From Publishers WeeklyGladstone's meandering debut, the latest thriller tied to the mystical date of December 12, 2012, when Mayan legend predicts the world's end, charts the life of Max Doff, starting with his conception in 1949 in Tarrytown, N.Y. After Max dies briefly at the age 15, he has a vision of 12 people. On returning to consciousness, he begins a decades-long quest to find them. His path takes him to Yale, where his radical philosophical ideas lead to his forced departure from campus. A formulation like 'A is, and is not, equal to A' as the ultimate equation in explaining how to penetrate the impenetrable intellectual domain of 'understanding understanding' is symptomatic of Max's difficulty in getting his message, whatever it actually is, across. Max then begins globe-trotting as part of the production team for a documentary on ancient astronauts. Serendipitous encounters with the twelve will strike many readers as more contrived than magical. (Sept.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. ReviewEckhart Tolle, author of A New Earth“Entertaining and inspiring.”Mark Victor Hanson, co-author of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series“I have never enjoyed a novel more than The Twelve. [William Gladstone’s] theme and message of hope and inspiration is exactly what Jack Canfield and I worked so hard to achieve with our Chicken Soup for the Soul book series.”

What accounts for miraculous healings unexplainable by doctors? Is there a reality to spiritual healings? William Gladstone, who had studied medical anthropology at Harvard, and met and worked with many great spiritual leaders, initially approached Dr. Zhi Gang Sha with some skepticism and disbelief. He believed there was more to life than the material world—but he also knew the world has many dishonest and self-deceiving mystics. So he decided to explore. He spent weeks with Dr. Sha watching him at work, talking to his students, and observing his healings. He interviewed him at length, asking for specifics and addressing difficult questions. He delved into the science behind Dr. Sha's work and explored the underlying concepts beneath these "miracle" healings. And what he learned amazed him and opened his mind to possibilities he never expected. Dr. Zhi Gang Sha is a medical doctor trained in Western medicine and traditional...

This ingenious philosophical thriller by the bestselling author of The Twelve is "a fun read that will change the way you think about the future" (Thom Hartmann). The year 2012 didn't mark the end of civilization as many had mistakenly predicted. Rather, it marked a turning point in human consciousness, a shift toward a more humanistic, less violent existence. But not if Arnold Wheeler can help it. Arnold is The Grand Light and Keeper of the Code of the Illuminati, which quietly and covertly control every major development on Earth. He is quite aware of the universal shift in consciousness predicted by the Mayans long ago. With this shift, humanity has the opportunity, for the first time, to reach its full potential. Except the Illuminati have other plans. William Gladstone, author of the bestselling The Twelve, takes readers on a roller coaster adventure that features George W. Bush, alternate earths, and...