American Doomsday Scenario In Chilling New Novel

A witness to the 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York City writes his first novel about the next attack against America to be launched by Al-Qaeda. It is a future that is dark and forebodding, and frighteningly realistic.

(PRWEB) September 30, 2005 -- A witness to the 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York City writes his first novel about the next attack against America to be launched by Al-Qaeda. It is a future that is dark and forebodding, and frighteningly realistic.

North Korea, Iran and Al-Qaeda conspire in secret against their principal enemy, the United States of America. Their objective: deliver a terrorist attack on the U.S. that is so devastating in its impact, it removes America from its role as the predominant superpower in the world. This apocalyptic scenario is the central plot in Sheldon Filger's new novel, "King of Bombs." Filger, a witness to the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City while residing in Manhattan, was inspired to write the book by his experiences during 9/11 and its aftermath. A central theme of "King of Bombs" is the relative ease that a terrorist group, with the assistance of rogue states, can assemble a nuclear bomb, and smuggle it through America's porous borders.

In a series of radio interviews held in conjunction with the 4th year anniversary of the September 11th terrorist strikes by Al-Qaeda, Mr. Filger described his own reaction on that date when he first learned about the attacks on the World Trade Center. "I realized that the security I felt we Americans enjoyed, being protected by two oceans, was illusory," Filger told radio talk show host Don Russell of WBT in Charlotte, North Carolina. A month after 9/11, New York City was again gripped by fear, as rumors circulated that government scientists were roaming Manhattan with radiation detectors. It later transpired that the rumors were true; the CIA had been told by an informant that Al-Qaeda had smuggled a 10 kiloton nuclear device into Manhattan, though the information turned out to be inaccurate. That incident prompted Mr.Filger to research the threat of nuclear terrorism. What he learned through open-source information alarmed him, and led to his writing "King of Bombs."

The title of Mr. Filger's book is based on an historic fact; the Russians designed and tested the most powerful nuclear bomb in existence in 1961; a behemoth which they called "Tsar Bomba"-Russian for "King of Bombs." When it was tested by the Soviet Union over a desolate area, it detonated with the power of 58 million tons of high explsives, three thousand times more powerful than the atomic bombs that destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki in the closing days of World War II. Mr. Filger's book presents a chilling possibility-North Korea and Iran, which are believed by U.S. intelligence to already have covert nuclear weapons programs, conspiring with Al-Qaeda to build a duplicate of the Russian "King of Bombs" device. How likely is such a scenario? In an interview with Washington D.C. radio talk show host Bernie McCain (WOL and WOLB), Sheldon Filger pointed out that North Korea already is the world's leading proliferator of ballistic missiles, and sells hard drugs and counterfeit American currency through its diplomatic installations. "North Korea readily admits to processing plutonium for nuclear weapons, so based on their track record, it is very likely that they would sell these materials to the highest bidder, including terrorist organizations," Filger said.

Besides confronting the fearful possibility of nuclear terrorism being inflicted on America, "King of Bombs" invites controversy through its portrayal of a fictional American President who bears a striking resemblance to George Bush. In the book, the President is portrayed as incompetent and unconcerned about the threat of nuclear terrorism, choosing to ignore repeated intelligence warnings. Speaking to Cincinnati radio talk show host Bill Cunningham(WLW), the author of "King of Bombs" noted that the Bush administration has been "lethargic" in addressing the real possibility that terrorist organizations such as Al-Qaeda could obtain bomb-grade nuclear materials that are held at locations through the world, often with very poor security. "It is estimated that it will take 13 years just to upgrade security at the many insecure nuclear weapons and materials sites located in the former Soviet Union," Filger told Cunningham."I don't belive we can afford to wait thirteen years," he added.

What would happen if the nuclear terrorism plot in "King of Bombs" actually occured? Sheldon Filger believes that a nuclear device with the yield of thousands of Hiroshima bombs would likely kill tens of millions of Americans, destroy the nation's economy and contaminate large portions of the country with lethal radioactivity. "If the plot that occurs in my novel were actually to transpire, it would mean the end of the United States as a major world power, for many decades if not permanently," Sheldon Filger indicated.

A recent review that appeared on Amazon.com described "King of Bombs" as "Entertaining, in a realistically terrifying sort of way...once you pick this book up, you'll have a hard time putting it down."

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