End of Days

Gleason's work with Junius Podrug on such novels as Apocalypse 2012 and The 2012 Codes has made him an expert on all things apocalyptic, a subject he returns to with gusto in this wildly expansive tale of the coming End Times. Among the principal characters are John Stone, gonzo journalist; Kate Magruder, Stone's ex-girlfriend, whose mother uses her media empire to warn the world about the oncoming nuclear Armageddon and who has built a fortress, the Citadel, where she intends to wait out the war; and Ronald "Cool Breeze" Robinson, a new prisoner in the notorious Texas prison known as Jack Town. And then there are the more bizarre characters: a massive, singing rat known as Sailor, the story's real hero; semi-sentient nuclear weapons; and scores of madmen, killers, sadists, torturers, and evildoers bent on the earth's destruction. It all adds up to a thrilling take on a frighteningly possible future, one that makes the journey in Cormac McCarthy's The Road look like a stroll through the park. (Sept.)