against Christians in Ancient Rome. However, actually, it was a book that touts the belief that the millennium reign of Jesus and the tribulations of martyrs has already happened. For that reason, which I highly disagree with, I don’t like this book or it’s author!
Warning: excessive details of sexual assault, imprisonments, torture, abortion, martyrdom, and Nero’s appetite for homosexual pedophilia is discussed so disgustingly
Rating: 1 out of 10 stars
Recommend: can’t recommend it, sorry

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

I recently posted a review of the first book in this series, The Last Disciple, and loved it. This book was even better. It picks up where the first book ended and brings all of the characters back from the first book.

As I stated in my other review, the authors wrote these books with the premise that the Tribulation spoken of in Revelation has already happened in the first century. I disagree with that idea, but it is still an interesting idea and did not make me enjoy the books any less because of it.

Hanegraaff and Brouwer came up with some great characters to put in these books, and the best one, in my opinion, was Vetis. He pretty much turns out to be the central character in the books, and they did a great job of developing his character throughout the books. This book was even better than the first, and I did literally read it in one sitting, loving every minute of it.

This is historical fiction, and I have learned a lot about what happened in the days of Nero and what happened with Jerusalem. I would highlt recommend this whole series. It is, to use an over-used word, awesome.

[Innocent · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just love historical fiction with anything that has to do with Rome...

[Time · Rating 3 out of 5]

This will be "The Empire Strikes Back" of the series. Too much time reintroducing the characters, to long to get to the story, and when it does, stops too early.
Gruesome in spots. PG14 for implied violence/adult situations.

[Melissa Corrick · Rating 1 out of 5]

The is the second book to the The Last Disciple which I didn't like. I didn't like this one any better. It's still the horrible details of Rome. I also thought that by the end of this book we'd have closure of Vitas and Sophia. But we don't. They plan to drag it out for one more book.

[Maurice Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the second novel in this preterist interpretation. The first novel ended with the two main characters, John the Evangelist (the last disciple) and Gallus Sergius Vitas, aboard a ship hurriedly cast off for Alexandria. Two of Nero's fictional henchmen are concerned that John has been writing about what will soon happen and about the beast whose number is 666. I see a flaw here in the author's story-line when the authors have John the evangelist already writing “Revelation” when his is on the boat with Vitas.

It seems a small flaw, but to readers who are convinced, as I am, that John the evangelist was a disciple of the Baptist and, I think, he heard what the Baptist preached warning the Jews what would happen if they reject the Messiah. I think John the evangelist incorporated what he heard from the Baptist when, near the end of his life, he wrote “Revelation” in AD 96. This seems a small point, but I think, it nullifies the authors attempt to get their readers to pay more attention to the preterist position. It's a shame. I think the Jews all knew what the Baptist warned about before it actually happened. Why would God send the Baptist to warn them if the warning was written down sixty some years after Jerusalem was destroyed. Even though the evangelist wrote “Revelation” some of what he wrote is what he learned listening to the Baptist. This discrepancy of when the warning was preached, I think, is the reason why “The Last Disciple” series failed to capture reader’s attention.

Both “The Last Sacrifice” and the preceding novel are full of adventures as the fictional characters interact within the novel's historical setting. Both the Jews and the Romans are persecuting the Christians. Roman mistreatment of the Jews incites them to resistance, which escalates rapidly. The Jews are resisting the procurator, Florus, who takes heavy reprisals against the Jews. Many historical persons and events form the background for the novels. “The Last Sacrifice” ends while Nero is still alive and The Temple is still standing.

[Asher · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book tells the story of how Vitas escaped the consequences of standing up to the emperor Nero, and his path to finding the meaning of a secret scroll given to him by John the apostle.

I quite liked the pace of this book, for it wasn't too fast or too slow. I don't necessarily agree with people who say that the antichrist has already come (which is strongly suggested in this book), I still enjoyed reading the book. I liked how the author told a large story through many points of view and tied it all together. My favorite parts of the book were the parts which dealt with Judea's revolt against the Roman Empire.

[Audrey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Vitus was supposed to have died a gruesome death in the arena but someone went to great lengths to rescue him. Now he is sent on a secret mission through a coded message in John's Epistle. Fascinating book but I couldn't always get behind it except that life during the Roman Empire was extremely dangerous.

[Lady Safari · Rating 4 out of 5]

The second book in the series is definitely better, but the author still doesn’t build depth into the characters. I would have like to know a bit more about them. What brought them to the places they are. There are only small hints and so it’s like reading a history book.

[Dean · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book!!! Great series!!!

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book 2 of 3 in this Christian thriller series set during the reign of the emperor Nero. The "last sacrifice" is, of course, Jesus Himself.

** VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED **

[Challice]

DNF about 1/3 the way through. Too brutal for me.

[Sabrina · Rating 3 out of 5]

So, this book wasn't as entertaining as the original, but it was well-written. There just wasn't much going on in this one.

Will I read the next one - yes.

[Nancy K. Rea · Rating 2 out of 5]

No

Liked the first book, but this one jumped around too much and really didn't make much sense. Plus the cruelty was off the charts.

[Faith Ijiga · Rating 5 out of 5]

An unusual book to read at this time when everyone is Reading books set during the Christmas season, but I enjoyed reading this book and the others in this series. And I'm glad I did.

[Christian Fiction Addiction · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Last Sacrifice sees the return of Gallus Sergius Vitas, who had been sentenced to death by Emperor Nero and his most trusted adviser, Helius. While Nero waits in the arena stadium to watch a man he believes to be Vitas die at the hands of a gladiator, little does he know that Vitas has already been spirited away out of Rome after having been tossed onto a ship along with the Apostle John. Along with his freedom, Vitas has been given a scroll written in Hebrew and filled with symbolism he has been told to unravel to find the answers he's seeking. The scroll contains portions of the letter of Revelation, a letter that Helius is also seeking to understand, for it portends the death of Emperor Nero, information Helius will seek to keep from Nero at any cost. When Helius realizes that Vitas is still alive, he sets into motion a plot to kill Vitas in order to protect the power that Nero has shared with him, a power that he and Nero are bent on using to wipe out every last Christian in the empire.

I greatly enjoyed this follow-up to the story begun in The Last Disciple. Hanegraaf and Brouwer make a dynamic writing team, and the scenes crackle with action and tension and suspense. The book is written at an unstoppable pace, making it difficult to step away from it for any length of time. I love being able to watch Vitas on his journey, from moments of hopelessness to growing ever nearer to choosing to follow the Christos whose name seems to follow him no matter where he is. Some of the scenes involving Nero are so realistically written that I felt utter revulsion at reading about an Emperor who was so entirely twisted and perverted, especially the scene where he has a boy castrated and then seeks to marry him. How bizarre that the Roman world embraced this as normal! The scenes set in Jerusalem are very powerful ones, and serve as a cautionary tale of how far off course it is possible for God's seemingly devoted followers to go. Men of power, such as the temple priests, were seen serving God with devotion and yet easily willing to kill anyone in their way, in order to defend their position of power. Likewise, the scenes set in Rome, where men and woman did as they pleased, satisfying any desires of the flesh without any regard for how it impacted others, made me contemplate how very similar our own culture is today.


The Last Sacrifice is a very worthy follow up to the first book in the series, and serves to advance the story of Vitas and his wife, as well as the story of the survivors in Jersulam, while leaving me craving the conclusion to this powerful series. I award this book 4.5 out of 5 stars. I'm certainly glad that the wait is almost over for book 3, The Last Temple, which I will be reviewing in August 2012.


Book has been provided by the publisher, Tyndale (courtesy of publicist Katie Dodillet), for the purposes of this unbiased review.

[Andrew Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

The second installment in The Last Disciple series, The Last Sacrifice picks up nearly where the first book leaves off, with Gallus Sergius Vitas fleeing Rome aboard a ship. He has been entrusted with a secret missive, instructing him in what he should do in order to avoid Nero. As it turns out, the men who arranged for his rescue from the arena are conspiring against Nero in order to overthrow him, and they hope to use Vitas in that coup. Whilst Vitas attempts to unravel the mystery he has been thrust into, other characters that we met in the first book have their own difficulties to overcome. Damian, Vitas’ brother, must find the real John, who he thought he had captured in the first book; Sophia, Vitas’ wife, flees Nero with Simeon Ben-Aryeh, after she was invited to commit suicide. Valeria, a young Roman woman stranded in Jerusalem, attempts to escape the city as civil war threatens to engulf it. And Maglorius, the ex-gladiator friend of Vitas and Damian, seeks for Valeria and her younger brother in order to keep them safe, while protecting the wife of Ben-Aryeh.
Overall, the book moves at a good pace, even when (or perhaps because of) switching character viewpoints often. At first, it may seem somewhat jarring to jump from the Aegean Sea to Jerusalem, but by the time the book leaves the Holy City, the reader has become accustomed to that locale, and it seems a shame to leave it. The book is structured in three parts, four counting the prologue. The first part, as mentioned above, takes place on the Aegean Sea, for the most part following Vitas, though at times the reader gets to visit Damian’s subconscious in Rome. The second part takes place primarily in Jerusalem, and the final part switches between Alexandria and Patmos. This lends to a sense of sprawling saga, much in the vein of the ancient tales of Virgil or the Icelandic Sagas.
For the most part, the book flows well, with the historical detail and religiosity being an asset rather than a burden to the story. There are some instances when it is difficult to determine whose perspective the reader is getting, and at times perspective seems to shift from person to person without any indication, which can be jarring. The book also ends without much resolution, though in this case it is appropriate, as it is the second part of a trilogy; and now that the end has been mentioned, let the author of this review also say, without revealing any spoilers, that there is a type of cliff hanger at the end, in a way. Taking the book as a whole and part of a series, it is well worth the read.

[Josiah DeGraaf · Rating 3 out of 5]

While an enticing sequel to the previous book, The Last Sacrifice suffers heavily from a lack of clear direction.

Pros:

A lot of the pros from the previous book still stand. The characters are still interesting and complicated, the eschatological view is still great, and the book is still page-turning and very hard to put down. While none of these are as top-line as in book one, they're still good enough to keep the book interesting.

Cons:

While this was present in the previous book, this becomes very noticeable in this book: namely, that the book as a whole doesn't have a real plot. There's no discernable goals for many of the characters, other than to stay alive and escape. As a result, the story is mostly driven by the character's reactions to events rather than acting to events. And so you don't really feel like the story has gotten anywhere at the end of the book. It has set up the last book really well. But it feels like, plot-wise, that's all the story is: set-up. And so while it was an enjoyable read, it feels like it should be 50% shorter and part of Book 3, instead of its own separate book.

As a follow-up to the above point, the book has a really abrupt ending. Not as in a cliff-hanger ending--I love good cliff-hanger endings like Empire Strikes Back or Catching Fire. But it really feels like the author just chose an arbitrary point to split Book 2 and Book 3. There's no real climax to this book.


Overall:

This book is a lot weaker than Book One, mostly because, while this happened in book one as well, it just becomes really clear that there's no real plot for each book in the series: the plot is just an overarching one in the series as a whole. This makes each book feel more like an installment in a TV series than a book that is solely good on its own merits. Because most of this book is a set-up for Book 3, then, a lot of how good this book is depends on how good Book 3 ends up being. If Book 3 blows me away, then the set-up was at least partially worth it. Otherwise, while the story is engaging and a fun read, the lack of structure really hurts the story.

2.5 stars. (Okay)

[Renn Shearin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Helius, Nero’s most trusted adviser, anticipates the death of his sworn enemy, the legendary warrior Gallus Sergius Vitas, scheduled to die a gruesome death in the arena. However, the badly beaten man who appears in the amphitheater is not who he seems. Rescued by a stranger and given a mysterious scroll, Vitas is told he must decipher this letter to find the answers he needs—a letter that Helius is also determined to decipher and to keep hidden from Nero. As Nero’s reign of terror grows, so does his circle of enemies.

The Last Sacrifice was an excellent sequel to the Last Disciple. This novel finds Vitas waiting to die, as well as reveals the devastation that awaits Jews and Christians alike as Nero becomes more and more insane. The plot line of this novel picks up right where the first novel left off and continues at a quick and exciting pace. The plot is filled with mysterious characters, unexpected betrayals, and unforeseen twists. It ends with a cliff hanger that leaves the reader on the edge of their seat for the next book (out on August 1st, 2012). The tone of the novel varies as the book alternates between the perspectives of different characters.

The characters continued to be developed even more from the first novel, and some additional characters were added as well. These new characters and some of the old ones revealed new strengths and weaknesses and allegiances. Vitas and his wife continued in their growth as characters and as new Christians. It was neat to see their developing relationships with God and with other characters as a result.

Overall, I really enjoyed the Last Sacrifice. I would highly recommend this novel, but only after reading the Last Disciple.

[Cathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

The sequel to "The Last Disciple." This was the continuing story of Romans and Jews during Nero's era of persecution. It followed in much the same sort of adventure and story line, and as before, the tales of persecution could be troubling. Intrigue.

Favorite quote:

"When you live with the Christos in your heart, you can face any tribulation."

In the afterword, the authors speak about John being told to measure the temple in Revelation 11:1-2, and that is partly why they believe that the temple still stood when Revelation was penned, and further, why they believe that much of Revelation referred to that point in time when it was destroyed.

But, in the book of Revelation, the author, John, also spent some time in heaven and it was unclear to me whether he was measuring the earthly temple or the heavenly one, or the heavenly one as symbolic of the coming earthly one to be destroyed as well. It did seem like it could be the earthly one because of the talk of the Gentiles trampling on the Holy City.

Some of the story line seemed to make Revelation a personal interpretation for the characters, rather than a public interpretation for all. I am not really sure what I think of that, and I'm not really sure if the story reads that way. It will take the 3rd book to tell.

I had thought of the interpretation of the mark being on someone's forehead (thoughts) and on their hand (actions) before.

[Judah · Rating 4 out of 5]

While I don't completely agree with the views set forth in this series, I found this second volume much more enjoyable than the first.

It still has too many character threads (I'm constantly mentally trying to catch up with who's who, doing what, and with whom), and does end AGAIN on a cliff hanger. Despite this, this series is probably one of the most meaty and wonderfully honest Christian fiction works of modern note. It's a refreshing change from the female-slanting fluff one mostly finds. It's not very often a book has me thinking and questioning my own views and considering others PoV despite disagreements on my part.
Also, when was the last time historical Christian fiction, showed the dangers, and horrifying truth of living in persecution under a tyrant? I'm so use to the air brushed , Sunday School/C. Demille brand of Bible history, that the change was wonderfully delicious. Hopefully, ill be into book 3 before long.

[Jamie Boehmer · Rating 3 out of 5]

You can look at this book as a counter to the incredibly famous Left Behind series. While the LB series takes an approach to the tribulation occurring at some point later in the future, with the anti-Christ being some European evil personified, The Last Sacrifice (part of a series) writes from a framework that the tribulation has already happened, specifically during the reign of Nero before the destruction of the Jewish temple in A.D. 70. It's a very interesting and compelling story. The characters range from Jewish Zealots, to Roman military generals, as well as the Disciple John. The protagonist is a Roman General named Vitas who has been betrayed by Nero and is now running for his life from an Emperor and another member of his inner - circle. A very fascinating read and I can't wait to pick up the next one.

[Margaret Roberts · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story and mystery continues for key characters: vitas, sophia, ben-areyah, the apostle John and maglorius, as well as other characters interloped. There is revolt in Jerusalem, persecution of Christians and a complex unfolding of events circulating around a letter that may or may not lead to revolution. What was though as impossible, is possible and in the midst of uncertainty; promise, in tumult there is peace as the early Christians take a stand of peace and love. Another faat-paced read that truly puts the early church into perspective and gives an idea of how history could have, or may have unfolded.

[Tiffany DeOs · Rating 1 out of 5]

The Last Sacrifice by Hank Hengraaff and Sigmund Brouwer is a historical fiction book written just after the disciples time. It is a continuation of the first in the series The Last Disciple The description of this book had me super excited to read it. Unfortunately it left me wanting. It is very wordy and slow, very, very slow. I kept reading hoping it would pick up but it doesn’t. If you want a lot of facts that aren’t completely pertinent to the story then this might be the book for you. This is not one I recommend though.

[William Dicks · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book was well written, it kept my attention, and I think the characters were mostly well developed. The book is written from a partial-preterist point of view with the belief that the book of Revelation was written before the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple in A.D. 70.

I do believe that the ending could have been better s it was a real anti-climax when I suddenly realized I had just finished reading the last chapter.

[Christy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful story/stories about Romans, Jews and Nazarenes mixing differnt characters so you could view differnt perspectives. I accidently read this one before The Last Disiple, but it was easy to get into the story. The end is abrupt and leaves a lot of questions, hoping for another book.

If you liked the Left Behind series, you're going to looove this series!

[Jenna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't enjoy this quite as much as the first. As one other reviewer said, there was too much time reintroducing characters and plot lines from the first book when I just wanted more story. And I was very sad to find out that, though this clearly seems to lead up to a third book, there is not one available...what happened?!

[Justin Nichols · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.8 -- Not quite as good as its predecessor, but still an excellent novel. I'm very impressed with this historical fiction story so far. A lot to cover factually, but it's not overpowering the micro-level of character interactions and plotlines. I really enjoyed this 2nd book in the series of 3 and am extremely excited to find and start The Last Temple!

[Denae Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

These reminded me of the Left Behind series, except set in the 1st century. The government is cracking down on Christianity, and God's church is taking a stand.