December 21, 2012, may be one of the most watched dates in history. Every 26,000 years, earth lines up with the exact center of our galaxy. At 11:11 on December 21, 2012, this event happens again, and the ancient Mayans calculated that it would mark the end not only of this age but also of human consciousness as we know it. What will actually happen? Now Whitley Strieber explores 2012 in a riveting roller-coaster ride of fiction. A mysterious alien presence unexpectedly bursts out of sacred sites all over the world and begins to rip human souls from their bodies, plunging the world into chaos. As courage meets cowardice and loyalty meets betrayal, heroes emerge, villains reveal themselves, and in the end something completely unexpected happens that lifts the characters into a new life - and sounds a real-world warning for the future.