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.

Chuck Chandler choked on the most important point of his career as a professional tennis player. Through the years that followed, he's been slipping gradually down through the ranks, and now, at forty-four, he's reduced to giving tennis lessons at a small club in Key West. Chuck lost his last job by playing around with the wife of the club's chairman, but having not learned his lesson, he's soon involved with another married woman in Key West, the sexy and mysterious Clare Carras.

Tommy Sculley is also new to Key West. The retired NYPD homicide detective has taken a job on the Key West force and Sculley is immediately interested in Clare's older husband, Harry. Sculley thinks that there's something off about Harry and begins checking out his background. The problem is that Harry seems to have no background at all--it's as though he simply materialized out of thin air. But then Harry winds up dead, and the obvious suspect is Chuck Chandler who's been sleeping with Harry's wife.

The story unfolds from that point with a lot of twists and turns, some of which are more believable than others. The plot is not especially fresh, and the characters are somewhat thinly drawn. But the story moves quickly along, catching the reader up in the action. As a genre novel, this is a good quick read, just about right for a lazy summer day at the beach.

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.

What a cheesy, unbelievable read. I found errors in the text as well. But it was totally mindless and my grandma gave it to me, so now we share that "thrilling" experience. It really was as bad as reality t.v., y'all.

It's too bad there are only glimpses of the writer Woods used to be. This '96 story has plots worth following, engaging and shady characters with interest start to finish. 8 of 10 stars

I've been a fan of Stuart Woods since reading 'Heat' back in the 90's. I've read that book 3 times and plan on doing so again in the future. I liked this book as a contemporary suspense, but it wasn't as fast-paced and taut as some of his other books.

Chuck Chandler is a one-time tennis pro who missed the big-time when he 'choked' in a match that could've put his name on the map. Now he spends time coaching tennis to the rich at a hotel in the Florida's Key West. Living on his boat, he sponges off rich peoples' money and beds lonely wives whose rich husbands have little time for their trophy wives' carnal desires.

He meets Harry and Claire Carras, a wealthy-beyond-your-dreams couple who invite him to their boat. Chuck befriends them quickly, teaching Claire the ropes on the tennis court, while she teaches Chuck the ropes in the bedroom. While on a boat trip on their expensive yacht, Harry mysteriously ends up dead, and Chuck is the prime suspect.

Detective Tom Sculley, formerly of NYPD now working awaiting his retirement in Florida, is on the case, but senses Chuck didn't do it. Only he doesn't have much time to prove his innocence as the top brass want an arrest and indictment right away. With Chuck's love interest, Meg, waiting for her not-so-faithful boyfriend to be free of this crime, Chuck struggles to find out who the killer is, and why they chose him for the pit-fall.

If you're a Stuart Woods fan you'll enjoy this book. He's a good writer and his stories and style is true to form. After reading several of his books I eventually moved on, but he remains a favorite of mine, and I admire his skill as an author.

3.5 stars. I actually really enjoyed this book. Might have been 4 stars if it weren't for the cheesy near porn stuff, though it did make me kinda chuckle sometimes. Aside from that, it was a great beach read that was easy to read, flowed well, and I actually wanted to keep picking up the book and that's always a good thing.

This is another book, by Stuart Woods and, as usual, it’s a fantastic book. There’s plenty of suspense and action, and I read it fairly quickly. I tried to slow down my reading, of the story, so it would last longer, but that just didn’t work.

Chuck Chandler, a tennis bum moves to Key West Florida and joins a tennis club as an instructor. The title Choke comes from an opportunity incident at a tennis pro competition when Chuck was in the verge of winning the championship, before without an an explanation, he choked in the final shots.

Read the whole book one rainy evening. I'll have to read more by this author to really get a feel for his writing. The ending had a bit of a rushed feel to it, and this was back in the days when people knew they should have safe sex but didn't, which always makes me question their judgment. Still an enjoyable read.

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!

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.