The First Hostage: A J. B. Collins Novel - Hardcover

Rosenberg, Joel C.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 149640615X ISBN 13: 9781496406156

Verlag: TYNDALE HOUSE PUBL, 2015

Inhaltsangabe

Book 2 in the bestselling 3-book international political thriller series that has sold over 475,000 copies!

“One of the most entertaining and intriguing authors of international political thrillers in the country. . . . His novels are un-put-downable!”
—Steve Forbes, editor-in-chief, Forbes magazine

The president of the United States is missing.

Three years before Clinton and Patterson, another New York Times bestselling author of thirteen international thrillers, Joel C. Rosenberg, posed this chilling scenario: What if the Islamic State captured the most valuable hostage in history?

Award-winning journalist J. B. Collins, reporting from the scene of a devastating attack by ISIS terrorists in Amman, Jordan, puts the entire world on high alert—the U.S. president is missing and presumed captured.

With Israeli and Palestinian leaders critically injured and Jordan’s king fighting for his life, the allies are reeling and hopes for the peace process are dashed. As the U.S. government faces a constitutional crisis and Jordan battles for its very existence, Collins must do his best to keep the world informed while working to convince the FBI that his stories are not responsible for the terror attack on the Jordanian capital. And ISIS still has chemical weapons.

Struggling to clear his name, Collins works frantically with the Secret Service to locate and rescue the leader of the free world before ISIS’s threats become a catastrophic reality.

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The Islamic State wants to bring about the end of days.
New York Times correspondent J. B. Collins saw the horrific evidence with his own eyes. The brutal Islamist leader Abu Khalif has already demonstrated that he’s not afraid to unleash horrific destruction on his enemies. How many more will die before Khalif is stopped?

With the president of the United States missing, the eyes of the world are on Jordan. ISIS is on the move. Amman is in flames.

Brought into the inner circle of the king of Jordan, Collins is desperate to discover the fate of the president before it’s too late. But there’s a problem: someone is leaking secrets to ISIS. And Collins finds himself a prime suspect. Now he’s in a race to clear his own name in time to prevent the unthinkable. What he encounters along the way will change him forever. Deep in the tunnels beneath an ancient city, he will come face-to-face with the true nature of evil. Whether he can overcome it in time will determine the future of a nation . . . and the destiny of his own soul.

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The First Hostage

A J.B. Collins Novel

By Joel C. Rosenberg

Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.

Copyright © 2015 Joel C. Rosenberg
All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-4964-0615-6

CHAPTER 1

AMMAN, JORDAN

"The president of the United States ... is missing."

Even as the words came out of my mouth, I could hardly believe what I was saying. Neither could my editor.

There was a long pause.

"What do you mean, missing?" said the crackling, garbled voice on the other end of the line, on the other side of the world.

Allen MacDonald had worked at the New York Times for the better part of forty years. He'd been the foreign editor since I was in high school. For as long as I had been with the Times — which was now well over a decade — we'd worked together on all kinds of stories, from assassinations to terror attacks to full-blown wars. I was sure he had heard it all in this business ... until now.

"I mean missing, Allen. Gone. Lost. No one knows where he is, and all hell is breaking loose here," I said as I looked out over the devastation.

Amman's gorgeous new international airport was ablaze. Thick, black smoke darkened the midday sun. Bodies were everywhere. Soldiers. Policemen. Ground crew. And an untold number of jihadists in their signature black hoods, their cold, stiff hands still gripping Russian-made AK-47s. Anyone not already dead, myself included, was wearing a protective chem-bio suit, breathing through a gas mask, and praying the worst of the sarin gas attacks were over.

"But I–I don't understand," Allen stammered. "CNN is reporting Air Force One is safe. That it's already cleared Jordanian airspace. That it has a fighter escort."

"It's all true," I replied. "But the president isn't on it."

"You're sure?"

"Absolutely."

"There's no chance that you misheard."

"No."

"Misunderstood?"

"No."

"Fog of war?" he pressed.

"Forget it."

"Maybe somebody said it as a tactical diversion, to throw off ISIS or other enemies."

"No, Allen, listen to me — the president is not on that plane. I'm telling you he's missing, and people need to know."

"Collins, if I go with this story and you're wrong ..."

Allen didn't finish the sentence. But he didn't have to. I understood the consequences.

"I'm not wrong, Allen," I said. "This is solid."

There was another pause. Then he said, "Do you realize what this means?"

"No," I shot back. "I don't know what this means. And neither do you. I don't even know for sure if he's been captured or injured or ..." Now my voice trailed off.

"Or killed?" Allen asked.

"I'm not saying that."

"What, then? Missing and presumed dead?"

"No, no — listen to me. I'm giving you precisely what I know.

Nothing more. Nothing less."

"So where do you think he is?"

"I have no idea, Allen. No one does. But my sources were explicit.

Air Force One took off without the president."

"Okay, wait," Allen said. "I'm putting you on speaker. I'm going to record you. And Janie is here. She's going to type up everything you tell us."

I could hear some commotion as he set up a digital recorder, cleared space on his desk, and shouted for Mary Jane, his executive assistant, to bring her laptop into his office immediately. A moment later they were ready.

I took a deep breath, did my best to wipe some of the soot from my gas mask, and checked my grandfather's pocket watch. It was now 3:19 p.m. local time on Sunday, December 5.

"Okay, take this down," I began. "The president of the United States is missing. Stop. Air Force

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: TYNDALE HOUSE PUBL
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2015
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 149640615X
• ISBN 13: 9781496406156
• Einband: Gebundene Ausgabe
• Anzahl der Seiten: 448
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Nicht verfügbar
• Verantwortliche Person: Nicht verfügbar