Judgment Day

Not long after the turn of the millennium, pilgrims of all faiths are drawn to a small Mexican town, where a vision appears to select believers of every religion (the Virgin Mary to a Catholic, the goddess Kali to a Hindu) and warns that Judgment Day is near. Drought and a new disease as virulent as Ebola are wracking the earth. Are the prophecies of the Book of Revelations being fulfilled? Cataclysms multiply as American reporter Simon Hill and French priest Michele Deauchez attempt to answer the question, only to meet with deadly opposition from the Vatican, a mysterious global corporation, and the U.S. government. Is the worldwide devastation the result of paranormally amplified mass hysteria, a terrifying conspiracy--or the will of God?

Any novel about Armageddon and plague inevitably invites comparison with The Stand. Millennium Rising isn't as strong as Stephen King's novel, but it's a scary, ambitious, suspenseful thriller that will keep you guessing till the end. And after reading it, you may find King's apocalypse rather wimpy.

Millennium Rising is the first novel by Jane Jensen, the computer game designer who created the Gabriel Knight interactive mystery series. Her non-interactive fiction debut is recommended to fans of thrillers, near-future SF, modern fantasy, horror, The X-Files, medical fiction, and terrifying nonfiction like The Coming Plague. It is not recommended to readers who want at least one significant woman character; females are few, and rarely seen. --Cynthia Ward