“Florida is key with regard to a shift in this nation, and no doubt these elections in Florida are key as well. That is why there is such spiritual warfare . . . Father, once again, once again, we’ll rejoice with Your son and bring this nation into alignment with Your government, with Your Kingdom’s principles and authority.”
—Katherine Harris, secretary of state of Florida, on why she
chose not to allow a recount of the Florida vote despite
the numerous charges of election fraud and irregularity,
and with Al Gore trailing George W. Bush by only several
hundred votes in the contest for Florida’s electoral votes,
thereby handing Bush the 2000 election
“I recall the election in 2004. Hollywood was against us. The media were against us. The universities were against us. And despite them all the church of Jesus Christ put George W. Bush back in the White House. We’re on the winning side. We are going to win because we have the truth. We have the inerrant word of God.”
—Jerry Falwell
“Yes, I think I will see Jesus come back to earth in my lifetime.”
—2008 Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin,
when asked if she believed in the Rapturist theology of
End of Days
And here’s where we were two hundred years ago:
“Merely the ravings of a maniac, no more worthy, nor capable of explanation than the incoherences of our own nightly dreams.”
—Thomas Jefferson, the third president of the United
States, writing about the Book of Revelation
“The priests of the different religious sects . . . dread the advance of science as witches do the approach of daylight, and scowl on the fatal harbinger announcing the subdivision of the duperies on which they live.”
—Thomas Jefferson again
It’s a good thing Jefferson lived back then. He wouldn’t stand a chance of getting the nomination, let alone winning the election, in the America of the twenty-first century. Which says it all, really . . .
Acknowledgments
Writing is essentially a solitary effort, and in an effort not to end up typing “All work and no play makes Raymond a dull boy” over and over and looking for the nearest axe, I take every opportunity to pick the brains of my friends and other hapless victims whenever I can muster up a reasonable excuse to call on them. Fortunately, they happen to be a very clever and clear-thinking bunch of people who always manage to find the time to humor me, and for that I’m very grateful to them all. In no particular order, and surely forgetting one or two, my stellar posse on this book included Richard Burston, Bashar Chalabi, Carlos Heneine, Joe and Amanda McManus, Nic Ransome (sorry I couldn’t work in the line “He’s not the messiah, he’s just a very naughty boy!”), Michael Natan, Alex Finkelstein, Wilf Dinnick, Bruce Crowther, Gavin Hewitt, Jill McGivering, Richard Khuri, Tony Mitchell, and my parents.
Hearty thanks go to my editors Ben Sevier and Jon Wood for their advice and their patience. Your insights were, once again, invaluable to me. Big thanks too to Brian Tart, Claire Zion, Rick Willett, and everyone at Dutton and at NAL, Susan Lamb and everyone at Orion, and Renaud Bombard and Anne Michel and everyone at Presses de la Cité, for all their hard work and their enthusiasm, and for making it possible for me to hassle all the above mentioned people for so-called research on a continual basis.
A very special and long overdue kudos goes to Ray Lundgren and Richard Hasselberger, who as art directors at Dutton were responsible for the iconic covers, starting with Templar, that have made such a powerful impact. Ray, that cross with the Manhattan skyline was pure genius. The success of my books owes a lot to the brilliance of your cover designs. Many, many thanks to you both.
Thanks, too, to Lesley Kelley and to Mona Mourad for generously donating to charities and bidding to have characters named on their behalf.
And finally, a big nod of gratitude to my fabulous consiglieres at the William Morris Agency—Eugenie Furniss, Jay Mandel, Tracy Fisher, and Raffaella De Angelis.
About the Author
RAYMOND KHOURY is the bestselling author of The Sanctuary and The Last Templar, which topped international bestseller lists at #1 and spent more than three months on The New York Times bestseller list in hardcover. An acclaimed screenwriter and producer for both television and film, Khoury lives in London with his wife and two children. For more information, visit his Web site at www.raymondkhoury.com
Raymond Khoury, The Sign
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