Dead Heat (novel)
Encyclopedia
Dead Heat
Dead Heat
Dead Heat is a 1988 movie about an LAPD police officer, Roger Mortis , killed while attempting to arrest zombies who have been reanimated by the head of Dante Laboratories in order to carry out violent armed robberies.-Plot:...

is a novel written by Joel C. Rosenberg
Joel C. Rosenberg
Joel C. Rosenberg is an American communications strategist, author of the Last Jihad series, and founder of The Joshua Fund...

 in 2008. The novel is the fifth and final book in his Last Jihad book series.

Plot summary

The year is 2016.

In Yemen
Yemen
The Republic of Yemen , commonly known as Yemen , is a country located in the Middle East, occupying the southwestern to southern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the north, the Red Sea to the west, and Oman to the east....

, a U.S. Central Intelligence Agency
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...

 (CIA) covert military strike against one of the head members of the Italy-based terrorist cell “The Legion” succeeds, and the strike team manages to obtain a laptop which bears blueprints for the Staples Center
Staples Center
Staples Center is a multi-purpose sports arena in Downtown Los Angeles. Adjacent to the L.A. Live development, it is located next to the Los Angeles Convention Center complex along Figueroa Street. Opening on October 17, 1999, it is one of the major sporting facilities in the Greater Los Angeles...

 in Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...

 which is currently hosting the Republican National Convention
Republican National Convention
The Republican National Convention is the presidential nominating convention of the Republican Party of the United States. Convened by the Republican National Committee, the stated purpose of the convocation is to nominate an official candidate in an upcoming U.S...

. President James MacPherson is scheduled to deliver a speech at the convention later that day. The president's advisors inform him of the CIA raid in Yemen and about the information recovered from the laptop and express concern for his security. The United States Secret Service
United States Secret Service
The United States Secret Service is a United States federal law enforcement agency that is part of the United States Department of Homeland Security. The sworn members are divided among the Special Agents and the Uniformed Division. Until March 1, 2003, the Service was part of the United States...

 also expresses great concern about the president's security, due to new information from British, Canadian, and Mexican intelligence agencies about several terrorist suspects converging on Los Angeles, even with heavy air and ground security at LAX International Airport and the Staples Center. In spite of these security concerns, the president decides to go ahead with his speech.

Meanwhile in Jordan
Jordan
Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...

, Jon Bennett rushes his wife Erin, a victim of bacterial meningitis
Bacterial meningitis
Bacterial meningitis refers to meningitis that is caused by bacterial infection.-Signs and Symptoms:*Fever*Seizures*Meningismus*Headache*Vomiting*Photophobia*Altered mental status and coma*Anorexia...

, to the hospital in the United Nations relief camp they are working in. As the doctors examine Erin, they discover that she is pregnant. While Erin remains hospitalized, Bennett receives a phone call warning about an impending attack on the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

.

At the NORAD Headquarters in Colorado Springs, the Air Force detects the launch of several short-range missiles off the coast of Washington, New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

, Seattle, and Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...

. The Air Force, unable to prevent the missiles from reaching their target, fears that each missile is equipped with a nuclear warhead. Their fears prove true when the District of Columbia is obliterated in two massive nuclear blasts. At the same time, Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...

 is flattened and becomes a nuclear wasteland along with Seattle and Los Angeles. NORAD commander Lt. General Charlie Briggs orders the evacuation of the vice president from his private residence in Jacksonville, Florida
Jacksonville, Florida
Jacksonville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Florida in terms of both population and land area, and the largest city by area in the contiguous United States. It is the county seat of Duval County, with which the city government consolidated in 1968...

. Vice President
Vice president
A vice president is an officer in government or business who is below a president in rank. The name comes from the Latin vice meaning 'in place of'. In some countries, the vice president is called the deputy president...

 Bill Oaks is sworn in as President of the United States
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....

 on board Air Force One
Air Force One
Air Force One is the official air traffic control call sign of any United States Air Force aircraft carrying the President of the United States. In common parlance the term refers to those Air Force aircraft whose primary mission is to transport the president; however, any U.S. Air Force aircraft...

.

Oaks now becomes the forty-fifth President of the United States. Along with death of President MacPherson, the Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

 and Democratic
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

 Party leadership, members of the United States Congress
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....

 and the United States Supreme Court are all dead, and millions of lives have been lost. The attack on Washington also leads to the loss of the majority of U.S. intelligence agencies, such as the CIA, and hinders the president's efforts to find those responsible for the attacks.

As one of his first acts as president, Oaks orders United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

 to deploy its entire fleet to sea, in order to avoid an attack similar to Pearl Harbor. As China begins to move military forces towards Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...

, the president orders the United States Navy's 7th Fleet in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

 to the East China Sea
East China Sea
The East China Sea is a marginal sea east of China. It is a part of the Pacific Ocean and covers an area of 1,249,000 km² or 750,000 square miles.-Geography:...

, in order to prevent a possible Chinese invasion of Taiwan. China believes that the United States might be holding them accountable for the attacks. As the United States prepares to respond militarily, China warns it will strike if it feels threatened.

The U.S. Coast Guard locates one of the cargo ships which launched the missiles which struck D.C. They then pass this information on to the United States Navy. The Navy contacts General Briggs who orders an F/A-18 figher squadron from Naval Air Station Oceana
Naval Air Station Oceana
Naval Air Station Oceana or NAS Oceana is a military airport located in Virginia Beach, Virginia, and is a United States Navy Master Jet Base. It is also known as Apollo Soucek Field, named after Lieutenant Apollo Soucek, a Navy Test Pilot who set the global altitude record in 1930 by flying a...

 to destroy the cargo ship. In short order, the Navy fighters destroy the cargo ship. Soon afterwards, Navy and Air Force fighters locate and sink the remaining cargo ships which destroyed New York, Los Angeles, and Seattle.

During a meeting in Babylon
Babylon
Babylon was an Akkadian city-state of ancient Mesopotamia, the remains of which are found in present-day Al Hillah, Babil Province, Iraq, about 85 kilometers south of Baghdad...

, U.N. Secretary General Salvador Lucente meets with Iraqi President Mustafa Al-Hassani. There they discuss Israel’s continued construction of the Third Temple and how to stop it. Both agree they will have to tolerate this nuisance until they amass enough power. With American economic and military power effectively neutralized, no one will stand in their way. With Manhattan in ruins, Al-Hassani invites Lucente to move the UN Headquarters to Babylon. Lucente publicly accepts Al-Hassani's offer.

In Jordan, the mysterious caller contacts Bennett again and asks him to come with Erin to Bangkok
Bangkok
Bangkok is the capital and largest urban area city in Thailand. It is known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon or simply Krung Thep , meaning "city of angels." The full name of Bangkok is Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahintharayutthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom...

. Bennett explains that the President has arranged for him to return to the United States. The line goes dead. The caller is revealed to be Indira Rajiv, a former mole and traitor in the CIA. She begins to plot how to transport Bennett and Erin to her location. Bennett, with help from the National Security Agency
National Security Agency
The National Security Agency/Central Security Service is a cryptologic intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense responsible for the collection and analysis of foreign communications and foreign signals intelligence, as well as protecting U.S...

 and the Israeli Mossad
Mossad
The Mossad , short for HaMossad leModi'in uleTafkidim Meyuchadim , is the national intelligence agency of Israel....

, attempts to trace the call. The president orders the deployment of Delta Force
Delta Force
1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta is one of the United States' secretive Tier One counter-terrorism and Special Mission Units. Commonly known as Delta Force, Delta, or The Unit, it was formed under the designation 1st SFOD-D, and is officially referred to by the Department of Defense...

 teams to Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...

 to capture the caller. Rajiv, however, narrowly escapes being captured by Delta Force.

Bennett and Erin, still on a stretcher, board an ambulance headed to Queen Alia International Airport
Queen Alia International Airport
Queen Alia International Airport is Jordan's largest airport that is situated in Zizya area, 20 miles south of Amman. The airport has three terminals: two passenger terminals and one cargo terminal. It is the home hub of Royal Jordanian Airlines, the national flag carrier, as well as being a...

 in Amman
Amman
Amman is the capital of Jordan. It is the country's political, cultural and commercial centre and one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. The Greater Amman area has a population of 2,842,629 as of 2010. The population of Amman is expected to jump from 2.8 million to almost...

 where a U.S. military aircraft is waiting to return them to America. On the way, the driver is shot by an unseen sniper, and the ambulance fishtails and lands on its side. As a cement truck is bearing down on it, Bennett manages to crawl out of it right before it crushes the ambulance, killing Erin and the nurses in the back. A small squad of men rush toward him from the surrounding hills and knock him unconscious.

In America, Homeland Security
Homeland security
Homeland security is an umbrella term for security efforts to protect states against terrorist activity. Specifically, is a concerted national effort to prevent terrorist attacks within the U.S., reduce America’s vulnerability to terrorism, and minimize the damage and recover from attacks that do...

 Secretary Lee James is sworn in as Vice President. The remnant of the government begins receiving intelligence that implicates North Korea
North Korea
The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea , , is a country in East Asia, occupying the northern half of the Korean Peninsula. Its capital and largest city is Pyongyang. The Korean Demilitarized Zone serves as the buffer zone between North Korea and South Korea...

 as the culprit in the nuclear attacks. President Oaks orders the Air Force to conduct reconnaissance flights off the coast of North Korea. During one such flight, An Air Force RC-135 from Kadena Air Base
Kadena Air Base
, is a United States Air Force base in the towns of Kadena and Chatan and the city of Okinawa, in Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. Kadena Air Base is the hub of U.S. airpower in the Pacific, and home to the USAF's 18th Wing and a variety of associate units.-Units:The 18th Wing is the host unit at Kadena...

 in Okinawa is shot down by North Korean fighter jets over the Sea of Japan
Sea of Japan
The Sea of Japan is a marginal sea of the western Pacific Ocean, between the Asian mainland, the Japanese archipelago and Sakhalin. It is bordered by Japan, North Korea, Russia and South Korea. Like the Mediterranean Sea, it has almost no tides due to its nearly complete enclosure from the Pacific...

. Also, satellite imagery shows a massive concentration of troops on the border with South Korea. President Oaks and his military advisors begin collaborating with South Korean officials on how to respond to the threat of an invasion.

Meanwhile, back at Cheyenne Mountain, Bobby Caulfield, an aide to President Oaks learns that most of his family died in the attack on New York and begins to suffer a mental breakdown. This is coupled with the fact that his older brother is in the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...

 and is stationed along the DMZ with the Eighth Army in South Korea
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...

. Caufield also notices that he has run out of his hidden cocaine stash and begins to suffer from delirium
Delirium
Delirium or acute confusional state is a common and severe neuropsychiatric syndrome with core features of acute onset and fluctuating course, attentional deficits and generalized severe disorganization of behavior...

. He then assaults a military policeman and steals his Beretta pistol. As he is a presidential aide, he is able to get into a conference room where the president is having a meeting without being searched. He then holds Oaks at gunpoint, demanding that he order U.S. Forces in South Korea not to fight against the North. Unsatisfied with how his demands are being received, he assassinates the President before committing suicide. Vice President Lee James now becomes the forty-sixth President of the United States. Because of the amount of responsibility now heaped in his lap and his doubts about his abilities, President James becomes a Christian. United States Secretary of Defense
United States Secretary of Defense
The Secretary of Defense is the head and chief executive officer of the Department of Defense of the United States of America. This position corresponds to what is generally known as a Defense Minister in other countries...

 Burt Trainor becomes Vice President.

Israeli Prime Minister David Doron is awoken in the middle of the night with intel placing Jon Bennett in North Korea. Because he is a friend and helped rediscover the Ark of the Covenant
Ark of the Covenant
The Ark of the Covenant , also known as the Ark of the Testimony, is a chest described in Book of Exodus as solely containing the Tablets of Stone on which the Ten Commandments were inscribed...

, Doron feels his rescue is a top priority. He orders an extraction team to locate and rescue him. Bennett wakes up in a cold, dark cell in North Korea. When two interrogators walk in to extract information, Indira Rajiv enters and shoots them for killing Erin because she was a friend. She tells Bennett that she did not want them to be harmed. She hands him a drive with a plethora of files detailing the names, locations, and plans of every member in the Legion before shooting herself.

In America, President Lee James prepares for the first press conference since the attacks. He signs the orders detailing America’s retaliatory strike against North Korea that includes nuclear missiles which are immediately launched.

After Indira commits suicide, Israeli special operations soldiers launch a raid on the North Korean prison Jon Bennett is being held in. They manage to rescue Bennett and escort him to their UH-60 helicopter. After the helicopter manages to take off, Bennett notices something streaking across the sky. Tragically, Bennett and the Israeli soldiers are vaporized by one of the six thousand U.S. cruise missiles launched against North Korea.

At his underground command center in Mount Weather
Mount Weather
The Mount Weather Emergency Operations Center is a civilian command facility in Virginia, U.S. used as the center of operations for the Federal Emergency Management Agency...

, Virginia, President James begins his speech before a global audience of more than three billion. As he details what has happened in the last several days and how the government is responding, North Korean cities and targets are being destroyed in milliseconds. During the course of the address, he instantly vanishes. Dmitri Galishnikov, founder of Medexco, an Israeli oil company, and his wife sit in their family room astonished at what has just happened. Having heard End Times prophecies from the Bennetts and others, he realizes the Rapture has occurred. He immediately calls all Christians he knows, and none answer.

In the epilogue, a week has passed since the disappearance of President James and nearly one billion others worldwide. Leaders of thirty-nine countries are gone, too, and with their disappearance, most of Israel's key allies in the global community. David Doron is eager to sign a peace treaty proposed by Salvador Lucente. During this time, the Galishnikovs convert to Christianity. Dead Heat ends with them sending an e-mail to the employees of Medexco outlining their conversion and their plans for the future.

Reviews

The Novel has received fairly mixed to positive reactions. "Better written and more complex than Left Behind
Left Behind
Left Behind is a series of 16 best-selling novels by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins, dealing with Christian dispensationalist End Times: pretribulation, premillennial, Christian eschatological viewpoint of the end of the world. The primary conflict of the series is the members of the Tribulation...

 to which it'll be compared"- said Publishers Weekly
Publishers Weekly
Publishers Weekly, aka PW, is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers and literary agents...

.
"Another page turner"- World Magazine
World magazine
World Magazines are magazines about specific foreign countries that help people of different countries, languages, and cultures to understand that country...

.
"Eerily prophetic...unsettling and scary...Rosenberg documents his plot with extensive research... A fast paced story packed with action from beginning to end"- Dallas Morning News.
These are some of the good reviews.
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