Choke

Chuck Chandler arrives in Key West, as many people do, at the end of his rope. He has, in turn, blown a career as a top tour tennis professional and a series of teaching jobs at plush clubs, usually because he has been unable to keep his hands off his female students. At Key West's Olde Island Racquet Club, he yields to temptation once again, this time for the beautiful Clare Carras, who is married to an enigmatic older man with no apparent past and who turns out to be a great deal more than the tennis pro can handle. Suddenly, the easy-going Chandler is in over his head, suspected of murder and on the verge of losing not only his modest career and all his possessions, but his freedom as well. Enter Tommy Sculley, a former New York Police department homicide detective, augmenting his pension with a job on the Key West force, and his neophyte partner, Daryl Hanes, who may be smarter than he looks. The two detectives find themselves barely afloat in a shark-infested investigation that stretches from the Florida Keys to Los Angeles and back, involving not only the treacherous Clare, but a furious West Coast mob boss who is determined to get back something that belongs to him and doesn't care who he has to kill to do it. With "Choke," Stuart Woods, bestselling author of "Imperfect Strangers" and "Heat," has created a story that fascinates, with all the twists, shocks and gritty characters that have made his novels international hits.