Sojourner, A Journey Past the End — Terry L. Craig

SOJOURNER examines the question: What if all the popular predictions about the fate of the world are wrong?THE UNRAVELINGA must read for those who enjoy adventure, high stakes, and intelligent fiction. The intrigue of SOJOURNER is found first in its captivating characters, and then in an unfolding epic of unbalanced power, destruction, and victory. It is an intricate tale of the lives of ordinary people whose characters are propelled to spectacular ends. Nearly jumping from the pages to become part of the reader's daily thoughts, the character's lives intersect in unusual ways as they attempt to navigate shifting paths through a changed world . . . and the only requirement is to blindly accept the way things are.Humanity is gripped by the inescapable awareness that political conflict, the increasing invasion of technology, acts of biological terrorism, and the deterioration of the environment are careening toward a catastrophic collision with life itself. Most People fear they may not live long enough to grow old, and strive solely to carve out their own slice of happiness before the end comes. A few individuals are actually looking forward to a global collapse, claiming it will result in the universal validation of their faith.But what happens when the inevitable collision doesn't bring the promised end? After failing to produce the expected results in the old world, what place will science, government, and faith be given in a new one? In SOJOURNER, President Cole, Sara Reisling, Tony Bensen, and the Ruiz family seek to navigate a treacherous world where all lines defining the human experience are being aggressively blurred. The characters, whose stories began in GATEKEEPER, will discover the value of truth--and the reality that freedom is never truly lost.Having entered the office of President of the United States with great hopes for becoming a significant force for change, Donald Larson Cole encounters one obstacle after another. America's economy is struggling, and her decaying infra-structure is crumbling. Two suitcase nukes are still missing. Tensions between US and Russian personnel on the failing space station have come to blows—mirroring the sentiments of their respective governments on the planet below. The corrupt administration of the previous president allowed a powerful businessman to make behind-the-scene guarantees that the U.S. would abandon its support of Israel . . . and now, her enemies want to collect on those promises. Commitments around the world have drained U.S. troop strength and weaponry to perilously low levels as China threatens to flex its substantial military muscle against Japan and a nuclear conflict between India and Pakistan seems virtually unavoidable.After President Cole is assured that his faithful steps have made a difference and that he will be able to stand in an appointed place, a traumatic event signals the beginning of rapid-fire calamities that will force America to her knees and forever remove the opulent lifestyle and freedom her citizens have too long taken for granted.As ominous news gathers like a tidal wave, many of America's Christians are increasingly convinced that the rapture is imminent. Their admonitions to a world in moral free-fall rise to an unprecedented pitch amidst an increasing hatred in the world for any value system that smacks an absolute. Soon believer and scoffer alike, will have the opportunity to sojourn through a valley that will determine upon what or whom their security rests.SOJOURNER is Book 2 in the Fellowship of the Mystery trilogy