Tim LaHaye to publish new series

Uh Oh! It looks like Tim LaHaye is at it again. He's co-authoring a series of books which are kind of a prequel to his Left Behind series:

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich., Nov. 13 /PRNewswire/ -- Zondervan, a world leader in Christian communications, has signed an agreement with attorney Craig Parshall and Tim LaHaye, creator and co-author of the world renowned Left Behind series. Three years after the success of the Left Behind final installment, LaHaye returns to publish Edge of Apocalypse, an apocalyptic epic infused with political intrigue ripped from today's headlines, the first book in a new series called The End.

"I'm thrilled to partner with Zondervan to produce a series hopefully even more innovative than Left Behind," said LaHaye. "While my past works have piqued interest in biblical prophecy on a global level, The End series includes many prophecies that were not covered in Left Behind."

Edge of Apocalypse jumpstarts the series as military-hero-turned-inventor Joshua Jordan attempts to save Manhattan from two nuclear missiles. Using his Return to Sender military defense system, Jordan finds himself facing an unbearable ransom to the nation he loves. As tensions escalate and global alliances topple, only Jordan and a secret group known only as The Patriots can save the United States from terrorists abroad and traitors within.

Set in the very near future, The End series chronicles the earth shattering events which eventually lead up to the Rapture and the beginning of the prophesied Last Days of mankind.

Unfortunately, the distinction between what the Bible says in context and how LaHaye interprets it will be lost on his readers. How many of them read his books and just took his interpretation at face value? How many actually open up their Bible and study for themselves the context of the prophecies? How many have actually made it through the book of Revelation and looked into other interpretations? Very doubtful that it was a majority.

I know at least one reader who blurred the distinction between the Bible and LaHaye. He asked me if I had read the series and I told him I had but found them so preposterous I laughed my way through each of the novels. He was shocked, "Michele, how can you laugh at God's word?" It was my turn to be shocked, "Those books are not God's word, they're an interpretation." Of course, he had to agree with me on that. I always wondered how many people believed what LaHaye wrote will actually take place. Given the popularity of dispensationalism, probably quite a few.

BTW, LaHaye's new co-author has written many books (some with his wife, Janet Parshall -- the talk show host). It looks like he writes mostly legal thrillers.