The Forty-Minute War — Janet Morris

A terrorist attack and incompetency at the highest levels of the US government spark a nuclear exchange between the US and Russia. When the US falls silent, only Marc Beck of the State Department's intelligence service has a workable plan to help his country. With Israeli counter-terrorism experts and Christine Patrick, an American foreign correspondent posted to Tel Aviv, Beck begins a desperate mission to get anti-radiation serum to the US survivors and take one last, wild chance that could save America from the consequences of The Forty-Minute War.