A political thriller set around the issues of war on Iraq, called The Last Jihad, has been making waves at Forge Books, and now that house's editor Bob Gleason and publisher Tom Doherty have signed the author, Joel Rosenberg, a communications expert in Washington, to a sequel. It's called Gaza Station and carries the plot a step further, into a denouement between the Palestinians and Israel. It was a North American rights deal for seven figures, based on a detailed proposal by Rosenberg, and bought from agent Scott Miller at Trident Media Group. No pub date yet, but in view of the timeliness the house hoped to get it out by the end of this year or the beginning of next.