Casey Kasem, the author's radio companion throughout his troubled teenage years, summed up the approach to this book with his famous byline: "Keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars." The Rod of Iron brings the author's gut-wrenching emotional, intellectual, and spiritual journey to a startling conclusion. Across this trilogy the author carefully, and in a hugely entertaining way, documents the unexpected twists and turns of an obsessive quest for coherence. "Truthy," superficial answers would not do.

The global digging for satisfactory answers that began in The People of the Sign, at the 1981 City of David archaeological expedition continues unabated. The Tower of Bab-El story is a mysterious "X Marks the Spot" starting point in The Rod of Iron, which quickly becomes an elusive destination - located in our modern era. The search leads to the ruins of ancient temples at G bekli Tepe and then stretches outward, towards the heavens, as the author finally connects the dots on earth to those indicated by distant stars. These ever-larger patterns ultimately unveil the solutions to riddle after puzzle after mystery in what one reviewer called a "relentless search for truth."The author unpacks the Bible's cryptic message: That which the citizens of Bab-El sought to attain is within the reach of a unified planet. The implications of that statement are among the astounding discoveries in this tightly written book.

Fans of The People of the Sign and The Hardness of the Heart are sure to find The Rod of Iron a fascinating, surprising and satisfying conclusion to Mr. Fransson's opus, as the lyrical threads of the author's life come together in a crescendo worth the considerable effort needed to digest the vast internal and external territory covered along the way. His outrageous hypotheses are thoroughly tested against historical events and modern science. The intricate nuances of science and philosophy are explained using verses from the Bible, articles from Scientific American, Indian Legends, official government websites, and the author's personal life events. References to Beatles songs like The Long and Winding Road, Across the Universe and All You Need is Love form a fitting backdrop to this riveting story that is unlike any other.