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Voodoo Die — Hachette UK ebook edition
Hachette UK ebook edition

The DestroyerBook 331978

Voodoo Die

A missionary physician’s experiment on Baqia produces a deadly weapon, drawing competing foreign agents to the island. Remo and Chiun are asked to recover it from a dictator while Remo questions the purpose of their work.

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Missionary physician Prescott Plumber studies Baqia’s mung and accidentally liquefies Sister Beatrice in an electron experiment. Dictator Corazon takes the device, uses it on opponents and kills Plumber. After protecting a Harlem factory during a blackout, Remo doubts CURE’s purpose and refuses the unnamed Southern President’s appeal. Chiun accepts a direct contract to obtain the weapon, with Remo accompanying him. Foreign agents violently compete on Baqia. CIA operative Ruby Jackson Gonzalez is imprisoned after refusing to poison the pair; they free her cell, but a reflected ray disables them. Ruby escapes alone, contacts Smith and enlists the hill hungan Samedi after Corazon kills his son Edved.

Followers rescue Remo and Chiun. Ruby exploits a pitch-lake mirage so Corazon’s rays miss Samedi. Corazon throws away the device; Estrada pushes him into the pitch and turns the soldiers against Samedi. Recovered Remo and Chiun stop the soldiers. Corazon accidentally fires the device into himself and dissolves; the machine sinks. Samedi is urged to lead Baqia. The three Americans return without the weapon, and Chiun abandons his direct presidential arrangement after receiving no congratulations.

Sources for this summary

Characters & places

Spoilers

Full articles

Characters 44

Places 38

Organizations 17

Groups 7

Lore 3

Chapter summaries12 chapters · spoilers

  1. Chapter 1

    Plumber arrives on Baqia as a missionary physician and serves at the hill mission. He discovers the depression-relieving substance mung, then kills Sister Beatrice during an electron experiment. Corazon takes the device, discovers its power, and uses it to kill officials, a driver and Plumber. The unnamed U.S. President turns to CURE when ordinary agencies refuse to act.

  2. Chapter 2

    Remo protects a Harlem factory during the blackout and questions his work. A recalled Newark discussion shows Smith rejecting Chiun’s coup proposal and Remo refusing Baqia. At the later Oval Office meeting Remo still refuses, but Chiun accepts the President’s weapon mission.

  3. Chapter 3

    Corazon stages an amnesty but kills an Umibian delegate, executes an American spy and negotiates with foreign agents. Remo and Chiun arrive at the overcrowded Astarse Hotel, where they encounter armed teams. A British scientific delegation meets Corazon, who kills Juanita after she foretells his defeat by Samedi and another power. Jameson’s team studies the device and sends agents to remove the Americans.

  4. Chapter 4

    Remo kills British agents who attack the hotel room, including a coordinated assault team. Corazon watches Remo’s skill and concludes Juanita was right about a stronger power. He courts Russia, breaks relations with the United States and orders Estrada to kill Jameson. The Russian ambassador sends a large force against the Astarse; Chiun smiles at them from a window.

  5. Chapter 5

    After Corazon breaks relations, the President orders the CIA to send agents. The CIA selects Ruby Jackson Gonzalez, a successful wig-factory owner who has served as a nominal employee; the text recounts her survival of an attempted gang rape in school. She arrives in Baqia, is forced into Corazon’s bed, refuses to poison Remo and Chiun, and is imprisoned on a false treason charge.

  6. Chapter 6

    Baqia abruptly restores diplomatic relations, and the U.S. Secretary of State cannot reach its government. The President challenges the CIA director’s claim of success. Smith says 48 agents have died in 48 hours, orders Ruby freed and prioritizes the machine. Chiun accepts the task, while Remo says he has quit.

  7. Chapter 7

    At Corazon’s palace Chiun asks for clean linens, Ruby’s release and the device. Corazon sends them to the prison while secretly taking the machine by helicopter. Ruby manipulates a guard into giving her a pistol. She distrusts Remo but agrees to escape with him and Chiun, directs them over the prison roof and shoots a guard. Corazon’s rays incapacitate Remo and Chiun; Ruby abandons her escape to return to them.

  8. Chapter 8

    Ruby’s shots damage the machine but do not stop Corazon. She surrenders to draw soldiers away from Remo and Chiun, jumps from the roof and escapes. Corazon cages the two men, declares himself victorious and announces he will sever relations with the United States again.

  9. Chapter 9

    Ruby hides under the jeep transporting the captives and escapes in the capital. Corazon keeps the men alive for leverage and plans to kill Samedi. Ruby disguises herself as Baqian and gets Smith on the telephone; Smith insists the machine is the mission. Remo and Chiun wake in the city square. Ruby promises to follow Corazon and return for them.

  10. Chapter 10

    Ruby observes the pitch mirage and warns Samedi at his mountain settlement. He introduces himself as Samedi; the later title explanation is in chapter 12. He refuses to oppose Corazon until the weapon kills Edved; then agrees to help Ruby and silences the drums.

  11. Chapter 11

    Two figures called zombies frighten the guards while four followers free the captives. Ruby feeds Remo and Chiun and takes charge. Corazon melts the fleeing guards and drafts a proclamation of perpetual authority. The first effigy appears at the palace flagpole and he retreats; the second effigy belongs to chapter 12.

  12. Chapter 12

    A second effigy challenges Corazon at the pitch pits. Remo’s senses and strength recover. Ruby drives Remo and Chiun to the confrontation, where heated pitch creates a mirage that makes Corazon miss Samedi. Corazon throws the machine into the pitch and Estrada pushes him in after it. Remo and Chiun defeat the soldiers while Samedi halts the undead. Corazon then fires the weapon into himself; he and the device sink into the lake. The group returns to the United States. Back matter advertises other books.

Other mentions42 names & references

Editions & covers

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Edition · cover shown

Hachette UK

2014-09-29

ISBN 9780751558296

Edition details

References & notes

Sources 29 references
  • witness:00000096:ch01:p0074
  • witness:00000096:ch01:p0176
  • witness:00000096:ch02:p0115
  • witness:00000096:ch02:p0174
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  • witness:00000096:ch01:p0148
  • witness:00000096:ch01:p0165
  • witness:00000096:ch02:p0058
  • witness:00000096:ch05:p0060
  • witness:00000096:ch05:p0118
  • witness:00000096:ch05:p0125
  • witness:00000096:ch07:p0202
  • witness:00000096:ch10:p0059
  • witness:00000096:ch10:p0118
  • witness:00000096:ch12:p0157
  • witness:00000096:ch12:p0171
  • witness:00000096:ch12:p0176
  • witness:00000096:ch12:p0195
  • witness:00000096:ch12:p0203
  • witness:00000096:ch12:p0215
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.

registration-declared first publication: 1978-06-15. CPRS record field is the registrant/depositor-reported first-publication date, not independent retail/on-sale verification; no print copy inspected. Source

Voodoo Die:

Vaudou machine: Catalog observation only; no physical copy or translation collation inspected. Translated or adapted text must not be assumed identical to an English edition. Collection numbering is local to this French series, not a general rule for all foreign editions. No first-printing claim, exact on-sale day, cover artist or public image permission established. Translation: France-Marie Watkins.

Publisher's description: A Caribbean dictator gains control of a mass-casualty weapon and prepares to sell it to the highest bidder.

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 · Book 31 · Book 35

Presidential clues

Current U.S. President: Jimmy Carter* (inferred from surrounding books; historical identity unconfirmed).

Jimmy Carter*

conditional editorial continuity inference; historical identity unconfirmed

* Inferred from surrounding books; it does not create a local presidential appearance.

Assumes the main narratives within this bracketing series interval follow chronological presidential continuity; the selected sources do not establish that assumption.

Inferred from the matching incumbent hypotheses in surrounding retained books; this book does not identify the historical President.

* Inferred from the surrounding books.

The unnamed Southern President

the President of the United States / Mr. President

  • Convenes U.S. intelligence, diplomatic and military officials after Plumber’s death.
  • Uses a red nondial telephone linked to CURE from the White House.
  • Speaks with a soft Southern drawl.
  • Meets Chiun and Remo in the Oval Office; tells them the weapon endangers the United States and possibly the world.
  • Directs the CIA to establish a presence in Baqia, then apologizes to Smith for trying to cancel the Sinanju assignment.
  • No personal name, party, term dates, election date or exact year appears.
  • Recent inauguration mentioned2p103; no date printed.
  • Earlier vulnerability lessons and Chiun rescue recalled2p128; not a claim that all presidents were same person.
  • Secretary of State refers to one-term talk6p11, without established pledge or term.
  • Chiun explicitly does not know incumbent name3p150–151.

none for a specific real-world identity

The source contains only descriptive clues and generic political context. It never names the President; historical identity cannot be inferred from the Southern drawl, office setting or references to past presidents.

Corazon of Baqia

Sacristo Juarez Banista Sanchez y Corazon / Generalissimo Corazon / El Presidente

  • Narrative calls Corazon the Generalissimo and Mad Dog Dictator of Baqia.
  • The text says he became El Presidente after his father’s death.
  • He refers to himself as president for life and drafts a proclamation naming himself God for Life, Ruler Forever, President Eternal of All Baqia.
  • No real-world person or country is identified.

none for a real-world identity

Baqia and Corazon are fictional narrative referents; the book supplies no historical identity. His office is distinct from that of the U.S. President.

Corazon’s father and predecessor

Sacristo’s father / Corazon’s father

  • The narrative says Corazon and his father went to confront a would-be assassin and Corazon returned with his father’s body.
  • His father is said to have been shot in the back of the head despite the enemy being in front of him.
  • Samedi later states that Corazon killed his own father to become president.

none for a personal name; source gives competing implications about the death

The source never names him. Its early account leaves the shooter unstated, while Samedi later accuses Corazon; preserve both accounts as separate source claims.

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