Carol Stream, Ill.—Tyndale House Publishers will release Joel C. Rosenberg’s new novel, Damascus Countdown on Tuesday, March 5, 2013. Damascus Countdown is the third and final book in Rosenberg’s Twelfth Imam series, which includes The Twelfth Imam and The Tehran Initiative, both of which were New York Times bestsellers. Rosenberg, who has earned a reputation for writing novels that seem “ripped from tomorrow’s headlines,” has once again crafted a geopolitical thrill ride that couldn’t be timelier.
“A terrible darkness is settling over the Middle East, and with each day that passes the likelihood of a major war in the Middle East in 2013 that could involve Israel, Iran, and Syria appears to grow,” said Rosenberg. “The eyes of the world are riveted on the epicenter. We’re currently witnessing the slaughter of thousands of innocent civilians by the bloodthirsty regime in Damascus. The U.S. and Israeli governments are warning the regime in Damascus not to use chemical and biological weapons. At the same time, the ayatollahs in Iran are continuing to pursue nuclear weapons. They’re preaching that the end of days has come and that the so-called Islamic messiah known as the Twelfth Imam will be revealed soon to rule the earth. What’s more, Egypt is now being ruled by a radical Muslim dictator. That’s the current reality.
“[What] my novels do is ask what everyone is asking: What if all hell breaks loose? What if these dark trends spin out of control? What would it look like if Israel does, in fact, launch a massive preemptive military strike against Iran? What would the blowback look like as Iran, Syria, Hezbollah, and Hamas retaliate with tens of thousands of missiles raining down on Israel? And is it possible that such a horrific war could inadvertently set into motion End Times Bible prophecies, such as the prophecies in Isaiah and Jeremiah that indicate the city of Damascus will one day be utterly and completely wiped off the face of the earth?”
Rosenberg flavors his stories with biblical prophecy, and this time he has added Islamic End Times beliefs to the mix. The result demonstrates why it is critical that leaders recognize how these beliefs could influence international policy and even war.
In Damascus Countdown, all eyes are on the Middle East. Israel has successfully launched a first strike on Iran, taking out all of their nuclear sites and six of their nuclear warheads—and causing the Twelfth Imam to order a full-scale retaliation. U.S. president William Jackson threatens to support a U.N. Security Council resolution condemning the Jewish State for unprovoked and unwarranted acts of aggression. Meanwhile, CIA operative David Shirazi has infiltrated the Iranian regime and intercepted information indicating that two Iranian nuclear warheads survived the attack and have been moved to a secure and undisclosed location. In danger not only from the ongoing missile strikes on Iran but also from the increasingly hostile and suspicious governments of multiple countries, Shirazi and his team are in a race against time to find the remaining nuclear warheads before disaster strikes.
The launch of Damascus Countdown will be supported by an extensive marketing campaign as well as a national media and speaking tour.
Joel C. Rosenberg is the New York Times bestselling author of The Last Jihad, The Last Days, The Ezekiel Option, The Copper Scroll, Dead Heat, Epicenter, Inside the Revolution, Implosion, The Invested Life, The Twelfth Imam, The Tehran Initiative, and Israel at War, with a total of more than 2.5 million copies sold. As a communications advisor, Joel has worked with a number of U.S. and Israeli leaders, including Steve Forbes, Rush Limbaugh, Natan Sharansky, and Benjamin Netanyahu.