Crimson Phoenix

December 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.

December 6, 2021
Gilstrap’s engrossing sequel to 2021’s Crimson Phoenix finds former U.S. Congresswoman Victoria Emerson continuing to organize an Ortho, W.Va., community of like-minded survivors of Hell Day, an “eight-hour conflict that left the world in ruins” 34 days earlier and wiped out all 21st-century technology. Then troops led by Capt. Roy Magill, of the Maryland National Guard, show up. Magill, who claims to represent the U.S. Army, threatens to arrest members of the Ortho community unless they hand over their provisions. His brutish intimidation tactics lead to a firefight and mass casualties for his side. In the aftermath, as rumors and reports of marauding groups grow, the community prepares for an inevitable reprisal attack. Meanwhile, Emerson’s missing 18-year-old son, Adam, tries to protect his pregnant girlfriend as they make their way to Top Hat Mountain, where he hopes to reunite with his family. Power struggles among surviving U.S. government officials hunkered down in D.C.-area bunkers add to the drama. Fans of doomsday military thrillers will delight in the resilience of Gilstrap’s family of preppers and their quest for survival on their terms. Readers will eagerly await the next installment. Agent: Molly Friedrich, Friedrich Agency.