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The Destroyer #70
The Eleventh Hour
This might be the end. Gravely injured in a collapsing inferno, Chiun isn’t recovering, and asks Remo to take him back to the village of Sinanju so he can live out his final days in peace. This may be the moment Remo has been training for, yet becoming the Master of Sinanju will mean giving up the country he has loved. Then again, it seems that America has sold Sinaju’s contract to the Russians… strange things are afoot in the Eleventh Hour.
Remo Williams is The Destroyer, an all-American cop recruited—through highly unorthodox methods—to serve in CURE, a covert government organization. Trained in the esoteric martial art of Sinanju by his aged Korean mentor, Chiun, Remo is America's last line of defense against mad scientists, organized crime, ancient undead gods, and anything else that threatens the Constitution. An action-adventure series leavened with social and political satire, the Destroyer novels have been thrilling readers worldwide for decades.
Remo Williams is The Destroyer, an all-American cop recruited—through highly unorthodox methods—to serve in CURE, a covert government organization. Trained in the esoteric martial art of Sinanju by his aged Korean mentor, Chiun, Remo is America's last line of defense against mad scientists, organized crime, ancient undead gods, and anything else that threatens the Constitution. An action-adventure series leavened with social and political satire, the Destroyer novels have been thrilling readers worldwide for decades.
222 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1987
15 people are currently reading
71 people want to read
About the author
Warren Murphy
294 books124 followersWarren 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
January 16, 2023
This is one of the best Destroyer novels in a long time. A Korean American young man, having listened to legends of Sinanju from his grandfather, decides to try and prove if the legends are true by sneaking into North Korea. There he videotapes the caretaker of Chiun’s property telling him that the Master of Sinanju is working for America. The young man, believing that America is corrupt and the current administration needs to be brought down, decides to bring the information to the Soviets creating a very exciting threat to the secrecy of CURE.
In the meantime, Remo is caught in a fire trying to rescue people and the incident awakens Shiva the Destroyer within him. Shiva does not recognize Chiun, which tells Chiun that Remo has been totally possessed. To strengthen Remo against Shiva, Chiun decides to get Remo back to Sinanju believing that immersing his pupil even further in the discipline will fortify him against Shiva. But how to get Remo to do as Chiun wants?
Chiun, in the aftermath of the encounter with Shiva, begins to exhibit signs of advanced illness and asks Remo to take him home to Sinanju where he prepares to pass the mantle of reigning master of Sinanju on to Remo. In doing so, both Chiun and Remo make speeches which the Korean American (whom the Soviets sent back to Sinanju) also videotapes. Remo also meets the first villager of Sinanju that he does not despise and begins to fall in love. It appears that there is hope for another generation of masters of Sinanju.
While Remo is exploring his new romance, the Soviets bring President Ronald Reagan proof that CURE exists and that Sinanju is working for America. They demand that Reagan shut down CURE and give Sinanju to them and Reagan decides to comply. Smith is given the shutdown order, attempts to destroy all of his computer data (something goes wrong, but he doesn’t know that), and then travels to Sinanju to try and get Chiun to kill Remo (no one thinks that’s going to happen) and then to kill himself.
When Chiun learns that Reagan wants his contract transferred to the Soviets, Chiun insists on a formal ceremony and then things really get interesting… I’ve given away a lot of the plot here, but not the crucial stuff. This is a good one!
In the meantime, Remo is caught in a fire trying to rescue people and the incident awakens Shiva the Destroyer within him. Shiva does not recognize Chiun, which tells Chiun that Remo has been totally possessed. To strengthen Remo against Shiva, Chiun decides to get Remo back to Sinanju believing that immersing his pupil even further in the discipline will fortify him against Shiva. But how to get Remo to do as Chiun wants?
Chiun, in the aftermath of the encounter with Shiva, begins to exhibit signs of advanced illness and asks Remo to take him home to Sinanju where he prepares to pass the mantle of reigning master of Sinanju on to Remo. In doing so, both Chiun and Remo make speeches which the Korean American (whom the Soviets sent back to Sinanju) also videotapes. Remo also meets the first villager of Sinanju that he does not despise and begins to fall in love. It appears that there is hope for another generation of masters of Sinanju.
While Remo is exploring his new romance, the Soviets bring President Ronald Reagan proof that CURE exists and that Sinanju is working for America. They demand that Reagan shut down CURE and give Sinanju to them and Reagan decides to comply. Smith is given the shutdown order, attempts to destroy all of his computer data (something goes wrong, but he doesn’t know that), and then travels to Sinanju to try and get Chiun to kill Remo (no one thinks that’s going to happen) and then to kill himself.
When Chiun learns that Reagan wants his contract transferred to the Soviets, Chiun insists on a formal ceremony and then things really get interesting… I’ve given away a lot of the plot here, but not the crucial stuff. This is a good one!
February 14, 2016
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. A reporter discovers the existence of CURE, Chiun is dying and Remo must become the new master. Recommended
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews