2013: Beyond Armageddon

by Robert Ryan

DECEMBER 21, 2012. The Mayans chose this as the point of alpha and omega. The day when one age would end and a new one begin. They called it Creation Day.

BEFORE THE BEGINNING... The war between Good and Evil began in the untime. Long before the universe existed, God's most beloved archangel and his legion rose up against Him, and were cast into Hell. And Lucifer became Satan.

OCTOBER 1947. Two scrolls are discovered. One was written by Lot, after his escape from Sodom. The other is the precursor to the Book of Revelation: the Apocalypse of Enoch, personal scribe to God. Their eyewitness testimony gives indisputable proof: HEAVEN AND HELL ARE REAL. THERE IS A GOD. THERE IS A SATAN. Enoch foretells their day of reckoning: DECEMBER 21, 2012.

Thus begins the ultimate archaeological dig: the dig for Hell. It is a demon-stalked quest that will Zeke Sloan from Satanic murders in Washington, D.C. to a necropolis deep beneath Jerusalem--where a man believing he is John the Baptist communes with God, and the dead await their Messiah. Then deeper, to the lowest point on earth: the Dead Sea. Then deeper still--into the darkest heart of Evil. For it is far below the mysterious body of water the Greeks called the Devil's Sea that Armageddon will take place.

THE WAR THAT BEGAN IN HEAVEN MUST END IN HELL.

Genres: Fantasy

413 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 18, 2012

About the author

I was born and raised in the D.C. where tourists don't go--a land of soul food and Scrapple.

We lived directly behind the neighborhood movie theater, and my mother took me to everything from the time I was barely out of diapers. When I reached the ripe old age of about six, I couldn't wait for the Saturday creature features. Atomic mutants running amok, the monsters of Ray Harryhausen, Roger Corman's Poe films, and the unabashed frightfests of William Castle were among the early influences that warped my writer's muse into a breeding ground for--to borrow a line from the sci-fi classic Forbidden Planet--my "Monsters from the Id." In Castle's The Tingler, when Vincent Price told us all to scream because the Tingler was loose in the theater, you better believe I screamed. On the literary front I soon discovered Edgar Allan Poe, H.P. Lovecraft and Robert Bloch, among others, and followed the trail they blazed into the "ghoul-haunted woodland of Weir." It seems I have always been drawn to scary stories.

Reviews

[Peter Younghusband · Rating 1 out of 5]

Offensive and insulting to Christians but non Christians will not know that they are being deceived by the author's warped theology.

[Erik Sapp · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked the idea behind this book. Sadly, the writing and storytelling ruined it.

I felt like I was reading a pulp novel - the perfect hero who can do no wrong; the lovely female sidekick who does nothing; the male sidekicks who have roles, but no identity of their own. The villain (and I don't mean Satan) was telegraphed from the start, with no twist in the middle. (At one point, I thought the author was throwing in a twist, but it turned out exactly as expected.)

The climax was...not. First, the hero should have died if Satan had any brains. (Avoiding spoilers, but it's clear Satan and his demons had better tactics they could have used.) Second, the author, for all of his attempts to portray God as the good guy, actually concedes Satan's point that God is a petty tyrant. Finally, God just solves everything. (If it was that easy, why didn't that happen long ago..?)

I managed to finish this book, but only because I did want to see how it ended. Now that I know, I doubt I will ever read this book again.

[Nadia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like it... God vs. Devil

This book started with action, slowed down, and picked right back up. I enjoyed the ending the most! Overall a good read😉

[Tisha · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book had a 5 star rating from me for the first 80% of the book. Unfortunately, it went downhill so steeply from there that a 2 star rating became fairly generous.

******WARNING********* ********SPOILER ALERT**********

First, the good. Zeke is a man who has a long history of struggling in the fight between good and evil. After a sincere prayer to God and some miraculous occurences, Zeke becomes convinced that he is destined to undertake a journey to find the entrance to Hell. For such a controversial plot, the author lays the groundwork, carefully, including skepticism and reasonable questioning on the part of the protagonist. The history on Sodom and Gomorrah is quite well-researched and is very interesting even apart from main thrust of the novel. Different characters are introduced and intertwined within the story. The hunt for the mouth of Hell begins and it is found. Zeke goes into Hell, armed with relics, holy water grenades and a growing faith. He survives the ante-chamber of Hell and confronts Satan. They battle and, as promised, God appears. At this point, the whole novel turns from well-researched and fairly gripping to ridiculous and unfounded. God turns out to be a New Age flower child with a serious lack of authentic leadership. He is a lukewarm, mild, and somewhat irritating "twin deity" who can't figure out what to do with the problem of Man and his propensity towards Evil. After admitting he's made some pretty stupid mistakes with Man throughout human history, God remains in Hell to rehabilitate Satan while sending Zeke and his friends (who by now have joined Zeke in Hell) back to earth with a videotaped recording of this somewhat unresolved showdown between God and Satan for the purposes of providing humanity with their definite, last-time-offer to choose good over evil. They return to earth and within 24 hours, all souls on Earth have viewed the God-approved videotape (complete with Divine close-up shots) and peace talks begin with the "dusting off" of the Oslo Accords.

All in all, a book that started out strong, only to crash and burn by the end.

[Fernando · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you would to combine The Exorcist, National Treasure, The Omen, You would have - 2013: Beyond Armageddon



I'm not sure why this book only has 3 stars. In all honesty, that's absurd. 2013: Beyond Armageddon is a book that captured my full attention and it never let go. The book is a combination of The Exorcist, National Treasure, Omen, all rolled into one. I understand the beliefs of most readers may not be exact to those of the author. Personally my beliefs aren't really that close to the authors (Example - I don't believe in crosses/crucifix, etc.) at all. Yet, at the very end. I do believe in God (Jehovah), Jesus, and the Devil. I know the end is near...and so does author of 2013: Beyond Armageddon - Robert Ryan (well I don't know if he believes in Jehovah, but you get the idea! lol)

[Debbie Reynolds · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nightmares are made of these!!

I really couldn't put this story down. I had to look away a bunch of times (lol I have a very vivid imagination) frightening in many places and gave me the heeby jeebies in other places. Although I'm really not into creepy scary stories this one grabbed me till the end. Yes even though some of the actions of the characters were a little (oh come on!) I was still able to get into the journey the characters were on. It is fiction so if you keep that in mind you will see that the Author really had put some thought into each situation. (Robert obviously has a more vivid imagination than I do) Will definitely read more from this author.

[Ken Schloman · Rating 1 out of 5]

What started as a promising idea went down hill fairly early. After 100 pages I felt like I was being lectured by a literal religious fundamentalist. Because of this tone, it may appeal to some readers--- whose beliefs I respect--- but it does not strike proper tone for me. Don't get me wrong. The early part of the novel dealing with the story of Lot and the area around the Dead Sea was interesting, but as a whole this book is just not my cup of tea.

[Edmund de Wight · Rating 3 out of 5]

Feh. It started out good, became kind of boilerplate with the manly hero who never fails and ended with what I can only describe as a novelization of a video game. Really, the hero throwing shiruken made from silver crucifixes at SATAN? Shooting Satan with a machine gun? And it was having an effect? The author has potential but there were some things in this particular story that almost had me put it down. So so.

[Bill Thibadeau · Rating 3 out of 5]

I believe that there are two separate stories in this book. The one that I enjoyed was about the story that developed the basis for the trip to the Dead Sea and the excavation(s). However, the story about the devil was simply too much to believe. My overall rating of 3.0 is the average of the writing style of 4.0 and the storyline of 2.0.

[David Donaghe · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. It was the only book I ever read where someone goes down to hell and kicks the Devil's ass.

[Brandon Jones · Rating 2 out of 5]

book started out really good for the first couple chapters then took a nose dive. The wOrst had to be the dialogue a few times I was laughing to myself at how bad it was.

[Gabrielle · Rating 2 out of 5]

So done with this type of book...this one bored me to sleep...well at least it was good for something!

[Rona · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm not really a religious person and I found this to be a bit much for me

[Keith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book

This book started a bit slow but once it got going it pulled me right in and became difficult to put down. Very well written and compelling story.