The final instalment of an evangelical Christian publishing phenomenon which has spawned 16 novels and sold 64 million copies arrived in shops across the United States yesterday.

Kingdom Come, the last of the “Left Behind” series of Bible-inspired thrillers written by Jerry Jenkins and Tim LaHaye, tells the story of the final postmillennial battle between Jesus and Satan. “I’ll give you a clue,” Jenkins said, “the good guy wins.”

But the author also accepted that the brand was not as successful as it once was, with 300,000 first-edition copies of Kingdom Come being printed compared with 1.9 million for previous books. “Maybe the edge has come off as far as it being a novelty,” he said.

In contrast, the July 21 release of the final Harry Potter book — a series which has been criticised by evangelicals as promoting satanism — is probably the most anticipated publishing date of the year.

The Left Behind series was originally meant to be limited to six books. Such was its popularity with America’s army of evangelicals, however, that a further ten were written and spin-offs have included video games, Christian music CDs, calendars and a scripture service for mobile phones.

The series has also inspired a variety of Christian genres, which have been embraced by mainstream book publishers and sold in high street bookshops, in subjects ranging from science fiction to weight loss.

The Left Behind series appeared to chime with the sense of the impending Apocalypse among many Americans, reinforced by the election of President Bush on a faith-based platform and global events which — in some eyes — confirm biblical prophecy.

Sales elsewhere in the world have been meagre.

A 2006 survey for the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life found that 79 per cent of American Christians believe in the Second Coming, with 20 per cent believing it will happen in their lifetime.

The Left Behind series begins with all born-again Christians being summoned to heaven in the Rapture, as predicted by the Book of Revelation. Those left behind, struggling to make sense of what has happened, are then ruled by a Romanian politician named Nicolae Carpathia who becomes United Nations Secretary-General.

He turns out to be the Anti-Christ who sets up a world government, as well as establishing his capital in the biblical Babylon, Baghdad.

Jesus then returns for the Second Coming and slaughters nonbelievers including Hindus, Muslims, Jews, atheists, as well as many Catholics and mainstream Protestants.

The books have attracted a fair share of controversy, not least from mainstream Christian theologians and other religions. American Muslims, for instance, have asked Wal-Mart to stop stocking the Left Behind video game which encourages children to zap the AntiChrist’s team which includes a lot of Arab and Islamic-sounding names.

LaHaye, who helped to set up Jerry Falwell’s Moral Majority organisation, told a television interview last week there were many signs that the world was coming closer to the end. “I’ve come to the conclusion that the world cannot last more than 25 to 50 years,” he said.