Heat (Will Lee)

I have read nearly 100 percent of Stuart Woods from his fittest writing. Heat is an attempt to veer off the norm of his writers hip into a characteric involving seeming unrelevant and disjointed characters and plots to tell the story and it leaves the reader somewhat exhausted in his readership. I read the entire book. Nothing will keep me from my loyalty to the readership continuation of Stuart Woods. By the way I am a loyal BullDawg grad too.

Another well written Stuart Woods novel. Quite different than the Stuart Barrington series or his Ed Eagle novels. This novel follows Jesse Warden an ex-DR A agent who had been convicted of killing his partner and stealing a large sum of drug money from the evidence room. He gets released from prison when he agrees the DOJ find out what some people of interest are doing for which he will receive a federal pardon.

Stuart Woods, bestselling author of Santa Fe Rules and Foreign Affairs, proves once again he’s a great storyteller in Heat. Definitely a one-sitting read.

Jesse Warden is a convicted criminal biding his days in solitary confinement in the Atlanta Federal Prison. He is recruited by his former employer (DEA) to ferret out information in a small Idaho town. Two agents have already been killed in an attempt to infiltrate a dangerous cult called Aryan Universe. In exchange for this good deed—if he lives through it—he will receive a presidential pardon for a crime he didn’t commit.

With a new identity, Jesse drives to Idaho in a pickup truck equipped with hidden cellular phone and some hard cash. St. Clair, appears to be the perfect Disneyesque idea of small-town America. Every house is new paint clean with meticulous lawns and flower beds permanently held in a much earlier era. All is not right in this flawless community. Mysterious disappearances have occurred, but crime is rare due to swift and deadly punishment. The local police station is a high-tech marvel with all the bells and whistles money can buy.

The community’s children are taught at the First Church School where they are indoctrinated to hate people of other ethic groups. There are no excuses for absences and children are encouraged to tell on their parents if they speak against the teachings of the First Church.

Jesse is sent to the widow Jenny Weatherby who rents out one of her bedrooms. Jenny is far from the elderly widow-woman Jesse expected. He falls for her fast.

Another referral results in Jesse’s employment at Wood Products—the only business in town not owned by the cult. His ascent is swift at the plant and soon the sect invites him into their midst persuading him to give them financial information about the business so they can take control.

As Jesse passes one test after another he makes his way into the hierarchy of the treacherous Aryan Universe. On once such occasion he is brought into a vast underground armament. The bunker is extensive and fully stocked with food and water, huge amounts of ammunition and explosives, infirmaries and the latest equipment.

Jack Gene Coldwater, the Aryan Universe cult leader, fought until he ran out of wars and then proceeded to stockpile arms at a staggering rate preparing for his own hostilities which he teaches is inevitable. He dispenses death to his followers without blinking, tightening the ever shorter rope on those who remain.

Jesse doesn’t trust the DEA—a fellow agent set him up resulting in his incarceration. He fears for Jenny, her daughter, and his own daughter who was adopted after his conviction. In an interesting subplot Jesse obtains fraudulent passports as plan B, but the First Church foils his attempt at flight.

The climatic scene has all the explosive features of an action movie providing for a fun read. Woods reaches out and grabs one by the throat hauling the reader into a riveting adventure with an all too familiar and frightening theme.

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This is one his earlier books and is quite typical Stuart Woods which is in no way a criticism. This one plays more like a John Grisham than some of his other efforts.
Jesse Warden, a former DEA agent, has been sentenced to prison after being wrongly convicted for the murder of his DEA partner. His ex-boss removes him from prison to go undercover in a very small town in the northwest where a man has turned the town into a cult. The DEA is not for sure what the leader's plans are and they want to find out before he can act. Jesse is a likeable but tough character; Woods does a pretty good job of blending his two personalities together. The action is tense and makes you want to continue reading to see what develops.
I am a fan of Stuart Woods and am glad I picked up this older book to read. Looking forward to more from him.

Pretty good book, good build of characters and background stories. Some good twists here and there. Hardest part I had with the book is that it is now somewhat out dated from a technology stand point. Maybe it was just me but I thought several times "Why doesn't he use if his phone to do this and that"...back then he couldn't. Worth the read.

Correctimundo that this would make an excellent movie, per other reviews, and it's a suspenseful "good read" as they say. A real page-turner, it has plot-twists that keep the reader wondering. However -- it also make you wonder if the author has ever been to any of the locales Jesse Warden and other characters visit. Although catalogued as having an Idaho setting, the country around the fictional locale of the Aryan Universe is nothing like that described, and you get no feel for Idaho at all. Cult-members fly into Tacoma's Narrows Airport, which IS NOT on one of the "many small islands in Puget Sound." When Jesse Warden flies commercial to Washington DC, he has business in College Park Maryland and then a quick return to "Idaho." But he uses Washington National and Dulles airports, which are in Virginia, while College Park is just 25 miles down US Route 1 from Baltimore-Washington International. Author Woods lives in Santa Fe -- a small town in West Virginia's Pocono Mountains.

I've read "White Cargo" and "Dead Eyes" before this and I find Stuart Woods one of the best story tellers. He keeps me interested throughout the story and always in suspense as to what will happen next. Jesse Warden is a strong character, which is what is needed to try to go undercover to bust a huge domestic terrorist group. I enjoyed this very much,it read fast, and kept me away from the TV.

I like his writing style. He's concise and doesn't use a paragraph where a sentence will do.
A great plot line, well defined characters all combining to a great ending.
A great beach, or airline flight, book.

Typical Woods' book. Fast-action, fast-paced thriller. I liked it. Woods paints a real picture of this Idaho town which I could imagine easily. My choice for the actor to play the pastor is: Christopher Walkin. Jessie: Tom Selleck