The Rapture by Liz Jensen


I was intrigued by the title of this book; my childhood experience with religion draws me to works about extreme faith and the nearly ubiquitous abuse that results when parents choose evangelical Christianity over their own children. Gabrielle Fox has been appointed psychologist to sixteen-year-old Bethany Krall, who has killed her mother with a screwdriver and has frequent visions that come true: an Earthquake in Istanbul, a hurricane in Florida, and other eco-related events. Gabrielle has her own issues to deal with - she's confined to a wheelchair as the result of a car accident that took the life of her partner, Alex - and she finds it hard to deny Bethany's Nostradamusesque powers. When a group of scientists, including Gabrielle's love interest physicist Frazer Melville, kidnap Bethany, events take a turn for the worse, and the plot moves quickly to its unhappy ending. Teen readers will empathize with Bethany and enjoy the fast pace of this eco-thriller. Click here for an interview with Liz Jensen , watch the book trailer, or read a full review by Irvine Welsh. Grade 9+

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