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Hachette UK
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The Destroyer#133Troubled WatersThe DestroyerBook 1332003
Troubled Waters
- Writer
- Mike Newton
- Series creators
- Warren Murphy, Richard Sapir
After an opening escape from a Caribbean island, Remo is pulled from a New Mexico wolf search into a piracy case involving a senator’s missing family. The trail takes him and Chiun through the Caribbean, where witnesses, a travel agent and a pirate-obsessed historian point toward an island operation.
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An unnamed woman escapes island captivity after her husband is killed; later, Kelly Bauer Armitage’s matching account is reported, though the opening scene does not name her. Remo leaves a New Mexico search for Mexican gray wolves to investigate the disappearance of Senator Chester Armitage’s son Richard and Kelly, who was recovered west of Fort-de-France but cannot identify the island where pirates held her. Richard’s sister Stacy joins the case. Travel agent Howard Morgan routes wealthy yacht customers to Ethan Humphrey, whose Cutlass Foundation connects them with Kidd’s pirates; Morgan separately arranges a tour for Burston and Ellie Sykes, but the book does not show that couple attacked.
Kidd plans to force Stacy into marriage while holding women taken from the Salome. Colombian trafficker Carlos Ramirez buys stolen boats from the pirates. Remo reaches Ile de Mort as Ramirez’s armed force attacks; the stew incapacitates most pirates, and Remo and Chiun fight amid the battle. Stacy supervises aid to the surviving captives; Chiun reports that about forty earlier prisoners died after being kept in filth. Kidd kills Ramirez, while Remo kills combatants from both sides and subdues Kidd. Remo and Chiun recover two chests of treasure that Chiun attributes to the past Master Shang-Tu. Kidd is buried in wet sand. Smith later reports that Humphrey was found and is expected to survive; the ending leaves Stacy aboard the Melody with Remo and Chiun.
Characters & places
SpoilersFull articles
- ChiunCharacter
- CUREOrganization
- Folcroft SanatoriumPlace
- Harold W. SmithCharacter
- Mark HowardCharacter
- Remo WilliamsCharacter
- SinanjuPlace
- Sinanju (martial tradition)Lore
Characters 36
- Armand Sifuentes
- Barry Ward
- Billy Teach
- Burston Sykes
- Carlos Ramirez
- Chester Armitage
- Chiun
- Dink
- Ellie Sykes
- Enrique
- Ethan Humphrey
- Fabian Guzman
- Felicia Docherty
- Fetch
- Finch
- Flick
- Harold W. Smith
- Howard Morgan
- Jon Fitzgivens
- Jorge
- Kelly Bauer Armitage
- Lester Suff
- Mark Howard
- Master Shang-tu
- Megan Richards
- Pablo Altamira
- Pascoe
- Remo Williams
- Richard Armitage
- Robin Chatsworth
- Rodrigo
- Stacy Armitage
- Szandor
- Thomas Kidd
- Titch
- Tommy Gilpin
Places 9
Organizations 6
Lore 1
Chapter summaries
Chapter 1
A city-raised woman escapes after her husband is killed, steals a canoe and is found adrift by fishermen; the opening does not identify her by name.
Chapter 2
Remo infiltrates a Homeland Security/SEAL exercise in New Mexico while searching for a missing Mexican gray wolf pack; the paintball exercise ends with his defeat of the SEAL team.
Chapter 3
Smith briefs Remo on Senator Chester Armitage’s missing son and daughter-in-law and says the President requested CURE investigate after Kelly is recovered.
Chapter 4
At the medical center, Kelly recounts the voyage, crewman Enrique, pirate attack and her uncertain memory of the island; Stacy confronts Remo and insists on taking part.
Chapter 5
Billy Teach’s Ravager catches up with the lost yacht. Teach shoots the pilot, throws him overboard, forces Jon and Barry into the sea and takes the three women aboard; Tommy Gilpin’s ultimate fate is not confirmed in this scene.
Chapter 6
Kidd orders clothing for the three women taken from the Salome, then publicly executes Fetch after accusing him of taking a share before the rest of the crew could fairly divide the booty.
Chapter 7
In Puerta Plata, Remo meets the pirate-history enthusiast Ethan Humphrey, who recommends Trade Winds and sends him toward the port’s travel services.
Chapter 8
Remo intervenes when four men assault Stacy. He kills one attacker; the narrative says one wall-struck man later regains consciousness and leaves the survival of two others uncertain. Stacy explains how she was lured there, then persuades Remo to let her travel with the operation under rules.
Chapter 9
Remo and Stacy visit Trade Winds. On Ile de Mort, Flick and Szandor fight a duel under the pirates’ custom; the narrative later shows both bodies, which Kidd orders dumped beyond the reef.
Chapter 10
Howard Morgan introduces Pablo Altamira as a sailor rather than the missing Enrique. Pablo later drops the guide pretense and threatens Remo and Chiun with his pirate associates.
Chapter 11
Kidd orders guards to watch Stacy while the pirate encounter separates Remo from the Melody; Remo goes into the water and swims after a vessel.
Chapter 12
After Teach’s attack, Stacy and Chiun remain with the pirates on a course toward Ile de Mort, while Remo reaches a separate sailboat whose lookout Dink says it is headed to Fort-de-France.
Chapter 13
Morgan arranges a Caribbean tour on the Christina for Burston and Ellie Sykes, then Remo forces him to explain how he routes wealthy customers and crew information to Ethan Humphrey and the Cutlass Foundation. Remo follows Humphrey to the Mulligan Stew, where Finch and Pascoe escort him toward Ile de Mort.
Chapter 14
At the pirate camp, Chiun prepares dinner while Kidd announces that he will take Stacy as wife and queen. Rodrigo challenges the plan and Kidd shoots him. Separately, Ramirez and Guzman discuss their dealings with Kidd and plan an armed visit to the island.
Chapter 15
Remo challenges Humphrey’s defense of piracy; Chiun searches the jungle for landmarks described in Sinanju scrolls and identifies a black-rock formation as a possible first marker. Ramirez sails with an armed party to meet Kidd.
Chapter 16
Guzman orders Armand Sifuentes and three gunmen to board Humphrey’s boat and leave no witnesses. Remo kills the four attackers and escapes with Humphrey. Ramirez assumes Kidd ordered the ambush and turns back toward Ile de Mort for a surprise attack.
Chapter 17
Chiun prepares a fast-acting root-laced stew. Stacy tells Megan she intends to kill Kidd if she gets the chance. Remo and Humphrey travel through a mangrove inlet toward the camp as Ramirez lands west of it and sends scouts ahead.
Chapter 18
Chiun’s stew incapacitates most pirates as Ramirez’s force attacks. Kidd kills Ramirez; Remo kills combatants from both sides and overcomes Kidd, while Chiun leads Stacy and the other women away. Stacy supervises care for surviving captives; Chiun reports that about forty earlier prisoners died in a filthy stable. Remo digs through the water table and recovers two chests; Kidd is buried in wet sand and the narrative treats death as a mercy.
Chapter 19
Smith reports that authorities from Martinique and DEA are handling the island, and says Humphrey was found buried to his neck and is expected to survive. Remo says he will arrange a flight for Stacy, but the ending places her on the Melody with Remo and Chiun as they sail toward Nassau.
Editions & covers
References & notes
Sources 41 references
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Destroyer_(novel_series)
- stopyourekillingme.com/D_Authors/Destroyer.html
- destroyer-books.com/bibliography.php
- www.hachette.co.uk/titles/richard-sapir/troubled-waters/9780751560824
- spyguysandgals.com/sgShowChar.aspx?id=472
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Edition and source notes
The selected English EPUB transcription is not authenticated to an original print edition; matching HTML is a duplicate transcription, not independent edition corroboration.
The opening captive is not named in her scene; its strong contextual match to Kelly’s later escape report is not explicit identification.
Ile de Mort’s exact real-world location is not established; historical and Sinanju lineage claims are attributed.
Reported outcomes in the aftermath scene are conveyed by Smith rather than shown in a separate rescue or recovery scene.
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.
Troubled Waters:
Publisher's description: A pirate crew raids Caribbean pleasure boats and kidnaps a senator’s daughter, prompting CURE to send Remo and Chiun.
Presidential clues
Current U.S. President: historical identity unresolved.
Unnamed sitting U.S. President (Book 133)
Sitting U.S. President who is a college friend of Senator Chester Armitage and requests a CURE investigation
- Smith says the President and Armitage have been friends since college.
- Smith says he was called by the President, who suggested CURE investigate the case.
high for the described incumbent role; no identity inference made
The source withholds the President’s personal name and gives no distinctive biographical clue sufficient to identify a real officeholder.
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