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Arabian Nightmare — Hachette UK ebook edition
Hachette UK ebook edition

The DestroyerBook 861991

Arabian Nightmare

When a televised execution in Abominadad is interrupted by a catastrophic fight, the world believes Irait’s president has died and the crisis may be ending. CURE director Harold W. Smith instead faces an escalating regional conflict as Remo disappears from view and Chiun proposes an unconventional plan for the coalition defending Hamidi Arabia and Kuran.

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After the execution stand collapses during a televised fight, Smith interprets Remo as Shiva’s avatar and Kimberly as Kali’s vessel, while Chiun corrects the public belief that Maddas Hinsein died. The plot later depicts Shiva animating Remo’s body. Azziz declares himself President for Life and orders missile and gas attacks that backfire over Abominadad. Hinsein captures Cooder and Jackman, retakes control and shoots Azziz. Chiun uses a tortoiseshell reading to guide the allied campaign, assembles a ground force without air support, and outfits it in pink suits and pig-shaped equipment. Kurdish fighters mark Irait’s missiles and aircraft with a liquid-metal embrittlement agent; the weapons fail and the coalition liberates Kuran.

Chiun kills Hinsein with the Sinanju sword. Shiva restores Remo, and Remo and Chiun defeat Kali. The New Golden Horde arrives; Jackman and Cooder later announce Irait’s surrender. The final chapter’s Toronto epilogue introduces Freya, who calls Remo her father; the text does not establish her relationship beyond her own statement, and she makes a new six-armed clay figure named Kali.

Sources for this summary

Characters & places

Spoilers

Full articles

Characters 30

Places 12

Organizations 4

Groups 4

Lore 4

Chapter summaries45 chapters · spoilers

  1. Chapter 1

    A live broadcast of Hinsein’s execution is interrupted by the fight attributed to Shiva and Kali; the reviewing stand collapses, and Cooder and Jackman’s fate is unclear.

  2. Chapter 2

    Smith discusses Remo and Chiun with the unnamed U.S. President; Smith proposes a supernatural interpretation, while Chiun supplies the Sinanju prophecy.

  3. Chapter 3

    Hinsein flees the square. Cooder and Jackman survive the stampede and reach a bomb shelter.

  4. Chapter 4

    Azziz declares himself President for Life, reverses Hinsein’s grooming decree, and orders the hostages released.

  5. Chapter 5

    Chiun tells Smith that the broadcast did not show Hinsein’s death and prepares a tortoiseshell for the allied commander; Smith remains skeptical.

  6. Chapter 6

    Bazzaz arrests Hornworks during the command dispute. After the tortoiseshell arrives, Bazzaz opens the cell; Hornworks takes the shell and reads it with him.

  7. Chapter 7

    Hinsein sees the bombardment and travels back toward Abominadad, recalling the coded signal that began the invasion of Kuran.

  8. Chapter 8

    The President and Joint Chiefs assess the destruction; the President asks Smith about stopping Shiva, while Chiun describes the Tandava and rejects the idea that Sinanju will be spared.

  9. Chapter 9

    A message sends its recipient toward the Ishtar Gate carrying a caliph’s sack; the recipient accepts the summons.

  10. Chapter 10

    Hinsein shoots a cabdriver, takes his taxi, and drives Cooder and Jackman to the palace after they enter believing it will take them to the airport.

  11. Chapter 11

    Chiun tells Fareem that Hinsein lives, says Remo is lost to Shiva, and offers to command the coming war; Fareem accepts.

  12. Chapter 12

    On the Silk Road, Wang Weilin hears a growing thunder and song and sees dust moving west.

  13. Chapter 13

    Chiun takes command, assigns allied leaders, and considers ways to disable Irait’s missiles while keeping the force on the ground.

  14. Chapter 14

    Azziz orders gas and missiles used against the figures he identifies as Shiva and Kali. A misdialed recall fails; three missiles miss and gas heads toward the city.

  15. Chapter 15

    Hinsein confronts the council over the hostages and gas attack, shoots Azziz, and says Azziz will die when Hinsein decides.

  16. Chapter 16

    U.S. intelligence reports Scud impacts and gas in Abominadad but cannot explain the apparent pattern; the President fears escalation while Cooder and Jackman remain missing.

  17. Chapter 17

    Chiun assigns Hornworks and Bazzaz Roman titles and proposes ground operations with Kurdish assistance against Irait’s missile force.

  18. Chapter 18

    Hinsein tells council members the gas has exposed them and considers how to exploit the crisis while retaining Cooder and Jackman as hostages.

  19. Chapter 19

    Samdup follows the sound, believing it signals the Dalai Lama’s return; a huge passing creature tramples him, and he dies.

  20. Chapter 20

    Hinsein claims U.S. forces gassed Abominadad, shoots the information minister, and appoints Cooder and Jackman to posts in his government.

  21. Chapter 21

    Hinsein appears with Cooder and Jackman, accuses U.S. forces of gassing the city, and uses the hostages as leverage against the coalition.

  22. Chapter 22

    Renaissance Guard colonel Zarzour is ordered to move a Scud to the Maddas Line and fire at a specified coordinate; he runs out of fuel and falsely reports arrival.

  23. Chapter 23

    Zarzour’s missile hits the data-processing cohort. Chiun rejects conventional air and naval attacks and chooses a ground strategy.

  24. Chapter 24

    General Aboona commands the Popular People’s Popular Auxiliary at the Maddas Line and receives Hinsein’s orders for the attack.

  25. Chapter 25

    The attackers trigger their own mines and are routed; Aboona kills himself after learning the losses. Chiun later admits how he produced the tortoiseshell reading.

  26. Chapter 26

    Chiun carries markers into Kuran, insists Remo remains his son, and predicts a woman will reach Hinsein.

  27. Chapter 27

    After being freed from a restroom, Sky Bluel tells the authorities she has a secret plan to end the war.

  28. Chapter 28

    Afghan fighter Kaitmast fires at the huge song-bearing shape; he is later found dead and mutilated as its path continues west.

  29. Chapter 29

    Chiun proposes pink gas protection and pig-shaped decorations for the allied advance and orders Hornworks to teach the soldiers a march tune.

  30. Chapter 30

    Pullyang packs Chiun’s jeweled Sinanju sword and sends it to Hinsein through a North Korean channel.

  31. Chapter 31

    Chiun gives Saluda Jomart the liquid-metal marking agent; Jomart agrees to recruit fighters, and the chapter shows the agent being tested.

  32. Chapter 32

    Kurdish conscript Naseem writes his name on a Scud; other Kurdish fighters mark missiles and aircraft.

  33. Chapter 33

    Hinsein questions Sky about her claimed nuclear expertise and considers her proposed neutron-bomb capability.

  34. Chapter 34

    U.S. officials prepare Operation Dynamic Eviction around pink suits and pig-shaped equipment while Kurdish fighters continue marking Irait’s weapons.

  35. Chapter 35

    Hinsein receives the Sinanju sword and examines the apparently dead Kimberly and Remo. Remo’s forehead bump opens, his body stirs, and he gets up as Hinsein flees.

  36. Chapter 36

    Barsoomian watches pink blimps burst and troops descend; the advancing force wears pink and sings “Bridge over the River Kwai.”

  37. Chapter 37

    Hinsein learns the line is overrun, kills three ministers, orders Scuds toward Jerusalem, and has Sky tortured; Kali enters the room and kills Sky.

  38. Chapter 38

    Scuds and aircraft fail after their markings take effect. Zarzour dies; Hinsein sees the name NISEEN on a weapon, then appoints Niseen Ammash, who takes Toukan’s post.

  39. Chapter 39

    The CIA tallies missile impacts inside Irait and reports the suppressed threat to Hornworks, who celebrates Kuran’s liberation without coalition casualties.

  40. Chapter 40

    After receiving Afghanistan’s warning about the approaching force, Iran’s leadership chooses not to defend the desert route and lets it continue west.

  41. Chapter 41

    The approaching force’s hoomei frightens residents and officials; Hinsein’s minister identifies the Mongols and recounts Hulegu’s earlier sack of the city before the horsemen arrive.

  42. Chapter 42

    Chiun enters the bunker, identifies himself as Reigning Master, rejects Hinsein’s offer, says he has avenged his son, and cuts off Hinsein’s head.

  43. Chapter 43

    Kali dances with Remo’s apparently dead body; Chiun challenges her and claims the body.

  44. Chapter 44

    A Shiva entity animates Remo’s body and restores him. Remo and Chiun fight Kali; the New Golden Horde arrives in Abominadad.

  45. Chapter 45

    Jackman, appointed vice-president of Irait and the highest-ranking surviving council member, formally surrenders the nation; Cooder seeks an interview and Smith extracts both men. In the Toronto epilogue, Freya makes a six-armed Kali clay figure and says she is Jilda’s daughter and Remo is her father.

Other mentions8 names & references

Editions & covers

Edition · cover shown

Hachette UK

2015-05-07

ISBN 9780751559347

Edition details

References & notes

Sources 43 references
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Edition and source notes

The supplied text has 45 indexed chapters; the Toronto kindergarten epilogue is embedded in chapter45, not a separate indexed section.

The source is an unidentified transcription; matching containers are not independent edition witnesses.

Names are the bibliography’s title-level “written by” attribution key, not a verified edition byline. credited_authors is null because no first-edition cover/title page was checked. A creator name in the general franchise metadata must not be treated as proof of sole drafting.

registration-declared first publication: 1991-10-01. CPRS record field is the registrant/depositor-reported first-publication date, not independent retail/on-sale verification; no print copy inspected. Source

Arabian Nightmare:

Publisher's description: Remo and Chiun confront a ruthless Middle Eastern dictator and a dangerous female adversary.

Story timeframe

Coarse estimate from the assumed incumbent’s historical presidency. The term range is context, not a claim that the plot spans the term or that a particular event occurs at either endpoint.

Historical term dates: Source 1

Presidential clues

Presidential clues

Current U.S. President: retained hypothesis — Possibly George H. W. Bush (combined New England/Texas contextual allusion; unnamed locally).

Possibly George H. W. Bush (combined New England/Texas contextual allusion; unnamed locally)

qualified contextual compatibility; not an explicit identity

Incumbent President of the United States who consults Smith about Remo, Chiun, and the crisis involving Irait. (Destroyer 086)

Possibly George H. W. Bush (combined New England/Texas contextual allusion; unnamed locally)

  • The incumbent President is unnamed; he speaks with a modified New England accent that turns into a Texas twang.
  • He consults Smith and directs U.S. policy during the crisis.

qualified contextual compatibility; not an explicit identity

The combined New England roots and startled Texas twang are compatible with Bush’s Massachusetts/Texas biography, but no personal name or absolute story year is given. The fictional Gulf crisis and supernatural conversations do not authenticate real events.

President of Irait who orders the invasion of Kuran and later retakes control of Abominadad. (Destroyer 086)

Maddas Hinsein (explicit fictional name)

  • The narrative names Maddas Hinsein as President of Irait.
  • He orders the invasion of Kuran; Chiun later kills him.

explicit fictional textual name

Fictional officeholder within the novel; do not identify him with a real person.

General Razzik Azziz who declares himself President for Life during the power vacuum. (Destroyer 086)

Razzik Azziz (explicit temporary fictional officeholder)

  • The narrative names General Razzik Azziz.
  • He declares himself President for Life after Hinsein is presumed dead; Hinsein later shoots him.

explicit fictional textual name

His presidency is temporary and contested; Hinsein later shoots him.

Juniper Jackman, Irait vice-president (Destroyer 086)

Juniper Jackman (explicit fictional officeholder)

  • The final report says Reverend Jackman formally surrendered Irait as its vice-president and highest-ranking surviving council member.

explicit fictional textual name

This is a fictional foreign vice-presidential appointment and surrender account, not a U.S. vice-presidency or real historical office.

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