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The Last Monarch — Hachette UK ebook edition
Hachette UK ebook edition

The DestroyerBook 1202000

The Last Monarch

An unnamed retired President’s recovered memories lead CURE to send Remo and Chiun after him when he is kidnapped. Their search follows an environmental organization, a secretive ship and a dangerous weapon.

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An unnamed former U.S. President regains memories after a head injury; characters later attribute his earlier amnesia to the Sinanju Emptying Basin technique. Earthpeace abducts him while carrying a prototype neutrino bomb, but its public-relations spokesman says the former President is only “window dressing.” After the PIO takes both captive and weapon, the former President escapes and is captured again as the bomb detonates near a planned settlement, disabling metal-dependent technology across a broad region. PIO leader Nossur Aruch then attempts to launch his British Bloodhound missile; it explodes at the launch site and destroys PIO headquarters. Aruch takes the former President to a Jordanian oasis and seeks outside weapons.

Remo and Chiun reach them amid a multi-sided air battle, rescue the President, and kill Aruch and U.S. Interior Secretary Bryce Babcock. The President asks whether the amnesia technique can be repeated without the effects he previously suffered. Chiun says no alternative exists for someone affected as he was, and Remo says it can wait; the further action is left unstated. The political and technological aftermath remains unsettled.

Sources for this summary

Characters & places

Spoilers

Full articles

Characters 21

Places 17

Organizations 3

Groups 2

Lore 1

Objects 2

Chapter summaries35 chapters · spoilers

  1. Chapter 1

    An unnamed retired President is in California with his wife and daughter; after a staged horseback photo opportunity ends in a fall and head injury, his memories return and he whispers “cure.”

  2. Chapter 2

    Remo deliberately provokes fighting among Bronx protestors by throwing quarters; the earlier killing of a Haitian cabdriver and Chiun’s movie-credit grievance provide context.

  3. Chapter 3

    The former President calls Smith and says a head injury brought his memories back; he asks for CURE’s help. The chapter does not name the Emptying Basin.

  4. Chapter 4

    Remo rents Die Down IV, a film based on a story by the deceased Quintly Tortilli, without knowing Chiun’s secret involvement.

  5. Chapter 5

    Chiun sees the “Story by Quintly Tortilli” film credit, destroys the tape, and storms away.

  6. Chapter 6

    Smith learns the former President was taken from the hospital and dispatches Remo and Chiun; Chiun’s anger has also destroyed the CURE phone.

  7. Chapter 7

    Armed kidnappers attack the hospital, kill medical and Secret Service personnel, subdue the former President and carry him away in a laundry cart.

  8. Chapter 8

    Remo and Chiun question reporter Stan Ronaldman about the former President; Ronaldman supplies rumors, and they head to the hospital. Chiun steals Ronaldman’s toupee.

  9. Chapter 9

    A Secret Service agent tells Remo that the former President was kidnapped and the hospital detail and staff were shot. Smith asks Remo and Chiun to return to Folcroft, but Remo says they will investigate locally first.

  10. Chapter 10

    Aboard the Radiant Grappler II, Bright Sunshiny Ralph and Jerry Glover keep the former President in a zoo cage while Babcock’s plan and the neutrino bomb are discussed.

  11. Chapter 11

    Remo and Chiun examine the Earthpeace insignia and identify its dove-and-fir symbol; surveillance clues keep them pursuing the group.

  12. Chapter 12

    Remo and Chiun continue following the Earthpeace trail, while Smith and his staff work to identify the group’s vessel and destination.

  13. Chapter 13

    At Earthpeace headquarters, Brad Mesosphere tells Remo the President is “window dressing” and the bomb is the real cargo. The receptionist shoots Brad and other members, then kills herself; Remo and Chiun leave without learning the ship’s destination.

  14. Chapter 14

    Smith tells Remo that the ship is reported en route to Cape Town in three days and orders an interception. Remo speculates that its passage through the canal may have involved a bribe; Smith does not identify the cause.

  15. Chapter 15

    The crew disguises the Radiant Grappler II as a fishing vessel, catches marine life and changes its appearance; the dead dolphin is buried under the group’s flag.

  16. Chapter 16

    Smith and CIA analyst Mark Howard search for the vessel; the uncertainty around its location delays interception.

  17. Chapter 17

    CIA satellite imagery locates the Radiant Grappler II near the Azores. As it nears Portugal, Smith redirects Remo and Chiun toward Gibraltar and the Navy carrier.

  18. Chapter 18

    Babcock spots the USS Ronald Reagan while the Earthpeace plan proceeds aboard the disguised ship.

  19. Chapter 19

    Aruch uncovers a concealed British Bloodhound Mk2 missile and says he will never use it. He receives notice of a meeting with Interior Secretary Bryce Babcock; later he contradicts that declaration by ordering the missile fired.

  20. Chapter 20

    Remo and Chiun reach Gibraltar, board a British Royal Navy helicopter, and are transferred to the USS Ronald Reagan, where Admiral Jason Harris receives them. Smith traces the neutrino-bomb threat and the ship’s route.

  21. Chapter 21

    At Tyre, Aruch’s men take the neutrino bomb and attack the Earthpeace crew; they capture the former President, whom Aruch recognizes.

  22. Chapter 22

    Remo and Chiun arrive aboard the ship, find the Earthpeace crew dead and the cage empty. Bright Sunshiny Ralph explains that the PIO seized the President before dying.

  23. Chapter 23

    Still captive in a PIO truck, the former President recognizes the neutrino bomb, considers acting against Aruch despite his frailty, and resolves that he will act if necessary. This chapter does not depict an escape or the bomb’s detonation.

  24. Chapter 24

    Remo reports the second kidnapping. Smith explains the bomb’s regional consequences and orders Remo to prioritize it; Remo refuses Smith’s suggestion that he kill the former President.

  25. Chapter 25

    Aruch sets the bomb’s timer and kills Dr. Doe. After Aruch leaves, the President follows him; a shout and gunshots are heard, leaving the immediate outcome unresolved at chapter end.

  26. Chapter 26

    Remo and Chiun assault PIO headquarters and find Doe dead; they learn the President has escaped. Chiun recounts the attributed Emptying Basin story as they pursue him.

  27. Chapter 27

    PIO and Israeli forces fight as the neutrino bomb detonates. The resulting blast catches Remo’s truck, tears Chiun away, and throws Remo from the vehicle; their fates remain unresolved at chapter end.

  28. Chapter 28

    The pulse disables aircraft and metal-dependent equipment across the region; two MiGs crash near Mount Hermon. The chapter then describes similar effects and governments moving to exploit the crisis.

  29. Chapter 29

    When their car is disabled, Aruch disguises himself and escapes through its trunk with Babcock. They encounter a mob stoning an old man to death; Aruch laments that the bomb has left him without usable arms.

  30. Chapter 30

    Remo and Chiun survive the blast, find their wrecked truck, obtain camels from Bedouin travelers, and set out to pursue Aruch and the former President.

  31. Chapter 31

    The former President disguises himself, crosses from Lebanon into Israel, and heads toward Hebron to stop Aruch. After the pulse begins, he turns back, then collides with Aruch and Babcock, who take him at knifepoint.

  32. Chapter 32

    After the neutrino pulse has disabled metal-dependent systems, Aruch orders a soldier to fire his Bloodhound missile despite Babcock’s warning that it may detonate on the pad. An explosion follows, collapsing PIO headquarters; Aruch blames Babcock. The neutrino bomb is not destroyed in this scene.

  33. Chapter 33

    Smith reviews the bomb’s regional technological effects and foreign governments’ efforts to exploit the crisis, including Cuba, Russia, Libya, Iran, France, China, and Britain. From Folcroft he cannot intervene, and the regional outcome remains unsettled.

  34. Chapter 34

    Aruch brings the former President to his family’s Jordanian oasis, where his force gathers. He opens a radio link to a Russian colonel and arranges a weapons airdrop, then begins a call to Tripoli; no Libya conversation is shown in this chapter.

  35. Chapter 35

    At the oasis, Libyan jets destroy a Russian arms-delivery plane; Iranian aircraft then attack the Libyans, and the competing forces fire on the ground. Remo frees the former President after Aruch’s gun fails. Chiun tears off Aruch’s arms and kills him with them; Remo kills Babcock. The President asks whether the amnesia technique can be repeated without his previous condition; Chiun says no alternative exists for someone affected as he was, and Remo says it can wait. The further action is not shown.

Other mentions8 names & references

Editions & covers

Edition · cover shown

Hachette UK

2016-09-29

ISBN 9780751560695

Edition details

References & notes

Sources 35 references
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  • witness:00000351:ch23:p0014
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  • witness:00000351:ch25:p0061
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  • witness:00000351:ch27:p0121
  • witness:00000351:ch28:p0081
  • witness:00000351:ch32:p0065
  • witness:00000351:ch32:p0066
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  • witness:00000351:ch34:p0066
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Edition and source notes

Unidentified EPUB transcription; print edition and original publication date not established.

The matching HTML container has identical extracted paragraphs and is duplicate-container evidence, not an independent edition.

OPF declares language ru although the observed narrative is English.

No foreword or epilogue is separately indexed.

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.

The Last Monarch:

Publisher's description: Remo and Chiun must recover a kidnapped former president before eco-terrorists sell him to a desert ruler.

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

Presidential clues

Presidential clues

Current U.S. President: retained hypothesis — Bill Clinton (contextual compatibility only; not named).

Bill Clinton (contextual compatibility only; not named)

strong contextual compatibility; identity unresolved

Unnamed former President (Destroyer 120)

Ronald Reagan (strong contextual compatibility only; not named)

  • Retired two-term former President lives in California with wife and daughter.
  • Source says he has Alzheimer’s and is nearly ninety; his wife travels to Washington for an antidrug fundraiser.
  • He regains memories after a fall/head injury; the source never gives his name.

strong compatibility; identity unresolved

The source never gives his name. A two-term presidency, a wife and adult daughter in California, an Alzheimer’s diagnosis, and the wife’s antidrug work fit Ronald Reagan, but the source’s fictional amnesia and events do not independently identify him.

Unnamed deceased President (CURE origin)

John F. Kennedy (qualified series-context compatibility only; not identified by this book)

  • An unnamed President’s wish to heal the nation is connected to CURE.
  • The narrative describes him as long dead in Smith’s present.
  • CURE had endured four decades and been used by eight Presidents; no personal name or exact founding date appears.

weak compatibility; unresolved

The book connects CURE’s founding to a wish expressed by an unnamed President whom the narrative describes as long dead at the time Smith recalls it. It does not say when the President died relative to the agency’s founding. The four-decade duration and eight Presidents who used CURE may fit a broader-series chronology, but the book does not name or uniquely identify him.

Unnamed incumbent U.S. President (Destroyer 120)

Bill Clinton (contextual compatibility only; not named)

  • Smith recalls a recent run-in with the incumbent.
  • The President had been rescued twice from the same would-be assassin and was angry that the donor died.
  • The book does not provide a name; the portrayal is satirical.

strong contextual compatibility; identity unresolved

The passage describes a sitting President who angrily objected that Smith had ordered the death of a would-be assassin who had been his friend and financial donor. This supports a contextual Bill Clinton compatibility, especially alongside the earlier-book sequence, but this book never names him and the account is satirical.

“Peanut Boy” (unnamed former President)

Jimmy Carter (strong allusion compatibility; unnamed in this book)

  • Remo asks whether the amnesia case is “Peanut Boy.”
  • Smith says that President now works on Hovels for Humans, building shanties and lean-tos for indigent people.
  • Smith identifies the central former President as Peanut Boy’s successor.

strong compatibility; identity unresolved

Remo’s “Peanut Boy” nickname and Smith’s description of the President’s Hovels for Humans work building shanties for indigent people strongly evoke Jimmy Carter’s post-presidential housing work. No personal name appears in the book, so the allusion remains a qualified compatibility rather than an explicit identification.

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