Left Behind - Book Series In Order (2024)

Book links take you to Amazon. As an Amazon Associate I earn money from qualifying purchases.

Publication Order of Left Behind Books

By: Tim LaHaye, Jerry B. Jenkins

Left Behind (1995)Description/BuyatAmazon
Tribulation Force (1996)Description/BuyatAmazon
Nicolae (1997)Description/BuyatAmazon
Soul Harvest (1998)Description/BuyatAmazon
Apollyon (1999)Description/BuyatAmazon
Assassins (1999)Description/BuyatAmazon
The Indwelling (2000)Description/BuyatAmazon
The Mark (2000)Description/BuyatAmazon
Desecration (2001)Description/BuyatAmazon
The Remnant (2002)Description/BuyatAmazon
Armageddon (2003)Description/BuyatAmazon
Glorious Appearing (2004)Description/BuyatAmazon
The Rising (2005)Description/BuyatAmazon
The Regime (2005)Description/BuyatAmazon
The Rapture (2005)Description/BuyatAmazon
Kingdom Come (2007)Description/BuyatAmazon

Chronological Order of Left Behind Books

By: Tim LaHaye, Jerry B. Jenkins

The Rising(2005)Description/BuyatAmazon
The Regime(2005)Description/BuyatAmazon
The Rapture(2005)Description/BuyatAmazon
Left Behind(1995)Description/BuyatAmazon
Tribulation Force(1996)Description/BuyatAmazon
Nicolae(1997)Description/BuyatAmazon
Soul Harvest(1998)Description/BuyatAmazon
Apollyon(1999)Description/BuyatAmazon
Assassins(1999)Description/BuyatAmazon
The Indwelling(2000)Description/BuyatAmazon
The Mark(2000)Description/BuyatAmazon
Desecration(2001)Description/BuyatAmazon
The Remnant(2002)Description/BuyatAmazon
Armageddon(2003)Description/BuyatAmazon
Glorious Appearing(2004)Description/BuyatAmazon
Kingdom Come(2007)Description/BuyatAmazon

Publication Order of Before They Were Left Behind Books

By: Tim LaHaye, Jerry B. Jenkins

The Rising (2005)Description/BuyatAmazon
The Regime (2005)Description/BuyatAmazon
The Rapture (2005)Description/BuyatAmazon

Publication Order of Left Behind: The Kids Books

By: Tim LaHaye, Jerry B. Jenkins, Chris Fabry

The Vanishings (1998)Description/BuyatAmazon
Second Chance (1998)Description/BuyatAmazon
Through the Flames (1998)Description/BuyatAmazon
Facing the Future (1998)Description/BuyatAmazon
Nicolae High (1999)Description/BuyatAmazon
The Underground (1999)Description/BuyatAmazon
Busted! (2000)Description/BuyatAmazon
Death Strike (2000)Description/BuyatAmazon
The Search (2000)Description/BuyatAmazon
On the Run (2000)Description/BuyatAmazon
Into the Storm (2000)Description/BuyatAmazon
Earthquake! (2000)Description/BuyatAmazon
The Showdown (2001)Description/BuyatAmazon
Judgment Day (2001)Description/BuyatAmazon
Battling the Commander (2001)Description/BuyatAmazon
Fire from Heaven (2001)Description/BuyatAmazon
Terror in the Stadium (2001)Description/BuyatAmazon
Darkening Skies (2001)Description/BuyatAmazon
Attack of Apollyon (2002)Description/BuyatAmazon
A Dangerous Plan (2002)Description/BuyatAmazon
Secrets of New Babylon (2002)Description/BuyatAmazon
Escape from New Babylon (2002)Description/BuyatAmazon
Horsemen of Terror (2002)Description/BuyatAmazon
Uplink from the Underground (2002)Description/BuyatAmazon
Death at the Gala (2003)Description/BuyatAmazon
The Beast Arises (2003)Description/BuyatAmazon
Wildfire (2003)Description/BuyatAmazon
The Mark of the Beast (2003)Description/BuyatAmazon
Breakout! (2003)Description/BuyatAmazon
Murder in the Holy Place (2003)Description/BuyatAmazon
Escape to Masada (2003)Description/BuyatAmazon
War of the Dragon (2003)Description/BuyatAmazon
Attack on Petra (2004)Description/BuyatAmazon
Bounty Hunters (2004)Description/BuyatAmazon
The Rise of False Messiahs (2004)Description/BuyatAmazon
Ominous Choices (2004)Description/BuyatAmazon
Heat Wave (2004)Description/BuyatAmazon
The Perils of Love (2004)Description/BuyatAmazon
The Road to War (2004)Description/BuyatAmazon
Triumphant Return (2004)Description/BuyatAmazon

Left Behind is a series of Christian novels written by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins. The novels take readers to a world where all the Christians have left and the remnants must contend with seven years of trials and tribulations.

+The Story

There are sixteen novels in the Left Behind series. The books are biblically inspired. They are specifically drawn from the books of Ezekial, Revelation, Isaiah, and Daniel. The Bible speaks of a time when the true believers in Christ will be taken up to heaven to escape an earth-shattering disaster.

The people that are left behind must deal with the anti-Christ, a mysterious figure that rises to a place of power on the world stage and initially brings peace to all corners of the world.

His true purpose is eventually revealed and the heinous nature of the efforts he takes to cement his power, compounded upon by a litany of natural disasters, results in untold misery and suffering.

The Left Behind book series takes this concept and tries to arrange it into a cohesive fictional narrative with a large cast of characters, with heroes and villains and grand stakes.

Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins basically attempt to imagine what those events would look like. In their world, the anti-Christ is a European politician called Nicolae Jetty Carpathia.

He comes to power after all the Christians are raptured. The consequences of this event are first seen in ‘Left Behind’, the first novel in the series. Here, a pilot on his way to London is shocked when a number of his passengers suddenly disappear.

When this phenomenon is repeated all across the world, with disastrous effects, Nicolea emerges as the one person with the answers to all the problems, new and old. The figure rises to the position of Secretary-General of the UN. Not only does he promise peace, stability, and financial prosperity but he actually proceeds to deliver on those promises.

As Nicolea attempts to remake the world in his image, a small group of individuals realizes the truth of their predicament. They become newly minted Christians and transform into the Tribulation Force, an underground organization fighting to survive the coming days of misery and pain even as they attempt to convert as many people as they can find. Over time, they each learn that they have a divine destiny.

While the Left Behind series has a large cast, Rayford Steel is generally regarded as the primary protagonist. When he is first introduced, Ray is a pilot. He is also a negligent husband and father with a roving eye.

When the rapture happens, Ray goes home to find that his wife Irene has disappeared. He is reminded of all the times he scoffed at her religious beliefs and it leaves him wracked with guilt.

Over the course of the Left Behind series, Rayford comes to terms with his past failures. He converts to Christianity, makes peace with the rest of his family, and finds a new purpose in life.

Rayford can trace the changes in his life to his encounter with Bruce Barnes. Barnes was an assistant pastor at a church before the rapture. Despite his position, Barnes never truly believed in the things he taught.

When the rapture happens, Barnes’ wife and children are taken away to heaven but he is left behind, and the occurrence lives him heavily depressed. But he eventually recovers and forms the Tribulation Force.

Barnes is the one who leads Rayford to conversion. Together, they form the core of the Tribulation Force. They make it their mission to prepare people for the trials that will follow once the anti-Christ comes to power.

The Left Behind series is very divisive, even among Christian readers. Fans have complemented the books for being fast paced and action heavy. However, everyone generally agrees that the novels are not well-written, to begin with.

The series has also been accused of being anti-Catholic, a charge that the authors deny.

+Adaptations
The Left Behind Series was adapted into a live-action movie in 2000. Despite fairing poorly, the movie spawned two more sequels. None of them performed particularly well.

The whole series was eventually rebooted, with a new movie, also called ‘Left Behind’, being released in 2014. Starring Nicholas Cage and Chad Michael Murray, the movie was a financial failure.

There have been video games released based on the Left Behind Concept.

+The Author
Tim LaHaye was an American evangelical minister and author. Born in 1926 in Detroit, Michigan, Tim was ninety-years-old when he died in 2016. By then, he had written over eighty books.

Jerry B. Jenkins is an American author that was born in 1949 in Michigan. Jenkins primarily writes adventure and mystery fiction for children. He has a preference for stories with a Christian theme.

Tim and Jenkins met in the 1990s. The Left Behind series was Tim’s idea. The concept came to him while he was on a plane. He saw a pilot with a wedding ring flirting with a flight attendant. He considered the possibility that the pilot had a Christian Wife at home and then wondered what the man would do if the rapture happened and he went back home to find his wife gone.

When Tim spoke about his interest in developing the idea, the two of them entered into a partnership with Tim writing the outline for the stories while Jenkins did the actual writing.

Their collaborations saw them sell vastly more copies of their books as a team than they ever did individually.

+Left Behind
Rayford Steel is a pilot flying to London. Rayford hasn’t always been the best husband. And there is a woman on the plane with whom he intends to have an affair. Things take a complicated turn when a number of the passengers disappear.

By the time Rayford gets home, the world has descended into madness, with people disappearing all over the world. Those that are left behind must face the apocalypse.

+Tribulation Force
The world was forever changed when millions of people around the world suddenly disappeared. Then natural disasters were triggered, devastating entire populations. And unfortunately for everyone left behind, that was only the beginning.

There is plenty of war, famine, and plagues on the horizon. Rayford and his friends must stand ready to weather the oncoming storm.

Book Series In Order » Characters » Left Behind

5 Responses to “Left Behind”

  1. Susan Marie Fulton: 4 weeks ago

    i just completed all 12 books of the series and I was so captivated. now i will be ordering the regime, the rapture and kingdom come. these books have really helped me my understanding of our lord. i will, ofcourse continue reading my bible

    Reply

  2. Marcia: 3 months ago

    I’m just on Book 9, I’m finding out there are 3 more books that are listed 1-2-3. I started with “Left BEHIND” Are the other 3 dated 2005 important to read before the last book or does it matter? I’d like to see Mel Gibson do a movie to include ALL of it. Would be EPIC!

    Reply

    • Graeme: 3 months ago

      I would read up to Glorious Appearing, then read The Rising, The Regime then The Rapture, THEN read Kingdom Come. One of those where the publication order of all of those just makes it that much better I find

      Reply

  3. carren jen hullinger: 3 years ago

    is the Kingdom COME THE LAST BOOK IN THER SERIES

    Reply

    • Graeme: 3 years ago

      Yes

      Reply

Leave a Reply

Please Note

The links beside each book title will take you to Amazon where you can read more about the book, check availability, or purchase it. As an Amazon Associate, I earn money from qualifying purchases. If you would like to link to us, Get the Code Here.

BOOK OF THE MONTH:

The 29th Jack Reacher novel comes out this month. With 29 novels in the series, you'd think the bad guys would have learned by now! Reacher hitches a ride but the car is ran off the road. The driver is dead, and the bad guys have captured Reacher, with the idea of making him talk.

Yeah....that's not going to end well.

Order now at Amazon.

Donations/Oct Charities

I often get asked by readers if they can donate to the site as a thank you for all the hard work. While I appreciate the offer – please support one of these great causes instead (list rotates monthly):
Book Aid International
The Brain Tumour Charity
Make A Wish
North Carolina Hurricane Victims

Recommendations

Every 2 weeks we send out an e-mail with 12 Book Recommendations by genre. Subscribe today! Click here for all past recommendations.

CONTACT ME

Left Behind - Book Series In Order (2) Any issues with the book list you are seeing? Or is there an author or series we don’t have? Let me know!
For more information on BSIO read the About Me page.

    Featured Series

    Are you a Jack Reacher fan? If so, you absolutely have to read the Peter Ash series by author Nick Petrie.

    I recommend this series to anyone who has liked Jack Reacher, and everyone always replies thanking me for it. Nick makes my life easy. If you are a Jack Reacher fan, past or present, Check out this great series today.

    Top Thriller Authors

    Are you a fan of psychological thrillers? A big fan of authors such as Gillian Flynn? These are our most recommended authors in the thriller genre, which is my personal favourite genre:

    1. B.A. Paris
    2. Freida McFadden
    3. John Marrs
    4. Linwood Barclay
    5. Lucy Foley
    6. Megan Goldin
    7. Peter Swanson
    8. Ruth Ware
    9. Sarah Alderson
    10. Shari Lapena
    Left Behind - Book Series In Order (2024)
    Top Articles
    Latest Posts
    Recommended Articles
    Article information

    Author: Fredrick Kertzmann

    Last Updated:

    Views: 5994

    Rating: 4.6 / 5 (46 voted)

    Reviews: 85% of readers found this page helpful

    Author information

    Name: Fredrick Kertzmann

    Birthday: 2000-04-29

    Address: Apt. 203 613 Huels Gateway, Ralphtown, LA 40204

    Phone: +2135150832870

    Job: Regional Design Producer

    Hobby: Nordic skating, Lacemaking, Mountain biking, Rowing, Gardening, Water sports, role-playing games

    Introduction: My name is Fredrick Kertzmann, I am a gleaming, encouraging, inexpensive, thankful, tender, quaint, precious person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.