Crimson Phoenix (Victoria Emerson Thriller #1)

by John Gilstrap

Overview

The nightmare scenario has come to pass. America has fallen. In the aftermath, one woman becomes the last hope of a nation and its people in New York Times bestselling author John Gilstrap’s electrifying new Victoria Emerson thriller series.

West Virginia Congresswoman Victoria Emerson has always put the needs of her community before the power games of Washington, D.C. Then an Army officer appears on her doorstep, deploying the code words “Crimson Phoenix”—meaning this is not a drill. The United States is on the brink of nuclear disaster. The major will escort her to a secure bunker. She cannot bring her family.
 
A single mother, Victoria refuses to abandon her teenage sons. Denied entry to the bunker, the family somehow survives the unthinkable. In the aftermath, the nation is in chaos. The grid is gone. Food is scarce. Civility gives way to desperate survival. Against this total collapse, Victoria creates a new home in a small Appalachian mountain town. The community she builds around her shines like a beacon in a dark wasteland. Now she must defend it with her life—to give hope to a new America.

“A gripping page-turner.”
—Taylor Stevens, New York Times bestselling author of Liars’ Legacy

“An explosive story that locks you into your chair until the final page.”
—Jamie Freveletti, international bestselling author of Running from the Devil and Robert Ludlum’s The Janus Reprisal

“Snaps with action from the very first page. It's certain to hit the 10-ring with old and new readers alike.”
—Marc Cameron, New York Times bestselling author ofBone Rattleand Tom Clancy’s Chain of Command
 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781496728562
Publisher:	Kensington
Publication date:	02/23/2021
Series:	Victoria Emerson Series , #1
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	512
Sales rank:	11,479
File size:	16 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

John Gilstrap is the New York Times bestselling author over 29 novels, including the acclaimed Jonathan Grave thrillers. Against All Enemies won the International Thriller Writers’ Award for Best Paperback. His books have been translated into more than twenty languages worldwide. An expert in explosives safety and a former firefighter, he holds a master’s degree from the University of Southern California and a bachelor’s degree from the College of William and Mary. He lives in Berkeley County, West Virginia. Please visit him on Facebook or at www.johngilstrap.com. Subscribe to his YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/c/authorjohngilstrap.

Editorial Reviews

12/14/2020

The U.S. approves an Israeli first-strike to destroy Iranian nuclear weapons, in this pallid near-future series launch from bestseller Gilstrap (the Jonathan Grave series). Given the threat of nuclear war, all members of Congress are transported to an underground bunker in West Virginia, but Victoria Emerson, a U.S. representative from that state, balks at entering when she’s told her two teenage sons accompanying her aren’t welcome inside. She resigns her post to go in search of her third son, a student at a West Virginia military academy. When word of the government’s precautions leaks to the press, Iran acts first, killing millions of Israelis with multiple nukes and triggering a Russian attack that takes out 13 U.S. cities, the president, and the vice president. The House Speaker is left to try to run the country after most of America’s power grid is knocked out, while contending with opposition to his leadership inside the facility. Implausible details—both the president and v-p are in Washington, D.C., just hours before the planned Israeli operation, leaving them vulnerable—don’t help a familiar story line. Still, fans of apocalyptic thrillers may want to check this out. Agent: Molly Friedrich, Friedrich Agency. (Feb.)

Publishers Weekly

Praise for Crimson Phoenix

“The novel seizes you on page one and never lets go . . . this riveting book will stay with you long after you finish it. And to top it all off, he’s created one of the most singular and compelling heroines to come along in years.”
—Jeffery Deaver, New York Times bestselling author
 
“Fans of apocalyptic thrillers may want to check this out.”
—Publishers Weekly
 
“Just the thing for readers who feel oppressed by the pandemic lockdown.”
—Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

2020-12-15
When you imagine nuclear war, what do you think next? Gilstrap thinks series launch.

Getting wind of Israel’s intention to launch a nuclear strike, Iran attacks preemptively. So does Russia, which targets major U.S. cities. Communications are sketchy, but it looks as if Britain's not doing so well, and the American president and vice president, along with many Beltway stalwarts, have been incinerated. Escorted by Maj. Joseph McCrea to the Hilltop Manor Resort, the designated secure refuge for members of Congress, West Virginia Rep. Victoria Emerson is informed that her sons, Caleb, 16, and Luke, 13, can’t be accommodated. So she resigns her position on the spot, turns on her heel, and leaves in search of someplace safe for them to shelter together—preferably someplace like Top Hat Mountain, the designated rendezvous for her son Adam, an 18-year-old cadet at Clinton M. Hedrick Military Academy, and the rest of the family. As the legislators immured back at Hilltop squabble about whether House Speaker Penn Glendale is really next in line for the presidency, McCrea, Victoria, Caleb, and Luke, surviving a brush with an outlaw gang led by survivalist Jeffrey Grubbs, arrive in the ravaged town of Ortho and step into the middle of a vigilante case study. It’s up to Victoria, whom nobody in Ortho elected to be or do anything, to provide more inspiring leadership than the colleagues she left behind. Very little is resolved, but that’s more or less the point for this opening installment in Gilstrap’s post-apocalyptic series.

Just the thing for readers who feel oppressed by the pandemic lockdown. Yes, things could be worse.

Kirkus Reviews