666

by Salem Kirban

666 is a novel. Therefore much of it should be considered fictional. However, what this story is based on is from the Bible itself and should be considered factual in those situations. First event depicted is the rapture of believers from the earth where Christians go to meet Jesus Christ in the air as He appears to take them to heaven with Him. This event is followed by a period of seven years called the tribulation period, marked especially at the halfway point by the Abomination of Desolation committed by the Anti-christ, named Brother Batholomew, denoting the beginning of the Great Tribulation period spoken of in the book of the Revelation. Using the technologies of the day, the Anti-christ will create a common market bringing all humans under his control for both commerce and religion. Ultimately, he becomes a world dictator, with the goal in mind of standing against God and his judgment of the earth. The mark of 666 will be the key to the story as mankind will receive this mark in order to be able to do business, travel and any host of normal functions that they seek. Those who become Christians and resist the "mark" will be punished and in some cases even killed for their unwillingness to submit to the Anti-christ's reign. Suspense is the element that permeates through this story which depicts the suffering and terror inflicted by this world leader on his subjects.

Genres: Fiction, Horror, Christian Non Fiction, Spirituality, Religion

284 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1970

Reviews

[Theo Logos · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book rocked my world as an evangelical kid in the '70s. Raised in a Fundamentalist church, tales of the terrible Tribulation that would follow the Rapture of True Christians (those who agreed with our church on every point) terrified and exhilarated me. Before I discovered Stephan King or science fiction, it was this book that gave me my chills.

Imagine an apocalyptic dystopia, kinda like Orwell. Now imagine all the talent sucked out, and inserted in its place screwy evangelical end-times eschatology, and you have the gist of this one. One star for the writing, with an added star for memories of how it excited me at eleven.

[Alana · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book when it first came out in the 70's and as a kid back then, thought it was scary awesome. BUT, what I find especially interesting is how so much of the book is coming to fruition today. It made me track down a used 70's copy and have ordered this book for a reread.

[Tina · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ok...I am not even sure I want to admit that I ever even read this book, but I did. It was the mid 70s during the era of The Omen and The Excorcist, not to mention the Cold War. Having been raised in the evangelical church, the rhetoric of Kirban's tale was a familiar one. As an impressionable teen I was both fascinated and frightened. Apocalyptic tales were my "mysterium tremendems et fascians" and I could not get enough. I do not remember a lot about this book. Reviews tell it is mostly awful. But I am intrigued enough that I may pick it up one day and read it again.

[Jonell]

I read this when I was a teen. I would like to find another copy. It had some interesting views on the rapture and the tribulation. The book is fiction but the author supported his ideas with scripture location in the margin of the book. I would like to read more of this authors work.

[Todd · Rating 5 out of 5]

IF you like "end time" novels, like Left Behind, then you'll like this one. It was one of the first books of it's type that I know of, and very well written. In fact I was never able to keep a copy of it, or the sequel 1000 because I kept giving them away! lol

[Amy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm popping this in here because a podcast made me realize I should review Left Behind and I distinctly remember thinking within a few pages of that piece of trash "I've read this silly thing before but it was actually better written and with far fewer typos!"
I read this book surreptitiously (despite pulling it out of my Baptist church's library) because it seemed akin to the types of books I was strictly forbidden at the time due to it's aim to traumatize and the sheer hyperbolic-ness of the tale. It was also action packed and fit a specific anxiety of my youth. After reading this and as I entered junior-high, we switched from a strict, conservative Baptist church to a fundamentalist 'Bible-based' church nigh-near a cult where this type of fear-mongering was actually quite blase. It's a good one for keeping the already-quaking-in-their-boots-believers in line but probably not so successful in evangelizing... so I guess it serves the same purpose as the Left Behind series in that regard. Honestly, Kirban shoulda sued for copywrite infringement.

comparisons to Stephen King aren't that far off though don't expect any salaciousness, only inventive torture, cataclysms and deaths.

[Brian Wilcox · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read this when it came out in the 70s. 666 is based on the interpretation of a genre of writing called Apocalyptic, a highly-symbolic mode of literature found in the Jewish and Christian Scriptures. I was in conservative religion, like the author, of a literalist-biblical orientation. It was scary to me, and it spoke of a future I had been taught was to happen. So, 666 is a work of fiction to portray a future that for many, if not most, conservative Christians is not fictional at all.

I came to disagree thoroughly with this kind of teaching. This appears a literalizing of literature that was highly disguised to speak to the faith communities in cultures where persecution from outsiders was a threat. So, Apocalyptic is code-language, so to speak. To read Apocalyptic literature as telling of persons being raptured bodily into the sky, or disappearing suddenly, or having numbers on the head, or being thrown into a lake of fire, or Jesus coming out of the sky riding a white horse is a disservice to the genre and the community or writer(s) that created this literature.

[Thompson · Rating 1 out of 5]

This novel follows the dispensational pre-tribulation perspective. The book tries to fit in every conceivable Biblical prophecy into that perspective. In short, the book is an almost incoherent mess.

[Sylvanus Gatorwu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this book as a secondary school boy and i must say its effect has been a lasting one on my life.
I think it is a must read for everyone.

[Lance Pester · Rating 1 out of 5]

I also read this book many years ago, and it stands out to me after all this time, not because it was good, but because it was the first book that I had to force myself to finish because of lousy writing/editing. The book starts out with the main character telling the story in 1st person perspective. About halfway through, the perspective changes to 3rd person for a few chapters, then back to 1st person for a few chapters, then IN THE MIDDLE OF A CHAPTER changes back to 3rd person, and stays in that perspective for the rest of the book. If you can stand the kind of writing that would give an editor a stroke, then go for it. The plot is not memorable, the characters are not memorable.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another of the sensationalist novels spawned by the Rapture craze of the early 1970's.
One of the more interesting things about this ne is that it real news phitigraphs and stories to illustrate the story.

[Mark Heishman · Rating 2 out of 5]

A chilling story set in a static present state. The book moves in time but correlating them to reality never moves it to the past. Left me with "what ifs" that I'd rather forget. Some books are better left unread.

[Lee Scoresby · Rating 2 out of 5]

I actually enjoyed reading this book back in the seventies. At least it is better than those monstrosities Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins put out. I wonder why he keeps switching from first to third person.

[Chadster · Rating 4 out of 5]

better than left behind... quicker with less drama

[Evans Light · Rating 4 out of 5]

No review I could write would top this illustrated web-based review:

http://blogs.sfweekly.com/exhibitioni...

Warning: extreme hilarity ensues.