As I understand it, the Left Behind series of books are about life on earth after the rapture, and involve the battle between the devil and Jesus. Presumably, evangelical Christians who are the primary audience for these books believe that they will be swept up in the rapture and not be around afterwards. So why do they care about events during this time? What’s the appeal?
I suppose the appeal is a series of action/adventure novels that is based on and respects their religious beliefs.
I read about five of them…over several months. They are written like spy novels. So people who like that sort of thing would probably like them.
I stopped reading partly because I was starting to get bogged down by all the characters. Also, it was all too clear that these novels had a definite agenda. I would think the novels would appeal to people who totally buy the fundamentalist way of thinking (I don’t).
Their message is very simple. Do exactly what the bible says in all areas and you will not have to suffer during the end times. So, if you are a fundamentalist and you are motivated by fear, you would probably be an avid reader of these.
Since these books are best sellers, a lot of people must fit that description.
It’s a tool to show non-Christians that life after the rapture will be poorly written so that they may change their wicked ways.
Perhaps the best site for a close reading of Left Behind is atSlacktivist (Scroll to the botom to start at the beginning). Unfortunately, he’s only up to page 96 of the first book.
There’s a couple of threads by some Dopers who’ve read the books. They, uh, don’t appear to be all that well written.
They’re selling to fundamentalists; they don’t have to be. 
As I avoided potshots at fundamentalist Christians in the OP, please also avoid them in replies.
This is not intended as a potshot at Christians, fundamental or otherwise, so I apologize if it comes off that way.
I was given the first of the series of books for Christmas several years ago and I read about the first 1/2-3/4 of it. The impression that I got of it was like it was this never-ending argument between an atheist/“lazy” Christian where the former was always losing. Generally speaking, I hate to leave a book unfinished, but I quit slogging my way through it when the theme grew old for me.
I think the appeal is that it simply affirms what some people already believe. It’s sort of an escapist thing where people who believe in the rapture can read this book and escape into a reality where their beliefs are proven correct and they can bask in how right they were.
My old church (Chinese Southern Baptist), in a weird effort to get me to go back, sent me the entire series. While I no longer subscribe to the fundamentalist beliefs of that particular church, I always enjoy a good read, and I find End Times theology pretty fascinating, even though I’m not a “believer” in it. Unfortunately, I found the books to be terribly written, and I really couldn’t get past the first volume. The characters were all horribly depicted; the way the narrative was described was just tedious and dull. If you can get past all that, and you’re interested in the all that Rapture/Armaggeddon stuff, even if you’re not an Evangelical, I’m sure you could be pretty into it. Plus, I’m guessing a lot of Christians use it as a witnessing tool, much as my old church did, hoping to effectively scare unbelievers into, well, believing. BTW, I recently watched the movie and its sequel with my boyfriend and found it quite enjoyable. Good, cheesy fun with Kirk Cameron in the main role. How can you go wrong? 
My impression is that two major areas of interest for fundamentalist Christians are conversions and the end times. “Getting saved” is such a powerful focus of their lives, that it makes sense they would like to read about it. Similarly, a lot of them seem to fantasize about the end of this sullied world, and the coming of Jesus to earth to reign. So even if they don’t plan on being here then, I can see why they would find it entertaining to read about.
However, I don’t know how they get past the horrible writing, and such monumentally :rolleyes: devices as having every unmarried protagonist still be a virgin, even though they only recently became Christian.
The reviews or the books? Here’s a link to the review thread I started before I got tired of it. I did go on and read all of the books in the series, although I admit to doing a LOT of skimming in the last 2 or 3. Frankly, though, if the books were written for proselytizing purposes, it backefired badly as far as I’m concerned. The vision of heaven-on-earth (the 1000 years of paradise after Jesus returns) in that book made me yearn for Hell. Their version of Jesus being with you at all times (He can just talk to you at any time, right in your head) gave me the willies. No thanks. I don’t want anybody with me at all times – especially not in my head, uninvited. Yuck.