Hook and Shoot: Round Two of the Woodshed Wallace Series

Near the start of Brown’s knock-down drag-out second adventure featuring Las Vegas MMA fighter Woodshed “Woody” Wallace (after 2011’s Suckerpunch), Woody’s manager, Banzai Eddie Takanori, tells Woody that, in order to pay off a serious debt to the yakuza, he’s agreed to match Woody against their fighter, Zombi, who holds Olympic gold medals in judo. Before Woody and Eddie can get to the fight at the Golden Pantheon Arena, they have to survive repeated efforts to kill Eddie—which tells Woody he doesn’t know the whole story. The colorful cast includes Mr. Burch, Eddie’s British driver and a former SAS member; Vanessa Brandenberg, whose sordid history adds a plot complication; and brothers Vince and Robbie Snarl, “catch wrestlers” who teach Woody some painful tricks. The tough, snappy dialogue may be only serviceable, but Brown offers some terrific fight scenes, notably the climactic showdown on the mat with Zombi. Agent: Margaret O’Connor, Innisfree Literary. (Nov.)