Product Description

For Jon and Erin Bennett, the world seems to be spinning dangerously out of control. A new dictator is rising in Iraq. China is making threatening new moves toward Taiwan. North Korean forces appear ready to strike south. Israel is feverishly trying to complete the Third Temple. Oil prices are surging. And in the wake of an horrific war in the Middle East, President James MacPherson's second term is coming to an end. Now the battle to succeed him is heating up into one of the most fiercely contested presidential elections in American history, and the Bennetts realize the stakes could not be higher. Who will lead a bitterly divided country over the next four years? What can the U.S. do to shape the new world order? And just what role--if any--does the U.S. play in the last days? As the presidential campaign narrows into a dead heat, the Secret Service learns of a catastrophic plot to assassinate one of the candidates--but which one, and can the terrorists be stopped in time?

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #602 in Books
• Published on: 2008-02-13
• Released on: 2008-03-18
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 416 pages

From AudioFile
Even though the plot is incredible, reader Phil Gigante's big voice (pun intended) makes this audio a pleasure to hear. Feature this: China is threatening Taiwan; the North Koreans are going to invade South Korea; there are at least three new Mid-East crises in the making; Israel is trying to build a third holy temple in Jerusalem; and four American cities get nuked--all on the first disc. Not withstanding all of the above, what was meant to be light reading is even lighter listening. And though you can't take this plot seriously, Gigante blazes through it with clarity and aplomb. As you're trying to keep up with the plot and characters, you forget about believability and have as much fun listening as Gigante has reading. A.L.H. © AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

From the Inside Flap

From the author who predicted . . .
A kamikaze attack on the U.S.
A war with Saddam
The death of Yasser Arafat
Iran’s nuclear threat against Israel

Joel C. Rosenberg’s New York Times best-selling novels have an uncanny way of coming true.

The first page of his first thriller, The Last Jihad, put readers inside the cockpit of a hijacked jet, coming in on a kamikaze attack into an American city . . . but it was written nine months before September 11, 2001. As Jihad unfolds, an American president finds himself at war with Saddam Hussein over terrorism and weapons of mass destruction . . . but it was published five months before the actual war with Iraq began.

Rosenberg’s second novel, The Last Days, opens with an attack on a U.S. diplomatic convoy heading into Gaza, the death of Yasser Arafat, and radical Islamic terrorists trying to seize the West Bank and Gaza. Two weeks before it was published, a U.S. diplomatic convoy was attacked in Gaza. . . . thirteen months later, Yasser Arafat was dead. . . . and then Hamas seized control of Gaza.

In The Ezekiel Option, a dictator rises to power in Russia, an Iranian leader vows to annihilate Israel, and Russia and Iran form an unprecedented military alliance. Then, on the very day the novel came out, Iran elected a new president who vowed to accelerate his country’s nuclear program. Four months later, he vowed to “wipe Israel off the map,” and then Russia agreed to sell Iran $1 billion worth of high-tech weapons.

In The Copper Scroll, an ancient scroll describes unimaginable treasures worth untold billions buried in the hills east of Jerusalem and under the Holy City itself—treasures that could come from the Second Temple and whose discovery could lead to the building of the Third Temple and a war of biblical proportions. . . . One month after Rosenberg’s fourth novel was released, Biblical Archeology Review published a story describing the real-life, intensified hunt for the treasures of the actual Copper Scroll.

In Dead Heat—the final novel of the series—readers will be left breathless as Rosenberg embarks on his most exciting and heart-pounding ride yet, a political thriller that will leave you wondering . . . Could it happen?. . . . Can we stop it?

From the Back Cover

The stage is set for war.
*Oil prices are surging to record highs.
* A new dictator is rising in Iraq.
* China is threatening Taiwan
* North Korean forces are ready to strike south.
* Israel is feverishly trying to complete the Third Temple.

And in the midst of a world ready to implode, American president James MacPherson’s second term is ending.

The battle to succeed him is heating up into the most fiercely contested presidential election in American history. Who will lead a bitterly divided country over the next four years? And just what role—if any—does the U.S. play in the last days?

As the presidential campaign narrows into a dead heat, the Secret Service learns of a catastrophic terrorist plot to assassinate one of the candidates—but which one? Whom do they want dead, and can the U.S. forces stop the terrorist before millions lose their lives?

From New York Times best-selling novelist Joel C. Rosenberg comes an explosive new political thriller to be released amid the 2008 presidential campaign . . . and God forbid it should ever come true.

Customer Reviews

Misleading Back Cover Overview
Don't get me wrong...I am a HUGE Joel Rosenberg fan, but I'm having a tough time with this book. The back cover is completely misleading regarding the plot and since he has the tendency to be right a lot, reading this current plot line gives me a disturbed feeling, which hinders my enjoyment of the book. Usually I can't put his books down, but I'm almost scared to pick this one up! It is intriging enough to make me want to finish; I just hope he's completely wrong about this at a future event.

hold on to ya hats!!
Hold on to ya hats people...Joel is coming out with another book in the series of the Last Jihad...called the The Revolution...so am sure it will not disappoint us...am looking forward of purchasing it from amazon.com...

Masterful storytelling, full of surprises and shocks, unforgettable and unstoppable
It wasn't until I started reading Joel C. Rosenberg's books that I realized I had been using a cliché when I would say that "anything can happen" when describing the twists and turns a plot can take. That statement should be reserved almost exclusively for Rosenberg's novels, particularly DEAD HEAT, his latest work. I will tell you without reservation that anything can and does happen here, including a number of things for which I was/am nowhere near ready.

If you have not read the author's previous novels --- THE LAST JIHAD, THE LAST DAYS, THE EZEKIEL OPTION and THE COPPER SCROLL --- you may want to jump into those before picking up this current one. Though Rosenberg does a good job of providing background on the characters in DEAD HEAT (particularly Jon Bennett and Erin McCoy) with respect to what has gone before, knowledge of the backstory of this series will help newcomers more fully appreciate the current book. However, it's not necessary, especially when an all-too-imaginable yet unthinkable cataclysmic disaster befalls the United States within the first quarter of the novel.

Bennett and McCoy, former presidential advisors doing missionary work in Jordan, are far removed from the disaster, yet are facing significant problems of their own. McCoy has suddenly fallen victim to a mystery illness, while Bennett has received an anonymous telephone call from someone who claims knowledge of what has befallen the U.S., as well as the ability to prevent more disaster from occurring. But there is a price, one that both Bennett and the President are reluctant to pay.

The U.S. government, however, is on war footing, and while it races to determine the source of the calamity before further damage can be done, a second and most unexpected danger threatens from within. Rosenberg saves the most shocking event of all for the book's conclusion, as the United States, in the midst of a retaliatory strike, experiences an event unprecedented in world history.

Rosenberg's novels have Biblical prophecies as their foundation and are set in what are generally known as the "end of days." There is no denying that he is a masterful storyteller, one for whom absolutely nothing is off the table. While some have found fault with the plot-driven elements of his work, Rosenberg's frenetic pacing elevates the events of his narrative to a fever pitch, even as he ratchets things up another notch or five. Full of surprises and shocks, DEAD HEAT is unforgettable and unstoppable.

--- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub