Jerusalem Vigil (The Zion Legacy Series)

Bodie and Brock Thoene's superb storytelling comes alive in Jerusalem Vigil, a novel of the struggle for Jerusalem. It is May 14, 1948, in the world's holiest city: today the new State of Israel will be proclaimed and British troops will hand over the key to Zion Gate leaving behind hostile Jewish and Muslim forces poised for battle. Caught up in this historic moment are Moshe Sachar, an archaeology professor who is also a strategist; his pregnant wife, Rachel, who flees Tel Aviv for Jerusalem via a perilous route through the Christian Quarter; and Daoud and Gawan, two orphaned Arab boys who find a father with an unlikely surname. In this engrossing page-turner, the Thoenes combine historical authenticity, unforgettable characters, and gripping drama to create a saga about a fascinating period in world history.

Jerusalem Vigil is the first novel in a planned Zion Legacy series that will chronicle three millennia of Jerusalem's history. Authors Bodie and Brock Thoene, whose Zion Chronicles and Zion Covenant Series have sold more than 6 million copies, write with the suspenseful flair of Jerry B. Jenkins and Tim LaHaye, and convey the historical knowledge of authors like James Michener and Herman Wouk. Jerusalem Vigil unfolds over a period of five days during the British withdrawal from Jerusalem in 1948. Its Jewish, Christian, and Arab characters (including Holocaust survivors, British military officials, and Arab insurgents) find themselves drawn into a mysterious and violent tangle of events that can only be understood in reference to ancient prophesies, particularly those of the book of Isaiah. The historical detail of this book is impressively deep, and its use of Scripture is always clever and surprising.