This Cool Green Earth

Adopted from a Middle Eastern orphanage, Gil Webster served in the U.S. military and is now ready to start a ranch for troubled teens and refugees. Sing Liu’s grandfather endured persecution in China and found new life in America, even as the only Chinese person for miles in Big Sky Country. When the Lius and Websters meet, they find common ground in their love of the Bible and Montana, despite their different backgrounds. When a catastrophic event threatens the whole world, both families lend their expertise in biblical prophecy to try and help. McBurney (The Triplet) takes great care to include global perspectives on suffering and redemption but unveils the plot so slowly that the book reads more like a family genealogy rife with sermons than an apocalyptic novel. Readers interested in end-times prophecy will find that this book lacks the action and suspense of Tim LaHaye’s “Left Behind” series or Joel Rosenberg’s “The Last Jihad” series.