Joe Haldeman presents an intriguing new tale of Earth in the twenty-first century. Astronomy professor Aurora Bell gets a message from space that seems to portend the arrival of extraterrestrials. According to her calculations, whoever is coming will arrive in three months-on New Year's Day, to be exact. Earth is in chaos, struggling in the wake of nuclear war and certainly unprepared to face invasion of any kind. But the more Rory investigates, the more she doubts the authenticity of the transmission. If the message is an elaborate hoax, who's behind it, and why? And so the world waits. But the question remains as to what, exactly, everyone is waiting for...

"If there was a Fort Knox for the science fiction writers who really matter, we'd have to lock Haldeman up there."-Stephen King

"One of the best prophetic writers of our times."-David Brin

"His prose is as clear and engaging as his ideas."-"New York Times Book Review"

"One of our most aware, comprehensive, and necessary writers."-Peter Straub

"Everything he's published is a thoughtfully well-paced, well-realized book, with interesting characters and pleasurable prose."-"Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine"