Virgin Iconic

Hollywood, CA, February 28, 2013 --(PR.com)-- Author Todd Easterling, originally discovered by the venerable Jay Garon-Brooke Literary Agency in New York, of John Grisham fame, has published a new suspense novel involving the CIA and a covert Pentagon program to address the potential threat posed by Iran’s nuclear development program. With the State of the Union over, and Barrack Obama heading to Israel March 20th to meet with Shimon Peres and Benjamin Netanyahu on, among other topics, Iran’s nuclear development program, author Todd Easterling’s new novel arrives at a time of heightened concern over Iran, and talk of missile defense. The novel, currently available on Amazon.com under Mr. Easterling’s publishing and production company, Virgin Iconic Entertainment, presents an all-to-real worst case scenario regarding the Iranian government’s threats toward Israel and the United States.

The novel is about a top Washington Post reporter (Tom Lassiter) who discovers a covert government mission to disrupt Iran's nuclear development program. He soon finds himself caught in the middle of a global crisis, international intrigue and a beautiful woman he desperately wants to trust. Southern California Novelist Todd Easterling weaves a well-written, character-rich story with cinematic potential. With a topic right out of today's headlines, this story follows Tom Lassiter in a fast paced race to separate facts from propaganda, and ends in a heart stopping glimpse of the new world we live in and threats posed by rogue states set on nuclear weapons development. On his journey, Tom finds friendship and loyalty with his sidekick from The Washington Post, and unexpectedly develops a romantic interest while interviewing key players behind the scenes.

Never delving too deep into technical details to avoid a pure military thriller, the story focuses on uncovering clues, determining who is involved and trying to avoid capture before getting the story out. In the end, Tom Lassiter finds himself and the United States in a mission to fix what he admittedly and inadvertently help set in motion. The climax of the story is vividly written, quickly paced, and lends itself to motion picture-like uncertainty and twists, with the fate of millions of people on the line, if not the survival of the entire planet.

“I’m excited to finally release it,” said Todd Easterling, author. “My original plan was to write a novel involving the CIA and threat’s posed by Iraq and Saddam Hussein, and allegations of weapons of mass destruction. After Hussein was killed, I put the project on hold, which was unfortunate since I had received very nice critiques from publishers including Bantam-Doubleday-Dell, Random House, Dutton Signet (Penguin) and Simon & Shuster. A couple years ago, when the Iran nuclear development issue became hot, I immediately knew that it was time to go into the novel again and center it on the threat posed by Iran toward Israel and the United States, which actually made for a more meaningful and exciting story. The story is literally right out of today’s newspaper headlines. Oddly enough, by waiting for myself to get a clear notion of where they story should focus, the publishing industry changed dramatically due to e-books and the direct-publishing movement. Many of the editors and publishers which had provided such positive comments about my early manuscripts have moved on to other positions or careers. And Amazon.com’s Kindle Direct Publishing platform and KDP Select program has taken a major role in selling both publisher's and self-published books. It was quite a wakeup call, seeing the changes in the industry. I believe the timing is right to market The First Witness, as the Iran nuclear development program will be in the news for the next couple of years at least. My dream is to see this story in a motion picture, and I think the timing could not be better within the next year or two for that to happen. Film rights or an option are available now.”

The First Witness, is a page turner story on the scale of Kathryn Bigelow ’s The Hurt Locker and Zero Dark Thirty, and Ben Affleck’s Argo. Todd Easterling shows a depth of knowledge about the technologies presented in the book, including missile defense, NASA spacecraft, and the Air Force’s recently resurrected Airborne laser, originally designed into a Boeing 747-ABL (YAL-1).

With The First Witness now out, Todd Easterling has turned his attention back to two other long-term projects. One project is along the lines of The Horse Whisperer romance and adventure story. It is in final editing. The other project is a genetics thriller reminiscent of Michael Crichton’s work on West World and Jurassic Park, a sequel of which is planned by Universal Studios for 2014 (Jurassic Park 4).

About Virgin Iconic Entertainment and author Todd Easterling:
Todd Easterling is a Southern California novelist. His publishing and production company is Virgin Iconic Entertainment.