PRE-BUSH WAR THRILLER STRANGELY PROPHETIC

Fact or fiction? An inept presidential candidate takes office, comes up against international terrorism and the threat of weapons of mass destruction, and then becomes one of the most popular presidents in history when he brings US forces to bear down on the nation's aggressors. Well, it's fiction! But for how long?

When Leonard Crane sat down in 1995 to write his acclaimed technothriller Ninth Day of Creation he could have no idea that six years later one of the central characters in his book would come to life in the form of George Bush. In fact, the election to office of a publicly affable but clearly office-challenged president elect was deemed so unlikely an occurrence in real life that a potential agent for the book in 1998 dropped Leonard's novel when she encountered the Bush-like character.

Despite some surprise on the author's part to discover that agents are less willing to suspend disbelief than the readers of his book have been, he nonetheless described his initial reaction to Bush's election as nothing short of "Complete disbelief. I suddenly realized the boundary between fiction and fact wasn't as clear cut as I had assumed it to be. What I had written for purposes of entertainment was protruding into my life in a most uncomfortable way. Of course, you know I didn't vote for him..." This last point would come as no surprise to anyone who has read the book. Leonard's depiction of Robert Coleman, the behind-the-scenes bumbling, but confident-in-public president surrounded by top-tier strategists bears an uncanny resemblance to the early days of Bush's perceived presidency.

As prescient as Leonard Crane seems to be--and his tale ships with a threat to the United States involving terrorism on US soil, and has at its core biological weapons of mass destruction--Ninth Day of Creation has nothing to do with Iraq. "America's showdown with Iraq was inevitable," the author says. "But how it would play out was anyone's guess. Still is, at this point. Instead, I wanted to write about something out of left field. If any of it should actually comes to pass, then today's troubles in the Middle East will look quaint by comparison. At this point I have faith that my imaginative powers outpace developments in the real world. But things can change quickly, as Bush's surprising appearance on the world stage has proved. I don't rule anything out. And I did carefully do the scientific research for my book..."

Did I mention that Leonard Crane holds a Ph.D. in the physical sciences? Or that Ninth Day of Creation contains perhaps the most well-developed exposition of a biological weapon in fiction to date? Without doubt the science he writes about is far too advanced for your back street terrorist to ever hope to harness. But states? Well, that's the moral of his tale.

Ninth Day of Creation can be obtained through the major retailers, by ordering ISBN 0967571294. Distributed by Ingram.

Official homepage for the book: http://www.ninthday.com/

Contact info for this press release:
Stephen Carter
Publisher for Connection Books
scarter@connectionbooks.com