Integrity Publishers, 2006, 288 pp., $14.99,
www.integritypublishers.com
Jerry Jenkins, the co-author of the mega-selling Left Behind series, turns his attention to teen fiction, with mixed results.
Patch is a teenage kid, lost in a world where Christianity is outlawed, worship is done underground and even talking about God is illegal.
Much like a sampling of videos on YouTube.com, Tattooed Rats jumps from scene to scene, causing some confusion and leaving major characters undeveloped. Patch’s faith is regularly challenged, but with numerous subplots and extraneous characters, it’s difficult to see just where the story is going and why. The presence of angels and demons add to the suspense, but teen readers with little understanding of spiritual warfare may become confused or troubled.
Tattooed Rats is geared toward teens, with many references to technology used today and current trends or fashions. But it lacks an actual storyline that a teen could learn from or pull wisdom from to and apply to real life.
There is a battle going on in Tattooed Rats, but it’s not clear what the stakes are or why the fight costs some of the characters their freedom or their lives.
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Lara M. Van Hulzen is a freelance writer in Northern California.
