How Much Responsibility Can One Man Shoulder?

How Much Responsibility Can One Man Shoulder?

The action picks up right where it left off

in book two of the Empires of Armageddon series

In Terry Brennan’s Empires of Armageddon series, three ancient empires are rushing toward a collision in the volatile Middle East while an official high in the US State Department is conspiring with a foreign power against the US president. A centuries-old prophecy is unveiled that heralds Christ’s imminent return, and malevolent fallen angels are determined to invalidate biblical prophecy so they can manufacture a different ending to the Bible. The story which began in Ishmael Covenant picks up right where it left off in the second release, Persian Betrayal (Kregel Publications/July 28, 2020/ISBN: 9780825445316/$15.99).

Diplomatic Security Service Regional Security Officer Brian Mullaney has been tasked with an incredibly dangerous mission– to deliver the Vilna Gaon’s second prophecy, along with the deadly box that protects it, to the rabbis at the Hurva synagogue in Jerusalem. When a synagogue is destroyed by an explosion, both the prophecy and box are buried in the rubble along with the answers Mullaney so desperately needs. How can he discover the meaning of the centuries-old prophecy now? Why are he and the ambassador he’s assigned to protect being targeted? Is there any way he alone can thwart a nuclear arms race?

An otherworldly servant of evil known only as the Turk is maneuvering three Middle Eastern empires into an intricate dance designed to undermine prophecy about the end times, and he won’t let Mullaney or anyone else get in his way. How much can Mullaney risk to serve God and save lives without losing his own?

Wounded in a bloody shoot-out, pressured by his wife to come home, and mourning the death of his best friend, Mullaney doesn’t need a powerful enemy. Who is he to save the Ishmael Covenant, the treaty promising peace in the Middle East? Despite angelic intervention, Mullaney wants nothing to do with his final assignment. But without him, evil will win the ultimate struggle and humankind will have no hope left.

Mullaney’s faith is evident throughout the story as he prays urgently and fervently, pleading for God’s help and direction in the massive challenges facing him. How can he be faithful to his duty as the DSS’s top security officer in the Middle East and the man most responsible for the life and safety of Ambassador Cleveland? How can he come to grips with the daunting responsibilities others want to place on his shoulders? How can he resurrect his marriage and rescue his family even though he’s nearly halfway around the globe?

The spiritual warfare Mullaney faces also has deep biblical roots. “In the Bible, the book of Ephesians references ‘heavenly realms’ five times and refers to the battle ‘against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers . . . against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms,’” Brennan explains. “In this series, our protagonist, Brian Mullaney, is drawn into this conflict against desperate evil forces who want to change the end of the Bible with an earthly battle that has eternal consequences. The spiritual warfare in Persian Betrayal is real, personal, dangerous, and frightening to our characters. And its outcome has eternal ramifications. Not so much different than today.”

One of Brennan’s key inspirations for the series came from the writings of the Vilna Gaon, Rabbi Elijah ben Solomon Zalman, who was the most revered Talmudic scholar of the late eighteenth century. In 2014, his great-great-grandson revealed a prophecy the Vilna Gaon wrote two hundred and twenty years before: “When you hear that the Russians have captured the city of Crimea, you should know that the times of the Messiah have started, that his steps are being heard.” Only months before that, Russian troops had invaded Ukraine and swept through the Crimean Peninsula. Brennan took the idea of the rising empires and the premise of an unexpected treaty between Israel and all its Arab neighbors and ran with it. The second prophecy, revealed in Persian Betrayal, is a product of Brennan’s imagination, though rooted in history that dates all the way back to the days of Moses and the battle between the Israelites and their ancient enemies, the Amalekites.

The Empires of Armageddon series will come to a close with the release of Ottoman Dominion in November 2020. Brennan promises near nonstop action that comes to a remarkable and unexpected ending.

Advance Praise

“A fantastic combination of thriller, historical conspiracy, biblical prophecy and Middle Eastern complexity—and you’re never sure where the line is drawn between fact and fiction.”

~ Ian Acheson, author of Angelguard

“This roller-coaster thrill-ride will keep readers breathless all the way to a nail-biting cliff-hanger … please don’t keep us waiting for the final resolution of this exciting thriller trilogy.”

~ Jeanette Windle, award-winning author of CrossFire, Veiled Freedom, and Freedom’s Stand

About the Author

Terry Brennan is the award-winning author of The Sacred Cipher, The Brotherhood Conspiracy, and The Aleppo Code, the three books in The Jerusalem Prophecies series. His latest series is Empires of Armageddon, which includes Ishmael Covenant and Persian Betrayal. 

A Pulitzer Prize is one of the many awards Brennan accumulated during his twenty-two-year newspaper career. The Pottstown (PA) Mercury won the Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Writing for a two-year series published while he led the team as the newspaper’s editor.

Starting out as a sportswriter in Philadelphia, Brennan became an editor and publisher for newspapers in Pennsylvania, Illinois, and New York and later moved to the corporate staff of Ingersoll Publications (four hundred newspapers in the United States, Ireland, and England) as executive editor of all US newspapers.

In 1996, Brennan transitioned into the nonprofit sector, spending twelve years as vice president of operations for The Bowery Mission and six years as chief administrative officer for Care for the Homeless,  both in New York City.

Terry and his wife, Andrea, now live in Danbury, Connecticut.

More on Brennan can be found at www.terrybrennanauthor.com. He is also on Facebook (Terry Brennan) and Twitter (@terrbrennan1).