The New Destroyer: Choke Hold (Destroyer #147) [Mass Market Paperback]

Warren Murphy (Author), James Mullaney (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 30, 2007

Pity poor tobacco tycoon Edgar Rawly.  Thanks to lawsuits, government meddling and the inexplicable deaths of many of his best customers, his megabucks industry is gasping its last breath.  That is, until the introduction of the Cheyenne Smooths, Rawly's latest product.  Not quite tobacco, not quite legal, more addictive than crystal meth.  Suddenly customers are once more beating a path to his door.  That's when the bodies start piling up.  Seems people are not only dying to taste the flavor of a Cheyenne Smooth, they're killing for it. 
 
Enter Remo Williams, the Destroyer, and Chiun, the deadly Master of Sinanju.  They've been sent to kick some butt, but wind up in danger of being snuffed out themselves.
 
Turns out Edgar Rawly is not the only shady character to recognize the value of the Cheyenne Smooths, and things really start to heat up when Remo bumps into a cult of ancient Chinese assassins, an Asian crime lord, and a worldwide addiction that just might send civilization up in smoke...and dump the Destroyer on the ash heap of history.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"(An) edge of your seat action thriller with biting satire...a grand old hoot of a time.  If you're new to the characters, be warned: one hit of The New Destroyer, and you're hooked."--R.J. Carter, TheTrades.com

"Murphy and Mullaney are writing as though they've been infused with a newfound energy – I'm talking the glory days of The Destroyer novels."--Bruce Grossman, bookgasm.com

 

"...the book accelerates like a NASCAR on the finishing stretch.  Pure fun, action adventure fiction the way it's meant to be."--Jon Jordan, Crimespreemag.com

 

 

About the Author

Warren Murphy's books and stories have sold fifty million copies worldwide and won a dozen national awards.

 

James Mullaney has worked for Marvel Comics and has ghostwritten books that have sold over a million copies.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Tor Books (October 30, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0765357607
• ISBN-13: 978-0765357601
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #916,717 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars CREATING A MORE PERFECT DESTROYER!, November 15, 2007

By 

Isaiah Stewart (Salt Lake City, Utah United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The New Destroyer: Choke Hold (Destroyer #147) (Mass Market Paperback)

Choke Hold is a perfect book. Period.

This book has everything a first-time reader or longtime fan of The Destroyer series could possibly want. Cool villains, a sexy heroine, amazing hardcore action, funny social commentary, and (most important) Remo and Chiun, the world's coolest assassins, hitting their stride as they take down the bad guys . . . and girls . . . with no mercy.

Yes, our illustrious defenders of the free world, Remo, Chiun and Smith, are all at it again (and on each other's nerves) with this newest most-awesome installment, which lampoons the wonderful world of Big Tobacco. Laden with thrilling twists and turns, this book is impossible to put down once you start reading.

I once thought that all the best Destroyers were written in the 1970s with Richard Sapir and Warren Murphy. I no longer think that. This book, as was the previous New Destroyer: Guardian Angel, is an instant classic.

This fan is frankly amazed that here we are in 2007 . . . 36 years, 40 million in sales, and nearly 150 books after the first Destroyer hit paperback stands across this country . . . and we are still getting classic Destroyers that carve new territory in action, suspense, politics, satire and humor.

This has to do with the writers: Warren Murphy and James Mullaney. Murphy, who co-created the series in 1971, is back in rare form, and co-author Mullaney, a Destroyer veteran of many adventures, knows all to well how to craft an authentic Destroyer.

The New Destroyer is NOT dumb, two-dimensional, shoot-em-up male action adventure for 12-year-olds. A Destroyer novel is much more intelligent and requires a unique blend of intrigue, satire, politics, social commentary, martial arts, and good old fashioned go-for-the-jugular hardcore action. Choke Hold delivers on all fronts!

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Addition to the Series, October 26, 2007

By 

Donna - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The New Destroyer: Choke Hold (Destroyer #147) (Mass Market Paperback)

I was privileged to obtain an Advance Review Copy of Choke Hold. Warren Murphy and James Mullaney's second New Destroyer published by Tor delivers on the promise of The New Destroyer: Guardian Angel (New Destroyer) and is a worthy continuation of the series.

This time around, they're taking on the tobacco industry. Edgar Rawly is an eccentric villain in true Destroyer tradition: 90+ owner and CEO of Cheyenne Tobacco, lifelong smoker and fervent defender of cigarettes even as he's hacking up a lung. There's a great running gag throughout the book. Rawly keeps mentioning people (smokers all), only to have his aide tell him that they have passed away from lung cancer or emphysema. Rawly angrily snaps after each new disclosure how this must have been caused by drinking or overeating -- anything but smoking.

The secondary characters -- from Mrs. Z, Rawly's equally ancient secretary to Aphrodite Janise, president of Campaign for a Smoke Free World and reluctant ally of Remo and Chiun -- are sharply drawn and fully realized characters. Choke hold also has a few of the celebrity lampoons readers have come to expect and a chapter two that takes on an issue which angers the authors (and readers too!).

The relationship between Remo and Chiun has all the father-son bickering and love that we've come to expect. Smitty is his lemony self. Mark Howard, his assistant, doesn't have as much to do in this book as usual. Although he's the latest addition to CURE, I would have welcomed more of him.

If you're a Destroyer fan and you're on this page, you're probably buying it already. If you're new to the series, each book is a self-contained adventure, so there's no problem picking this one up first. Though I'd recommend buying The New Destroyer: Guardian Angel (New Destroyer) also. And scrounging Amazon Sellers, eBay, and used bookstores for the first 107 books plus Jim Mullaney's 111 through 131.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars OLD FRIENDS RETURN!!!!, November 15, 2007

By 

Kenneth Brown (Bronx,NY..USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The New Destroyer: Choke Hold (Destroyer #147) (Mass Market Paperback)

Like a warm old coat or a good sniffer of brandy,the REAL Destroyer stories return...The Balance of humor and pathos between Chiun and Remo is BACK!! Lemony Smith is his old self, Mark is back in form and even the special guest starring of the OTHER Destroyer..Shiva..is back...'nuff said!!..to coin a phrase...What is great about the New stories is that they pacify the hunger of the core fans and entertain and draw in new ones. Thats the key that the Old/New Writers have turned perfectly.After a while most action/adventure stories become stale and the same old,same old...The New Books crackle with a great spark and keep it fresh..Congrats Warren and Jim on returning in top for the Adventures Of CHIUN in the Land of the Deep Pocketed Whites..with remo!!