Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins
The rapture hits mid-flight, and the world's most powerful man is the Antichrist.
Who drives the story
A 747 pilot for Pan-Continental who was flying the plane when the Rapture hit. He ignored his wife Irene's faith until her disappearance proved her right; now he leads the Tribulation Force with guilt as fuel.
A senior writer for Global Weekly chasing the story of the millennium. He witnesses Carpathia's murders and keeps the memory the hypnotist wants erased, making him the first to name the Antichrist.
Rayford's Stanford-student daughter, left behind only because she was home visiting. She loses her mother, brother, and grandparents in one afternoon and must choose faith with her eyes open.
The associate pastor left behind, a self-confessed 'fake' believer who ran a church he never joined. He inherits Pastor Billings's videotape and becomes the Tribulation Force's teacher.
The charismatic rising world leader who murders his own staff and hypnotizes witnesses to forget. He is the Antichrist of Scripture, adored by the world he is deceiving.
Rayford's wife, whose faith he dismissed until the Rapture took her, their son Raymie, and his parents. Her absence is the book's loudest sermon.
Also in the story
The Israeli botanist whose desert-blooming formula made Israel wealthy and self-sufficient. His cryptic remark that Israel is safe because of God's promise lingers with Buck.
How they are connected
He ignored his wife Irene's faith until her disappearance proved her right; now he leads the Tribulation Force with guilt as fuel.
Cameron "Buck" WilliamsNicolae Carpathia
He witnesses Carpathia's murders and keeps the memory the hypnotist wants erased, making him the first to name the Antichrist.
Rayford's Stanford-student daughter, left behind only because she was home visiting.
Dr. Chaim RosenzweigCameron "Buck" Williams
His cryptic remark that Israel is safe because of God's promise lingers with Buck.
Go deeper
Left behind by your own unbelief · Deception as political power · Faith with proof you can't use · The end times as a countdown
Themes explainedThe full story act by act, the ending explained and a quick quiz.
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