Judgment Day

The Destroyer #14

by Warren Murphy, Richard Sapir

The new director is ordering the Destroyer and his mentor Chiun to kill Smith, the director of CURE. They are searching for Smith, who is successfully hiding, when immediate trouble begins for the deadly duo, because Chiun doesn't want to agree to the killing. Smith is Chiun's emperor, the man who pays the salary that supports the ancient village of Sinanju. Chiun doesn't know about CURE, just about Smith, and the cash always arrives on time. That's enough. Remo is a company man though, a trained killer who works for CURE, the top-secret agency that doesn't exist, and if they don't want Smith to exist any longer, it is his job to murder him. Orders are orders. But who is the new director? Who hired him and who fired Smith? Could there be another infiltrator? CURE's security has been violated before, and there is always that possibility. There are a lot of questions to be answered before judgment day arrives.

Genres: Fiction, Thriller, Adventure, Pulp, Action, Crime, Mystery

152 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1974

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

[George K. · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Η ημέρα της κρίσης", εκδόσεις ΒΙΠΕΡ.

Δυο χρόνια και κάτι πέρασαν από την τελευταία φορά που διάβασα βιβλίο της σειράς "Ο Εξολοθρευτής" και η αλήθεια είναι ότι μου έλειψε η όλη παλπ αισθητική, η σατιρική διάθεση και η τρέλα που χαρακτηρίζει τα βιβλία της συγκεκριμένης σειράς. Λοιπόν, μια αλλαγή γίνεται στη διεύθυνση της υπηρεσίας CURE -μοναδικός εκτελεστής της οποίας είναι ο Ρέμο Ουίλιαμς-, μιας και ένας ιδιαίτερα φιλόδοξος τύπος βγάζει προσωρινά από τη μέση τον νυν διευθυντή και παίρνει παράνομα τη θέση του. Και αρχίζει να δίνει εντολές και να κάνεις μεγάλες αλλαγές. Όμως δεν πρόκειται παρά για έναν εχθρό, που πρέπει να βγει από τη μέση πριν να είναι αργά, τόσο για την CURE, όσο και για ολόκληρες τις Ηνωμένες Πολιτείες. Αλλά πρώτα πρέπει να αρχίσει να στροφάρει ο Ρέμο... Το βιβλιαράκι αυτό μου φάνηκε ένα κλικ πιο πάνω από τα αμέσως προηγούμενα που διάβασα, αλλά αυτό ίσως έχει να κάνει και με το γεγονός ότι πέρασε καιρός από την τελευταία φορά που διάβασα βιβλίο της σειράς. Αλλά μπορεί απλώς να μου άρεσε λίγο παραπάνω. Ωραία ιστορία, με απολαυστική δράση, χιούμορ, τρελές καταστάσεις και φοβερή 70's ατμόσφαιρα -που τόσο πολύ απολαμβάνω-, με την καταραμένη πολιτική ορθότητα να έχει φάει κλωτσιά στα πισινά. Περιττό να πω ότι το βιβλίο απευθύνεται σε όσους λατρεύουν τα παλπ μυθιστορήματα δράσης και βίας, έτσι; (7.5/10)

[Elden · Rating 3 out of 5]

Why do I keep reading these books? Cause they are kinda funny, do not take long to read, and I can find them really easy. They are definitely an old pulp novel series, but they do pass the time. The only thing bad is they take away my time that I can spend on reading other books.

[Gilbert Stack · Rating 5 out of 5]

The fourteenth Destroyer novel should have been called Hostile Takeover and this one is all Harold Smith’s show. Smith has been a fairly two-dimensional supporting cast member for the first thirteen books. He’s the elderly, budget conscious, patriotic head of CURE who apparently has no imagination and no personal ambition other than to do his job to the best of his ability. He carries a poison pill with him at all times, prepared to commit suicide to protect the secret of CURE. But in this volume, the bad guys have figured out the kind of information CURE tracks and they kidnap Smith and torture out of him the info they need to step in and take over. Unfortunately for them, they forget to actually kill Smith and that oversight leads to one of the best Destroyer novels, because smith is not about to leave CURE in enemy hands. Murphy and Sapir finally bring the head of CURE fully to life and leave only the question of why they waited so long to do so. Fans of the series will not want to miss this book.

If you liked this review, you can find more at www.gilbertstack.com/reviews.

[Stelios · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 stars

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome

This story had a lot of twists. I loved every bit of it. The destroyer series is getting better and better. I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys action and intrigue.

[Balkron · Rating 3 out of 5]

My Rating Scale:
1 Star - Horrible book, It was so bad I stopped reading it. I have not read the whole book and wont
2 Star - Bad book, I forced myself to finish it and do NOT recommend. I can't believe I read it once
3 Star - Average book, Was entertaining but nothing special. No plans to ever re-read
4 Star - Good Book, Was a really good book and I would recommend. I am Likely to re-read this book
5 Star - GREAT book, A great story and well written. I can't wait for the next book. I Will Re-Read this one or more times.

Times Read: 1

One of the first series I read consistently. This series and the Executioner series are responsible for my love of reading and stories.

Characters - Looking back to my younger reading days, I loved Remo Williams and thought he was one of the coolest characters in history. I still think Remo is a good character. Unique in a number of ways even today.

Story - The stories are average and fairly typical. Bad guys going to kill or hurt, Remo is going to kill them first (no way he is going to die not with Chuin as his teacher). Not much in creativity but it really worked for me as a male teenager. I started learning Judo and Karate partly because of Remo.

Overall - I started reading these when I was 16. I enjoyed them up until about age 19. My tastes changed from Military intrigue to Fantasy / SciFi. I would recommend reading these especially for younger males.

NOTE: I am going to rate these all the books in this series the same. Some of the stories are a bit better or a bit worse but I can't find one that I would rate a 2 or 4.

[Bryan457 · Rating 4 out of 5]

A computer conglomerate learns of the information held in Folcroft computers. They want to learn the reason behind Folcroft. The man who finds out the secrets wants to use them to become President of the United States. Remo is sent by the supposed new head of CURE to find and eliminate Smith. Remo has to figure out who is really in charge and who to eliminate.
Another winner! Remo and Chiun take a backseat more or less in this book but we get to find out more about the head of CURE. We learn plenty. Smitty has had quite a past and was well chosen to head CURE.

Favorite tidbits: Chiun writes a new section of the Sinanju scrolls called “Chiun's Mad Emperor,” about Smitty.

Warning, sex and graphic gory violence.

[John E Bailor · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the better books from early in the series.

Harold Smith is drugged, kidnapped, and tortured. After giving up the secrets of CURE, an ambitious computer company executive takes Smith's place as director of Folcroft and orders Remo to kill Smith.

I love quick reads and this one was very exciting. Murphy and Sapir were on top of their game when they wrote this fun adventure that gives us a rare opportunity to see Smith in the field. The supporting characters and pacing were great too.

Worth picking up the recently released paperback so you can feel this one!

[Dan Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Continuing to make my way through the adventures of Remo and Chiun, though this installment is as much about CURE head honcho Dr. Harold Smith than our two bickering heroes. A rising star at an IBM-esque computer company becomes obsessed with CURE and what it can do for him, kidnapping and torturing Dr. Smith in the process. He eventually sends Remo and Chiun after their grudgingly-beloved "emperor" with mixed results. As fun and breezy as the Executioner books are morose and clunky.

[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. This issue gives alot of the back history of the CURE director, Dr Smith. Recommended

[Carl · Rating 4 out of 5]

one of the best

[Eddie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I always liked the Smith center stories.

[Joshua · Rating 5 out of 5]

An imposter takes control of the CURE organization. Dr. Harold Smith must regain control of the group.

[Miralinda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Смит похищен и под пытками выдаёт все секреты КЮРЭ. Во главе организации встаёт человек, которого Чиун называет мистер Хлам. Но Смит в бегах и должен во всем разобраться.

[Bobby H · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good insight into the inner working of CURE. Heavy focus on Dr. Smith.