CHOKE HOLD by Christa Faust

Began and Finished, Wednesday, July 4th 2012

My post at 'Good Reads'-

MONEY SHOT is the first novel of this series, and CHOKE HOLD is the second, and they both feature the harrowing and melodramatic adventures of ex-porn star, Angel Dare. In this novel she's left The Witness Protection Program, and is waitressing in Yuma, AZ and waiting for a new set of ID to be made. One afternoon, out of the blue, 'Thick Vic' Ventura shows up at the diner accompanied by his eighteen year old son, Cody. Vic worked in the Adult Film Industry with Angel, and is is a recovering Meth head. Just as Angel is introduced to Cody for the very first time, heavily armed thugs enter the diner, and apparently are out to murder either Cody or Vic. Vic is mortally wounded, and Cody and Angel seek out, Hank 'The Hammer' Hammond, who is a Mixed Martial Arts instructor at Cody's dojo. And, under Angel's leadership, this group runs from and murders various thugs, gangsters, and killers for the rest of the book. 

I read the book in a single sitting on the July 4th holiday, and it was a pleasant read. It's lurid , shocking, very fast-paced, and you do learn a bit about The Porn Industry and Mixed Martial Arts competition. Although the book has nothing to do with zombies, it did remind me of the work of Poppy Z. Brite, and if you enjoy that particular style, you will most likely appreciate this novel.

Link to author's blog-
http://christafaust.net/

Amazon Books-
http://www.amazon.com/Choke-Hold-Hard-Case-Crime/dp/0857682857

Yuma, AZ and Las Vegas, NV- the setting for the story


Angel Dare- Ex-Porn star, and heroine. She is in the WitSec (Witness Protection Program) for ratting out a white slavery operation run out of Eastern Europe. These people are still after her. She was on the Northeast Coast, and taking therapy. Her shrink is attacked, and Angel splits. 


Angel ends up in Yuma, and working at a diner. The owner is a 'gun nut' or 'weapons enthusiast'. He is promising her a clean passport and ID.


Truly Richard- She is the  Evil Bitch. Runs her dead husband's dojo, and was a lover of Cody's. 


Hank 'The Hammer' Hammond- works at Cody's dojo. Will become Angel's lover. He is brain damaged, yet needy. Musclebound, and ugly, but lovable.


 Mr. Lovell- The criminal boss who runs the dojo, and smuggling cocaine, and arranges fights in Mexico.


Vaskasin- This is the Croatian crime boss that Angel turned in and ended up on WitSec. They were running a White Slavery operation and she ratted. He is back to kill her.




Thick Vic Ventura (Pagliuca)- This porn star is murdered early on. The ex-lover of Angel, who is the heroine of the story. Vic is addicted to meth when she left him, but now he is on the mend, but dead-shotgunned in the diner that she was a waitress.


Cody (Noon) Ventura- Vic's kid , raised by Skye, hippie chick now bloated, fat, and downed out, suicidal.