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In Enemy Hands — Hachette UK ebook edition
Hachette UK ebook edition

The DestroyerBook 261977

In Enemy Hands

The disarmament of a U.S. counter-assassination unit allows the Soviet Treska to expand across Europe. A secret call brings Remo and Chiun into the conflict, while KGB agent Ludmilla Tchernova is tasked with discovering how Remo operates. Their intertwined mission moves from Paris to Las Vegas and tests Remo’s loyalty to Chiun and the House of Sinanju.

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After the CIA disarms Sunflower, Walter Forbier is killed by Treska. An unnamed President calls CURE, whose head, Harold W. Smith, sends Remo and Chiun to destroy the Soviet teams in Europe. Remo kills Mikhailov, Alpha and Beta teams, and Vassilivich. Field Marshal Denia constructs an American-trap theory, then sends agent Ludmilla Tchernova to learn Remo’s methods. Ludmilla manipulates Remo, who falls in love with her and takes her to Las Vegas. She then seduces Chiun to learn Sinanju and lures him into a desert ambush with Denia. Remo kills Denia and two gunmen, then kills Ludmilla when she aims Denia’s emptied revolver at Chiun. A week later, the President confronts a Senate committee over its investigation into the European operation, and the committee drops it.

Sources for this summary

Characters & places

Spoilers

Full articles

Characters 28

Places 40

Organizations 11

Groups 13

People 1

Lore 7

Works 1

Chapter summaries12 chapters · spoilers

  1. Chapter 1

    Walter Forbier, a CIA-trained Sunflower operative, returns to Paris and is killed after being disarmed. At a National Security Council meeting, an unnamed President learns Sunflower is destroyed and phones a secret “lemony Voice.” His predecessor attributes CURE’s start to John Kennedy and recounts a threat that forced his resignation; the unnamed former Vice President becomes President and calls CURE.

  2. Chapter 2

    Remo kills four divers off Florida, later identified by Smith as CURE employees who leaked secrets. A coded summons brings him and Chiun to the White House. Smith confirms forcing the predecessor’s resignation and conditionally says he would do the same in the same circumstances. The President turns CURE against Treska while forbidding domestic operations.

  3. Chapter 3

    Ivan’s training and Chinese patrol massacre precede present Rome excesses. Denia receives promotion, promotes Vassily and Ivan, then orders 27 poorly selected killings. Ivan kills Roscalli, Buckwhite and police; Vassily’s failed shot and poison attempts cannot stop him. They return to the sporting goods shop and encounter Remo and Chiun.

  4. Chapter 4

    Remo kills Ivan and tortures Vassily for team locations. Rome auxiliary, Naples Alpha and Farfa Beta die. Chiun distracts Vassily with Ung poetry while Remo works; Vassily recalls family-support recruitment reforms and suspects an American trap.

  5. Chapter 5

    Denia uses travel times to infer one mobile team; rejects a defection explanation and offers patriotic sacrifice and American trap theories. Vassily passes captive messages from Athens and Sweden, identifies Sinanju as key, and is killed by Remo beside the Seine after discovery writing.

  6. Chapter 6

    Denia recruits Ludmilla under threat to discover the American team’s methods. The President receives encouraging news in the Oval Office but withholds CURE’s identity from senior officials. At Letutia and Louvre, Remo and Chiun quarrel; Remo kills one armed tail, Chiun questions and kills the other inside a hidden chamber.

  7. Chapter 7

    Smith insists the President call privately away from the First Lady’s CB radio, and clarifies Treska was destroyed rather than recalled. Chiun moves curtains and lectures on life force. Remo falls for Ludmilla, who admits spying; he temporarily deafens then restores a cabdriver’s hearing and kills two gunmen she signals. She agrees others may still attack while she studies him.

  8. Chapter 8

    Remo tells Chiun he is in love with Ludmilla, and Chiun rejects his choice.

  9. Chapter 9

    Remo tells Ludmilla candles are the secret of his strength, then she extinguishes them and a Russian attacker fails to kill him. Remo disposes of the body, asks Smith for $50,000, buys Ludmilla a diamond ring, and tells her about a fictitious Las Vegas spring.

  10. Chapter 10

    The Kremlin inquiry gives Denia a week. On the Air France flight Chiun sees Jacquanne’s magazine picture. In Washington the President keeps the Secretary uninformed despite Senate inquiry. At Crystal Hotel backstage in Las Vegas, Chiun recruits Jacquanne for a dinner diversion. He overhears Ludmilla calling Denia and delays killing her because Remo would not accept it.

  11. Chapter 11

    At the Crystal Hotel supper club, Chiun arrives with Jacquanne Juice and breaks a knife, warning Remo that a strong man can fall. Denia arrives in Las Vegas.

  12. Chapter 12

    Ludmilla seduces Chiun, receives theory and feather demonstration, then lures him to Denia’s desert ambush. Her note sends jealous Remo after them. Chiun remains vulnerable, demanding preservation of the House; Remo kills two gunmen and Denia. Ludmilla’s false force accusation fails, and Remo kills her as she aims the emptied revolver. He grieves. A week later President confronts senators; three days later committee drops investigation.

Other mentions46 names & references

Editions & covers

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Edition · cover shown

Hachette UK

2014-09-29

ISBN 9780751558227

Edition details

References & notes

Sources 24 references
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Edition and source notes

Names are the bibliography’s title-level “written by” attribution key, not a verified edition byline. credited_authors is null because no first-edition cover/title page was checked. A creator name in the general franchise metadata must not be treated as proof of sole drafting.

cataloged edition year: 1977. Direct item record supports an English print edition dated 1977. It does not establish an exact first-sale day or independently authenticate a first printing; the reported 1976 copyright year stays distinct. Source

In Enemy Hands:

Publisher's description: A government inquiry cripples US intelligence, leaving Russian hit teams free to target American agents and interests abroad.

Story timeframe

Coarse estimate from the assumed incumbent’s historical presidency. The term range is context, not a claim that the plot spans the term or that a particular event occurs at either endpoint.

Historical term dates: Source 1; Source 2

Presidential clues

Presidential clues

Current U.S. President: retained hypothesis — Gerald Ford.

Gerald Ford

Strong historical fit: an unnamed former Vice President succeeds a resigning predecessor, and the physical comedy and automaker description support the comparison. The novel supplies no personal name and alters events around CURE.

The unnamed incumbent

Gerald Ford

  • Unnamed former Vice President who assumed office after predecessor resignation ch01:p0172.
  • Fit but clumsy, with paper, bandage and stapler injuries.
  • Chiun automaker epithet is descriptive, while literal Ford appears as stolen car ch12:p0058; not printed incumbent surname.
  • Smith says he would force resignation if same circumstances arose ch02:p0117.

Strong historical fit: an unnamed former Vice President succeeds a resigning predecessor, and the physical comedy and automaker description support the comparison. The novel supplies no personal name and alters events around CURE.

This is a historical comparison, not an observed personal name. The source observation and its fictional acts remain separately scoped.

The resigning predecessor

Richard Nixon

  • He has phlebitis, heavy drinking, and describes a forced resignation after an alleged dream/threat on the Washington Monument.
  • He says his wife wore a “plain old Republican cloth coat” and that he was Republican and came from California.
  • He calls John Kennedy the person who started CURE.

Strong historical fit with the resigning predecessor of a former Vice President. The source attributes a fictional CURE confrontation as his reason for resigning; this is not historical evidence of the actual resignation’s cause.

This is a historical comparison, not an observed personal name. The source observation and its fictional acts remain separately scoped.

John Kennedy and CURE’s creation

John Kennedy; John F. Kennedy

  • The former President explicitly states Kennedy started CURE.
  • The narrative explains the claim in a passage introduced as the former President’s explanation.

explicit in-story attribution; external historical accuracy not assessed

The novel’s dialogue is not independent evidence about real CURE history; it provides no outside corroboration.

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