TERRORISM-BASED NOVEL PULLED FROM PUBLICATION LINEUP

Publisher cancels noted authors 21st book because of terrorist theme.

An international publisher has pulled DEATH WATCH, a 400-page novel by authors Michael Sedge and Joel Jacobs, from its release schedule because, as one pre-publication reviewer put it, "The work reads like a manual for a terrorist."

"We worked on this project for 10 years," explained Sedge, author of 20 books and a former American Society of Journalists and Authors director-at-large. "Our research and military consultants-including some also used by novelist Tom Clancy-is impeccable. We even went as far as consulting the Department of the Navy and the Center for Disease Control, to insure every aspect was correct."

Several experts, including the editor-in-chief of one of Washingtons major defense publications, referred to DEATH WATCH a great military thriller," while a noted Hollywood producer called it a blockbuster."

Based on a DELTA Force soldier turned terrorist and planting the lethal Ebola virus on the world's most powerful warship, the USS George Washington, DEATH WATCH was scheduled to be released simultaneously in the United States and Europe. However, because of rise in terrorist activities, the publisher decided not to launch the military thriller.

Its always disappointing when circumstances beyond ones control dictate the success or failure of a literary work," said co-author Joel Jacobs, a twenty-year, Navy veteran journalist. I am sure that this is just one example of many works that were effected by the events of September 11th and beyond."

A former military correspondent for The Associated Press, who spent nearly a year in Bosnia, and has worked for Discovery Channel, Newsweek, and Time-Life, Michael Sedge said that, One would think that because of all the hype and interest in international terrorism, a novel covering such a topic would be a great seller, not a work to be scratched from a publishing line-up. Were certain that somewhere in the industry there is an editor, and publisher that will see the commercial potential in DEATH WATCH."

# # #