Fuse of Armageddon (Paperback)

by Sigmund Brouwer (Author), Hank Hanegraaff (Author)
Key Phrases: cube van, gateway provider, western plaza, Temple Mount, Jonathan Silver, Freedom Crusaders (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Novelist Brouwer and Christian radio host Hanegraaff team up again (The Last Disciple) to write an absorbing thriller. Mulvaney Quinn is a hostage negotiator who specializes in Israeli-Palestinian disputes, while Kate Penner is a Nevada cop who suspects that Quinn committed a ghastly murder on her turf. She heads to Israel to extradite him, but just before the pair heads back to the U.S., Israeli intelligence begs Kate to let Mulvaney stay in Israel for just a few more days and negotiate a tricky hostage deal: a Palestinian group is holding a leading American evangelical pastor and 29 of his followers. The characters are generally well-drawn, and Kate is especially engaging (though her occasional missteps, like saying "I don't speak Israeli," strike a false note). Kate and Mulvaney's attraction to one another provides a little spice, but never overshadows the political plot. The only irksome feature is Mulvaney being a widower, a character device fast achieving the status of cliché in the Christian thriller genre. This novel is notable because several of the characters explicitly and cogently criticize the premillennial dispensationalist theology that has shaped much of evangelical America's thinking about the state of Israel. Thus, Brouwer and Hanegraaff's latest is sure to both entertain and provoke.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Product Description
Nothing more could go wrong for maverick hostage negotiator Mulvaney Quinn. First stabbed in the hand during a failed terrorist burst, then arrested for a hate crime he didn't commit. Now Quinn must come face to face with his past in order to stop the worst terrorist threat of all time--a plot to bring about the ultimate religious uprising by destroying one of the most sacred relics in history.
But the Fuse of Armageddon has already been lit. With the clock ticking down toward a global catastrophe, Quinn must team up with the most unlikely ally of all--the woman who arrested him--to bring down an even more unlikely coalition of enemies. Facing an unholy trinity of a Jewish fanatic, a Muslim terrorist, and a "Christian" freedom fighter, only Quinn can stop them from achieving their goal. But will he be in time? Or is it already too late? Because when Armageddon is unleashed, the fate of the entire world hangs in the balance.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Tyndale House Publishers (January 3, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1414310277
• ISBN-13: 978-1414310275
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.4 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #202,441 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A thinking book--4 & 3/4 stars, August 5, 2007

By	Meli (Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fuse of Armageddon (Hardcover)

Hostage negotiator Mulvaney Quinn understand middle east politics and what could trigger Armageddon. As Quinn works to broker the release of 30 wealthy, American, evangelical Christian hostages, from Palestinian terrorist Khaled Safady, he discovers a plot that could begin the great war. In an unlikely alliance with a Nevada cop, the two of them have to work quickly to save their lives and to stop the multiple attempts to start the final battle.

How I love books that challenge my thinking! I think it's safe to say Fuse of Armageddon was written with the intent to counter the dispensational viewpoint. While it does a good job of explaining dispensationalism and the `holes' in this view point, I would have liked to have seen more time spent presenting the author's opinion on the scriptures used to support dispensationalism. A lot of great points are made in regard to how dispensationism's natural course leads to racism and prejudice, how it begs radicals to make their own plans to rebuild the temple instead of waiting on God, and how it encourages Christians to focus on Christ's return instead of his current work. At times though, I did feel the story got a little bogged down with the repeat of similar arguments, just from different people.

I'm always impressed with how easily Sigmund Brouwer can write so many different styles seemingly with easy. I've read his slow southern approach, historical fiction, serial killer mystery, and now a fast paced, middle east thriller. If you're familiar with Brouwer, you won't be disappointed. As with previous books, Fuse of Armageddon is well written with excellent characters. From the hero Quinn to the terrorist Safady, each character is developed with a personality and a voice worth listening to. As strange as this may sound, even the cold-blooded terrorist made good points.

With the immense popularity of end time books and often questionable theology that accompanies those books, Fuse of Armageddon is a nice alternative that encourages the reader to look at all people as loved by God, not just Jews and Christians.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Edge Of The Seat Suspense , August 22, 2007

By	Barbara Warren - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Fuse of Armageddon (Hardcover)

Mulvany Quinn knows the name of the terrorist responsible for killing his wife and daughter. Safady. A name that strikes terror in the hearts of all who hear it. Quinn wants to find this man and make him pay for what he has done. He's in Israel working at Corporate Center Terrorism International helping negotiate the release of hostages. A ticklish job, and one complicated by Quinn's personal issues.
Back home in the USA, Kate Penner, Vegas homicide department, discovers a van parked in the desert with the body of an Arab man hanging upside down inside. His shirt has been cut open and a gold colored piece of paper in the shape of a cross has been cut from a poster of the Dome of the Rock and stapled to his back. The evidence point to Mulvany Quinn as the killer. Kate goes to Israel to arrest him and bring him home for trial. But Safady kidnaps a bus full of American tourists and demands Quinn be the negotiator for their release, which puts her plans on hold.
Apparently Sigmund Brower can't write a bad book. Fuse of Armageddon is crammed full of rapid fire suspense that will keep the reader on the edge of his seat to the last page. Strongly motivated, well developed characters keep the plot moving. Highly recommended.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good read, September 12, 2007

By	J. Peacock - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Fuse of Armageddon (Hardcover)

Originally published on my blog at hewhocutsdown.blogspot.com.

Recently my wife & I sat down & had lunch with a much more experienced writer and author, Sigmund Brouwer. He & I are working together on a project that is yet to be released, but he gave me a gift in his latest work, entitled Fuse of Armageddon.

It's a strange animal.

In writing style, the pace matches some of Clancy's novels (most notably Rainbow Six), constantly accelerating toward the climax. This works both for and against the novel, as I finished it in two sittings (would have been one had I a longer flight), but there is only a much abbreviated dénouement to close it, where a few more pages would have been warranted.

Thematically it takes aim at a very specific target market: open-minded, evangelical Christians who read thrillers such as the ridiculously popular Left Behind series. In all truth it is very open all, with vividly detailed locales and arguments that lay the foundation before building upon them, but this does not discount it's primary role. Fuse is really meant to expand evangelical Christians' thinking to really look at the consequences of a dispensational eschatology hell-bent on pre-millenialism. If you didn't understand that last sentence, don't worry about it; I didn't mean you.

The sarcastic comments of Khaled Safady probably capture this irony the best. In listening in to a Christian group touring the Holy Land, he juts in (paraphrased):


"In miles, how long is that river of blood?" (referring to the predicted river of blood from God's 'winepress of wrath')

"Roughly two hundred miles, twenty-five feet wide and four and a half feet deep."

"Incredible. How many people would this require?"

"Two hundred million."

"But I'm a physician. I've seen horrible accidents. I've seen people die. Any wound with enough blood loss to lead to death stops the heart long before the heart can pump itself dry. How will Christ squeeze the remaining blood from two hundred million bodies?"

"Revelation tells us there is a great winepress and that the blood came from the winepress."

"Incredible. All two hundred million bodies get fed through a winepress to be squeezed of their blood? How long would that take? Even at the rate of one body per second, that would only be 60 bodies per minute, 3600 bodies per hour, and from what I've calculated just now...maybe 80,000 per day. Make it 100,000 for even math."

"I find this macabre..."

"But earlier I heard a chorus of amens and hallelujahs...joy as you had us contemplate the deaths of liberals and gays, Arabs and Muslims who are left behind. I find that equally macabre"

"The unjust will pay the price"

"So you're telling me Jesus will return and spend his first 5 and a half years squeezing out the blood of his enemies?"


If you're going to read Revelation and other biblical prophesy as literal events, fine. But accept the consequences of that interpretation, as grotesque and horrific as they may be. Or take a step back and seriously re-evaluate what brought you those beliefs.

I know that I have gotten truly enraged; something that has happened only 3 times since leaving home; listening to a tele-evangelist giving Israel carte blanche for genocidal warfare. I in no way believe in supporting terrorism, and that includes the terrorism of nation-states.

This book is not a theological breakdown, nor is it a political seminar or a primer on Mid-East policy. What it is, is a thriller that leaves you with the question: do my beliefs add or detract to the problems at hand? Is that because of me, or because of the belief?

And that is what makes this such a wonderful book. It's a step back from my usual bookshelf (I prefer source works, history and Dostoevsky) but for a general audience, this is a voice that needs to be heard, a novel that needs to be read, and more than just read. It requires action, and like the Jonathan Silver in the novel, making the jump from theory to action can be a frightening one, but it can make a world of difference.

Peace