Heat [Mass Market Paperback]

Stuart Woods (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 27, 1995

Ex-DEA agent Jesse Warden has seen enough of the inside of a solitary confinement cell to last him a lifetime. Or two lifetimes, which is the sentence he's serving after being convicted of a plan he was planning to commit, but never did. So when an old buddy shows up with a deal that could spring him from his hell behind bars, he's ready to listen.

To gain his freedom, Jesse must infiltrate a dangerous and reclusive religious cult that has been stockpiling weapons and eliminating those sent to investigate. From the moment he arrives in the Idaho mountain town where the cult is centered, Jesse finds every aspect of life dictated by the group's eerie, imposing leader. Pitted against not only the cult, but also the feds who sent him, Jesse feels control of his own life slipping away, and must make a final,desperate attempt to regain it -- or die trying.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Woods's sixth novel in three years is likely to follow its predecessors ( L.A. Times , etc.) onto bestseller lists. In this artfully plotted thriller, ex-DEA agent Jesse Warden, wrongly convicted of a murder he suspects was the work of Dan Barker, his former superior, is offered a chance at a presidential pardon if he will infiltrate the sinister religious cult that has taken control of St. Clair, Idaho. Despite knowing that he will again be under the control of Barker and that two previous agents investigating the cult have vanished, Jesse can't refuse. Going incognito, he gets a job at the town's only business not controlled by the cult and is brazenly seduced by his new landlady, lovely widow Jenny Weatherby. As Jesse sets out to win the confidence of the menacing head of the sect, Jack Gene Coldwater, he comes under close surveillance by Coldwater's two henchmen. In spite of some nearly fatal mistakes, however, he manages to gain the trust of the charismatic and seemingly psychic cult leader. Meanwhile, Jesse marries Jenny, who's pregnant. Faced with the catch-22 of how to deliver Coldwater and his ruthless subordinates to the treacherous Barker, whom he is sure will not come through with the promised pardon, Jesse must find a way to bring himself and his new family to freedom. The ending may strike readers as far too fortuitous, and the pardon premise is old hat ( The Dirty Dozen , etc.), but high melodrama and unexpected twists make this teflon-coated blockbuster business as usual in Wood's practiced hands. $100,000 ad/promo; Literary Guild super release and Doubleday Book Club alternate; author tour.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Unjustly imprisoned, bereft of wife and daughter, ex-DEA agent Jesse Warden is offered a daring gamble: if he can infiltrate and destroy a heavily armed religious cult, he can win his freedom. The previous two infiltrators have disappeared; the cult leaders are smart, wealthy, and completely amoral; Warden's landlady is beautiful and sexy. Do you feel you've heard all this before? The plot is so old it creaks, but there is a certain loopy and innocent amiability in the telling, as though the author cannot bear to disappoint his hero. There is much rushing about on all sides, surreptitious communications, hair-breadth escapes, and the inevitable (ever since the Branch Davidians) call-up of the military for the climactic battle. We get just about everything we expect, from fistfights to forged passports, and if several story threads are left dangling, Heat is still a satisfying beach-blanket read.
Elsa Pendleton, Boeing Information Svcs., Ridgecrest, Cal.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Harper Paperbacks (January 27, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061093580
• ISBN-13: 978-0061093586
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #726,581 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Stuart Woods is the author of forty-four novels, including the New York Times-bestselling Stone Barrington series and Holly Barker series. The last twenty-eight of them have been New York Times best-sellers. He is an avid private pilot, flying his own jet on two book tours a year. His latest novel is Santa Fe Edge,to be published on September 21st. You may see his tour schedule and learn more about the author on his website, www.stuartwoods.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars One of the best of Wood's efforts-Jesse Warden's a wimner., March 16, 2002

By 

David J. Gannon (San Antonio, TX USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Heat (Mass Market Paperback)

I am a frequent flyer (over 170 plane trips last year) and Stuart Woods represents a very significant resource for someone like me. He is a competent suspense writer with a much larger than average portfolio who is popular enough that his books can be found in some quantity in almost any airport bookstore and/or newsstand in America.

There are times you've just got to find something to read in about 4 minutes--in those instances, Woods is a no brainer.

This is not to say he's the best suspense writer around--he isn't. But, as my old man used to say, "Competence compensates for an awful lot..."

With Woods, you know you are getting well conceived, well developed characters. Moreover, Woods understands the mechanics of suspense and uses that knowledge to good effect. If Woods has a failing, it's that his stories are uneven. Good characters and good mechanics don't add up to enough--a credible story line is needed as well. Woods never goes totally off the deep end, but he has been known to stretch credulity pretty badly out of shape.

These are high grade potboilers.

Hest is one of Woods better efforts. Jesse Warden is a hard as nails cop in the pen for planning to rip off the goods from a sting. He's offered an out to infiltrate and do in a Waco like survivalist cult group. I won't dwell on the details--you can well imagine them--and be pretty much on the money. But the characters are superb, the story line tight and consistent, the suspense at high tension level.

If page turning potboilers are your thing, Woods is your man.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Typical Stuart Woods, March 10, 2004

By 

Louis M. Perdue (Amsterdam, the Netherlands) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Heat (Mass Market Paperback)

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.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not believable, but loved main character, October 19, 2005

By 

C. Blanc "Chris Blanc" (Houston, TX) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Heat (Mass Market Paperback)

Jesse Warden is an ideal creation. As such, he's too comic book for real life, but I like reading about people of such heroic inclinations and abilities who also like Beethoven. The book however does not live up to Jesse's form. It is a typical infiltrate the evil Nazis in the hills story, the kind of thing I'd expect from television, and is quite similar to a book by Lee Childs. In fact, I think this story is so cut from stereotype that it's fairly tedious and reminds me of the kind of bad television that's on late at night and you watch because you're sick and bored and feeling sorry for yourself. Woods writes well, but not compellingly. Read the first four chapters to learn about Jesse, then head for the hills, because after that it turns into saccharine candy and cliche.