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American Obsession — Hachette UK ebook edition
Hachette UK ebook edition

The DestroyerBook 1091997

American Obsession

When athletes and celebrities display sudden strength and aggression, CURE traces a dangerous hormone patch from a fugitive researcher to a Taiwanese pharmaceutical company. Remo and Chiun pursue its source as natural and synthetic trials expose risks the company is unwilling to confront.

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At Purblind University, research assistant Carlos Sternovsky removes hypothalamus tissue from animals and flees to Taiwan with his research data. There he joins Family Fing, which harvests wolverine blood and develops Wolverine Hormone Extract (WHE). Patches transform football tackle Bradley Boomtower, actors Chiz Graham and Puma Lee, and Senator Ludlow Baculum; the new strength comes with aggression and violent behavior. Smith warns an unnamed President about the risks of WHE and synthetic distribution. Chiun kills Boomtower; Remo and Chiun capture Baculum, and Remo later reports that Baculum bled out after chewing off his own foot. Puma kills actress Vindaloo, and Koch-Roche helps the couple continue taking WHE.

Chiz kills store customers and staff during a stop at a SpeeDee Mart; police later tell Koch-Roche he faces nine murder counts. Chiz and Puma then rampage through a mall, where the scene ends with SWAT ordering them to surrender. A later television report says police shot them, based on witness accounts; their deaths are not shown in a follow-up scene. Korb takes Koch-Roche to Taiwan and overdoses on synthetic patches. A trial subjects’ peanut-butter regimen leaves them temporarily placid, but Sternovsky warns that they will become stronger as growth levels off. They break out and attack the staff. Remo and Chiun kill several subjects, including the unnamed romance novelist, Toshi-san, Okra and Norton Arthur Grape.

A laboratory wolverine kills Koch-Roche. Korb kills Farnham and dies in a ten-story fall after charging through a window. Fillmore releases farm wolverines against the assassins, but the animals kill him and escape into surrounding fields. Sternovsky flees with research cassettes to an unknown destination. In the epilogue, Smith watches a broadcast reporting Skizzle’s fatal stage fall and showing Princess Pye’s extreme obesity; narration says former WHE users lose their enhanced muscle and homicidal urges without fresh patches but continue eating prodigiously. Remo and Chiun agree to burn the Family Fing complex, but the plan is not shown.

Sources for this summary

Characters & places

Spoilers

Full articles

Characters 37

Places 9

Organizations 4

Groups 2

Lore 1

Chapter summaries37 chapters · spoilers

  1. Chapter 1

    L.A. Riots tackle Bradley Boomtower displays sudden extreme strength, injures a teammate and offers WHE patches to Regional Parks.

  2. Chapter 2

    Remo subdues four bounty hunters who mistake him for William Ransom; the broadcast later shows Boomtower fatally injuring an opposing player.

  3. Chapter 3

    Chiz and Puma binge on food while displaying unusual physiques and using patches; a broadcast reveals Senator Baculum’s sudden transformation.

  4. Chapter 4

    A Peephole USA segment contrasts Senator Ludlow Baculum’s recent frailty with his sudden youthful, muscular appearance; the source of the change remains unexplained at this point.

  5. Chapter 5

    Puma attacks Vindaloo in the nightclub bathroom; Pismo Pete later finds Vindaloo dead in the toilet tank.

  6. Chapter 6

    Narration recounts that a President murdered in Dallas created CURE and appointed Smith; in remembered dialogue, the current President considers WHE as a fitness drug before Smith explains its aggression risks and the danger of synthetic distribution.

  7. Chapter 7

    Senator Baculum’s bride Bambi Sue is killed during his violent WHE-driven episode; police arrive at the scene.

  8. Chapter 8

    Sternovsky describes the wolverine-blood operation and discusses the synthetic trial failure with Fillmore and Fosdick.

  9. Chapter 9

    At the L.A. Riots training headquarters, Koch-Roche presents X-rays and claims pre-existing injuries caused the opposing players’ deaths; Remo and Chiun use the press crowd to learn how to enter the facility.

  10. Chapter 10

    The pair sneaks into the warehouse and fights the WHE-enhanced players, including Boomtower; the confrontation carries into the next chapter.

  11. Chapter 11

    Chiun confronts Boomtower on the practice field, evades his attacks and breaks his leg; Boomtower continues to resist and lunges again at the chapter’s end.

  12. Chapter 12

    After Remo tires out four Riots linemen, he finds Chiun standing over dead Boomtower; the pair discovers the time-release drug patch on the player’s body.

  13. Chapter 13

    The Hollywood homicide unit arrives with an arrest warrant for Puma Lee, also known as Harriet Louisa Smootz, on a first-degree murder charge in Vindaloo’s death; Koch-Roche says she will surrender and makes no statement without him present.

  14. Chapter 14

    On the way to the police station, Chiz stops at SpeeDee Mart, kills clerk Bapu and the sales representative, and attacks customers as his WHE-driven hunger escalates; police later report nine murder counts.

  15. Chapter 15

    At the sheriff’s substation, Koch-Roche coaches the newly released Senator Baculum to appear frail and answers questions from the press.

  16. Chapter 16

    At a press conference, reporters question Baculum’s lawyer about the death of Bambi Sue and his planned defense; Baculum appears in a wheelchair and does not answer.

  17. Chapter 17

    Baculum peels off his patch and reflects on his transformed body and his history of sexual predation.

  18. Chapter 18

    Chiun recalls Remo’s warning and resolves to capture Baculum rather than kill him; the chase proceeds.

  19. Chapter 19

    Sternovsky and Fosdick observe test subjects’ mutations and violence in the medical wing.

  20. Chapter 20

    Koch-Roche waits with the arrested Puma in a Jaguar; a police officer says Chiz was caught at a convenience store and faces nine first-degree-murder counts based on store video.

  21. Chapter 21

    Remo and Chiun keep Baculum tied up and press him for information about his WHE source.

  22. Chapter 22

    Peephole USA shows Princess Pye, Skizzle and Korb transformed by WHE; Remo later reports that Baculum died after chewing off his foot, and Smith says longer use worsens negative effects.

  23. Chapter 23

    The celebrity couple violates restrictions and attacks people while leaving their estate.

  24. Chapter 24

    The couple enters a mall, assaults people in the food court and kills Stinger; the scene ends as LAPD SWAT orders them to surrender.

  25. Chapter 25

    Smith tells Remo that the prior target has been taken by Mr. Black and Mr. White, retrieval is uncertain, and Remo should proceed to the next shop on his list.

  26. Chapter 26

    Korb demands more patches, learns the supply is at Family Fing’s Taiwan facility, and takes Koch-Roche with him on a private jet.

  27. Chapter 27

    After interviewing Leon, Remo and Chiun report the missing lawyer; Smith tracks Korb’s filed flight to Taiwan and sends them there.

  28. Chapter 28

    Fosdick reports that Okra appears calmer after a peanut-butter diet and wants to change the subjects’ diet; Sternovsky says the uncontrolled observation proves nothing and calls for a blood sample.

  29. Chapter 29

    Korb takes four synthetic patches and eats peanut butter; Sternovsky warns that the subjects may become stronger as growth levels off, but Fillmore fires him. The subjects stop eating and begin to rise.

  30. Chapter 30

    The pair reaches the guarded complex, incapacitates the first guard and is surrounded by a firing squad that prepares to shoot.

  31. Chapter 31

    The patients grow rapidly, resume violent behavior and break containment; staff flee as the Fings and Koch-Roche attempt to escape.

  32. Chapter 32

    During the gate standoff, Chiun redirects one guard’s M-16 into the firing line; eleven guards die and the remaining guard runs away.

  33. Chapter 33

    Koch-Roche finds a floor grate, but an experimental-subject wolverine reaches him in the heating duct and bites and claws him to death.

  34. Chapter 34

    Fillmore discusses pumping cyanide into the medical wing; after transforming, Korb marks his territory and tracks the two men by scent.

  35. Chapter 35

    Remo kills the unnamed romance novelist and Okra; Chiun kills Toshi-san and Norton Arthur Grape. They enter the wrecked wing, where several other victims are found.

  36. Chapter 36

    Korb kills Farnham, then charges at Remo and crashes through a concealed window, falling ten stories to his death.

  37. Chapter 37

    Fillmore releases the wolverines to attack Remo and Chiun, but they kill him and leave the farm perimeter; Chiun says the complex must be burned, but the plan is not shown.

Other mentions6 names & references

Editions & covers

Edition · cover shown

Hachette UK

2016-09-29

ISBN 9780751560589

Edition details

References & notes

Sources 35 references
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Edition and source notes

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The OPF language declares Russian although the supplied narrative is English; original print edition/date and transcription accuracy remain unverified.

The title-level bibliography supplies this writer attribution. credited_authors is null pending title-page/cover verification; do not infer that marketed creator names drafted this volume.

American Obsession:

Publisher's description: A costly treatment promises rapid muscle gain but carries dangerous side effects, drawing Remo into the new body-culture craze.

Presidential clues

Current U.S. President: historical identity unresolved.

Unnamed former U.S. President

John F. Kennedy (qualified historical comparison; not named in the source)

  • Narrator describes a visionary President murdered in Dallas who concluded that domestic threats imperiled national survival and created CURE; no personal name is supplied.

unresolved

The narrator gives the founder’s office and says he was murdered in Dallas, but does not name him. The Dallas clue supports a qualified historical comparison; the novel itself leaves the personal name unstated.

Unnamed incumbent U.S. President

unnamed incumbent U.S. President whom Smith addresses about WHE

  • The narrator says Smith informed the current President through CURE’s direct line; the President’s words are recalled dialogue, not a contemporaneous scene. He initially sees WHE as an attractive fitness drug before Smith explains aggression and synthetic-distribution risks.

unresolved

The current President is unnamed. In a recalled call he asks whether WHE will let him eat freely while becoming thinner and fitter, then questions why Smith would stop it; no exact date or personal name is supplied.

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