”And just at that instant there rose as if from the bowels of the earth a light not of this world.”
- William L. Laurence, New York Times, August 26, 1945, Account of the Trinity Test on July 16, 1945
A LIGHT NOT OF THIS WORLD begins with a fugitive Pakistani nuclear scientist slipping into the U.S. and disappearing. A few months later an undercover FBI agent looking into an al-Qaeda link to a Baltimore import company is murdered. When Maryland Governor-elect David Randall, a retired Marine General and terrorism expert, connects the dots, he is swept into the firestorm that engulfs the nation and is called on to help lead America out of its worst nightmare of tragedy and terror.
Told through the heroic and self-sacrificing actions of some of the characters, and the evil actions of others, this fast-paced novel is set a few years in the future. It draws themes from contemporary events and debates over military doctrine, nuclear proliferation, American foreign policy and containment of terrorism. The events portrayed are both plausible and frighteningly feasible.

A LIGHT NOT OF THIS WORLD should appeal to readers of political and military thrillers, speculative fiction, and those who are concerned about nuclear proliferation, American policy in Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan, and the threat of terrorism. Unusual for a novel, it has a Note on Sources and Bibliography at the end.