Hostile Takeover

The Destroyer #81

by Warren Murphy (Series Creator), Richard Sapir (Series Creator), Will Murray

Breathlessly action-packed and boasting a winning combination of thrills, humour and mysticism, the Destroyer is one of the bestselling series of all time.

Genres: Adventure

252 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published May 7, 2015

About the author

Warren Murphy was an American author, most famous as the co-creator of The Destroyer series, the basis for the film Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins. He worked as a reporter and editor and after service during the Korean War, he drifted into politics.

Murphy also wrote the screenplay for Lethal Weapon 2. He is the author of the Trace and Digger series. With Molly Cochran, he completed two books of a planned trilogy revolving around the character The Grandmaster, The Grandmaster (1984) and High Priest (1989). Murphy also shares writing credits with Cochran on The Forever King and several novels under the name Dev Stryker. The first Grandmaster book earned Murphy and Cochran a 1985 Edgar Award for Best Paperback Original, and Murphy's Pigs Get Fat took the same honor the following year.

His solo novels include Jericho Day, The Red Moon, The Ceiling of Hell, The Sure Thing and Honor Among Thieves. Over his career, Murphy sold over 60 million books.

He started his own publishing house, Ballybunion, to have a vehicle to start The Destroyer spin-off books. Ballybunion has reprinted The Assassin's Handbook, as well as the original works Assassin's Handbook 2, The Movie That Never Was (a screenplay he and Richard Sapir wrote for a Destroyer movie that was never optioned), The Way of the Assassin (the wisdom of Chiun), and New Blood, a collection of short stories written by fans of the series.

He served on the board of the Mystery Writers of America, and was a member of the Private Eye Writers of America, the International Association of Crime Writers, the American Crime Writers League and the Screenwriters Guild.

Reviews

[Gilbert Stack · Rating 3 out of 5]

This novel starts out strong with a follow up from the problems of the previous novel where Remo almost got killed when an outside force got hold of a “fail safe” system Smith had created to remove him from play should CURE ever be exposed. Remo is always thinking about leaving CURE, but this betrayal was his best reason to do so in 81 books.

Then the novel takes a turn for the absurd—not the normal satire of celebrities, but a take off on the Batman movies. Chiun learns that merchandising can make millions and sets about turning Remo into “Bear Man” and Smith, because of his need to divert attention from what is really happening in his investigation into Wall Street crashes, decides to support Chiun. It was dumb. There is just no two ways about it.

But the novel is saved by the very intricate mystery that explains what is behind the current attack on the world economy. I was scratching my head trying to make the connections earlier in the book and was fully satisfied when the plot was finally exposed. It gives us a nice look into Smith’s background as well and leads to Remo and Smith coming to another much needed understanding.

[Alan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rating 3.5

A 4 star entry in the series, compared to non series books then probably a 3.

A more entertaining entry than the previous few I have read. This mixed the appropriate amount of Remo-Chiun humour, action scenes, fast paced, some new background to Smith and a bonkers plot.
Does point at possibility of Smith getting too hold and perhaps replacing him in the future (hopefully more successfully than previous novel in the series).

Not to everyones taste I am sure, but good entertaining b movie style novel than is for me in the top half of books in the series.

Definitely a recommendation for anyone either going through the series or just dropping in at various points.

[Jeff J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

#81 in the Destroyer series. British patriots attempt to recover the colonies. Much chaos ensues.

[Little Timmy · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of the big men's adventure series from the 70's than ran an impressive 145 books. The series while an adventure/action story is also full of satire toward much of the mainstream fads and icons of the time. An interesting main character and the sarcastic mentor makes this a funny action/adventure read. The stock market is falling at an alarming rate and there seems to be no rational reason for it. It is just a matter of weeks before the economy of the U.S. is totally ruined. With Smith's attention largely distracted on a personal matter, it is up to Remo and Chiun to save Wall Street. Recommended

[Donovan Ackley]

Love this series----