CHOKE HOLD

I finished reading CHOKE HOLD by Christa Faust yesterday. This is the second novel Faust has written about Angel Dare, an adult film star who gets involved with some very shady (and deadly) characters. The first book, MONEY SHOT, was a good one, a down-and-dirty crime novel that offered a unique peek behind-the-scenes of the adult film industry(that's porn for all of you Aggies out there).

CHOKE HOLD picks up where MONEY SHOT left off. Angel is in the witness protection program but not for long. The Croatian bad guys from the first novel find her and she starts to run. And run. And run.

The book is really one long, extended chase sequence across the Southwestern United States, into Mexico and then back to the U.S. for a showdown in Las Vegas. Along the way Angel meets an old flame from the porn business who promptly gets gunned down. She's left to look out for his hotshot teenage son who dreams of making it in the mixed martial arts fight industry. The kid has an over-the-hill punch-drunk trainer who falls for Angel (and vice-versa). The trio flee from several factions of bad guys (and gals), all of whom want to kill them.

CHOKE HOLD has a pedal-to-the-metal pace. It moves furiously from one shootout to the next, with several bloody fights and explicit sex scenes in between. The ending leaves things perfectly set up for a sequel and if Ms. Faust wants to write another chapter in the adventures of Angel Dare, I'll gladly buy it and read it.

Oh, one thing though Christa. The Bonneville was a Pontiac model car, not a Buick. You got that one little detail wrong sorry to say. Other than that, I recommend CHOKE HOLD. It's another "quick and dirty" Hard Case Crime trade paperback novel.