Contact: Robin Geelhoed
Phone: (616) 698-3345
Email: robin.geelhoed@zondervan.com
 

Grand Rapids, Mich., August 3, 2010 – Zondervan welcomes Cliff Graham into the Zondervan family as a fresh voice in biblical fiction who has created a unique recreation of the epic battles of David and his mighty men that took place long before David was king of Israel. Zondervan acquired the novel in a multi-book deal with Graham and will release the first book in the Lion of War series in the spring of 2011.

Graham writes from his own experiences in the modern military and from interviews with combat veterans from every major war since World War II. As a member of the Army chaplain program, Graham has had the chance to spend time with wounded soldiers and is familiar with the stresses war experiences place on soldiers and their loved ones.

“Cliff Graham has a remarkable talent for envisioning biblical stories and creating page-turning fiction,” says Cindy Lambert, vice president & associate publisher at Zondervan. “Similar to Wilbur Smith and Bernard Cornwell, Cliff’s epic novels portray the intense, gritty reality and heroic exploits of real heroes of the ancient world.”

Day of War, the first novel in the Lion of War series, is based the lives of David and his mighty men, which is recounted in 2 Samuel. Day of War tells the story of Benaiah, who is described in 2 Samuel as a “valiant fighter from Kabzeel who performed great exploits.” In the novel, Benaiah is looking for a fresh start and finds David and his disgruntled and reckless group of warriors. Over the course of ten days, from snowy mountain passes to sword-filled battlefields, David and his fellow mercenaries must call upon everything they have learned to survive in order to rebuild their shattered nation.

Filmmaker David L. Cunningham, director of The Path to 9/11, and Grant Curtis, producer of the Spider-man franchise, have optioned the Lion of War series and are developing a major motion picture franchise as the inaugural entry in their newly formed GiantKiller Pictures banner.

“There is a high level of satisfaction seeing these world-famous characters come to life in a Braveheart meets Gladiator sort of way,” says literary agent Joel Kneedler of Alive Communications. “Cliff has created down-to-earth personalities that will light up imaginations and the silver screen.”