Choke audiobook

I actually found this book while looking for another book entitled Choke. I'd say my real rating is probably somewhere between 3.5-75, but its getting the round up. Believe it or not, this is my first Stuart Woods book and I am hooked. This one is set in Key West (which I love reading about places I've been and loved) and is a murder story where one of our main characters is on the hook for the whole deal. Great story!

Started out a little slow. There was a lot of tennis references that threw me off, but it got better and was a great plot with a very interesting ending.

The abridged version - my first experience with the author. Maybe because of the abridging process, the story was pretty "fluffy". Lots of convenient coincidences. However, once I was finished with this book, I immediately went to my local library to get another- "Heat" - (on tape) by this author. The convenient coincidences were still there, but yet again they didn't irritate me.Back to this book - the reader on the tape? Obviously hadn't read the book before. While it didn't sound like a 4th grader's book report in front of the class, it was obvious that the reader was just *reading*. Sometimes the inflections (especially in conversational sequences) were amusingly "off". Kind of like putting the em-PHAS-is on the wrong syl-LAB-ble.

This is the second book I've read from Woods. The first one was his first book, Chiefs. I love that book, which is a sweeping epic spanning decades with many characters and multiple themes. I avoided anything else by him only because I knew compared to Chiefs his other books would seem small. I have to admit, this turns out to be true. However, taken on its own merit without comparing it to his first book, Choke is a taut thriller, a who-done-it that moves along at an exciting pace. He is a hell of a good writer, and this book has encouraged me to read more of his books. He's written like a bazillion!

I've read 2 other Stuart Woods books- Dirty Work- a favorite- and Under the Lake. Both were great suspense novels. This one continues to please. I read it on a plane to Florida and finished it up there. Great story, twists, suspects, and dialogue. I enjoyed it! This is a standalone and not one of Woods famous Stone Barrington or Holly Barker novels. Chuck Chandler has come to be known as Choke since his days of choking on the pro tennis court. He since has gained a reputation for messing around with married women and now that legacy is going to get him into some very hot water. Clare Carras has plans. Big plans. And Chuck is just the right guy.

Chuck, a tennis pro, lives on a boat. He "choked" at Wimbledon and lost the match. He now lives with his reputation...even named his boat Choke. He is caught up in a murder. This book is suspenseful and entertaining.

This 1995 novel is the 8th and final stand-alone thriller from author Stuart Woods before he devoted his writing to Stone Barrington and related series. I think his best writing was in these stand-alones and the first 2 or 3 of the Will Lee series; to this point Woods had written 15 books in 15 years, and he has 71 additional novels in the succeeding 25 years. I've read all his published work to date and it remains enjoyable though engaging in highly repetitive sex and society set pieces.Chuck Chandler is a middle-aged tennis pro with a yen for the ladies. Once, at Wimbledon many years ago, he choked at the vital moment and lost what could have been a career-making match. Now, living on his boat, he is the new coach at a club on Key West‘and into his life comes Clare Carras, a gorgeous woman married to a mysterious, wealthy husband apparently unconcerned about her wandering eye. In no time, she and Chuck are between the sheets, but when husband Harry drowns in a highly suspicious diving accident, she makes sure it is Chuck who is the immediate suspect. Only a new member of the Key West force, a former New York cop called Tommy Sculley, believes Chuck didn't do it, but his skeptical chief demands a fast arrest. There are several killings, a tense boat chase and a series of sudden switches before a denouement.

Surprise! Five stars for a Stuart Woods novel? I've found I can't read any recent "Stone Barrington" novels by Woods, but CHOKE was written in 1996, so I gave it a try. The novel was quite interesting, well-written, and easily held my interest. But, warning, for those of you who don't like "bad words" this isn't for you. It has crude elements. But I'm sure many readers (who don't run screaming from the room when they see/read an F-bomb) would enjoy it. The writing is quite a bit better than what I'm seeing in recent works by authors who write "military/spy thrillers" [the writing and characters in BLACKMAIL by Rick Campbell was so utterly tasteless and bland that I gave up at page 61].

This is the very best book I've ever read by Stuart Woods.I don't much like his series books, for several reasons.And one of those, a very political book, was so bad I wondered, right here on Goodreads, why he was allowed to publish anything else.Well, "Choke" answers that.It's clever, inventive, and has some interesting characters, with the only connection to his other work being that one character is from Woods' fictional town of Delano, Georgia, as are so many others of his characters.In "Choke" are at least two characters who could have series of their own, but I hope they don't since Woods manages to detract badly his series creations.This one, though, I do recommend.

Woos just keeps on keeping onAs always Woods continues to amaze me with with his whit and humor, if its about a boat or a plane know-one has the the literary talent to hold a candle to Stuart Woods. Again I was amazed how many times I thought I had this novel figured out only to find out I was way off base. Another great read by Stuart Wood and another excellent storyline with more twists and turns then a country road.

Having read all the series by woods I went back to read some of the earlier free standing books and have enjoyed reading them. This is set in Key West where a rich newcomer dies in a diving incident. As the newly hired police detective starts to look into it the fast paced action takes off. A really fun read.

ChokeThe plot was different from most mysteries. All main characters were involved until the conclusion of the last chapter. This was good recreational read for the sunny beach or a rainy day in a quiet home with no out standing chores that have a required deadline before someone gets home.

Fun characters with witty exchanges. This is definitely one of my favorite reads from Stuart Woods. As I read the story, I couldn't help but wonder why this is only a standalone and not made into a series. That is how much I enjoyed this book. Although the ending felt rushed - it could have been more, reading this was worth it.

A little different for Stuart Woods. The story is set in Key West. A professional tennis player finds himself teaching tennis at a fancy tennis club, and winds up in the middle of a mystery/who done it situation. Light reading, decent story line, does keep you guessing about the characters until the very end.

A different readIf you are like me and read Stuart Woods Barrington series then this is quit different. I read this book a long time ago and forgot I read it until I was well into it. A couple tennis pros and a new detective in to makes for an exciting read. Hope you enjoy it.