The Twelfth Insight: The Hour of Decision
New Age spiritual popularizer Redfield ruled the best-seller lists in the 1990s with his Celestine series of adventure parables, then left readers hanging after The Secret of Shambhala: In Search of the Eleventh Insight (1999). He now resurrects searcher Wilson James, known as Wil, and his fellow traveler, the unnamed narrator, just in time to offer a positive spin on the Mayan prophecy for the year 2012. A mysterious �Document� is being released around the world with instructions on how to use powers of the mind and spirit to elevate world consciousness and usher in not doomsday but, rather, a time of unity and peace. Redfield suggests that current economic crises, religious extremism, and political polarization are signs that we must change our ways. But Wil, the narrator, and a band of neatly diverse seekers (a Jew, a Muslim, a scientist, a few Christians, and a few Native Americans) must attain enlightenment immediately (instant karma, anyone?) in order to stop a band of terrorists from detonating a suitcase nuke. Celestine-heads and others looking for miraculous fables will embrace this hokey yet hopeful spiritual action fantasy.       HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Redfield�s previous books dominated best-seller lists for years, and his return will stoke avid interest. --Donna Seaman