[1][2] The book was published in 1981 by Macmillan in the UK then in January 1982 by William Morrow & Co in the US and deals with political power struggles over a presumed Muslim prophet.

[3][4] The Mahdi follows several characters as they attempt to find a way to negate the threat of Muslim fundamentalism to the Western World's oil supply.

Pritchard, a slick triple agent, has been tapped to help solve the problem.

Reception to The Mahdi was mixed,[5] with many reviewers criticizing the book's implausibility.

[6] The New York Times gave The Mahdi an overall positive review, calling the plot "elegant" while stating that the lack of a defined villain makes it seem as if there were "less at stake here than there ought to be".