Murder's Shield

The Destroyer #9

by Warren Murphy, Richard Sapir

An army of renegade cops across the country have been assigned the task of squashing criminal cockroaches under their boots. It's a dirty job and the White House entrusts it to only one man - The Destroyer. Between Master Chiun's exquisite sense of justice and Remo Williams' knack for murder, they are ready to bring justice to town once and for all.

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

217 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1973

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

[James Love · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great spoof of the second Dirty Harry movie Magnum Force. Remo and Chiun must prevent an organization of cops from doing the job CURE and The Destroyer were created for while preventing the US government finding out about their secret government agency.

[John K. Wiggill · Rating 5 out of 5]

I starting reading this series back in the 70's and I loved it. It made me laugh, it was fun and I even learned a few interesting things. I think I got up to #35 in the series and then got interested in other things. I never forgot Remo, Chiun or Sinanju. When the movie came out, I was real excited, but like most movies based on a book, the movie didn't do the story justice.

I was thinking about Remo and Chiun recently and wondered what Mr. Murphy had been up to for the last 30 years. I'm retired now. I downloaded Created The Destroyer on my Kindle and thoroughly enjoyed my re-read. So sorry to discover that both Warren Murphy and Richard Sapir have passed away.

I've been reading reviews and find it funny that some people think this series isn't good enough to be rated above a single star! There are over 50 million people who don't agree with you idiots. Hahaha.

If you're thinking about reading this story, it original, very funny and totally enjoyable. It helps if you like Karate, World Saving, and enjoy the good guys winning all the time. I've loved these characters for about 40 years. Good Luck!

[Gilbert Stack · Rating 3 out of 5]

This time it’s the cops who have gone bad, causing Remo difficulty from two different perspectives. First, he was a cop and he doesn’t want to kill other policemen. Second, the cops appear to be doing essentially what he does as the enforcement arm of CURE—kill criminals. It’s a rare ethical dilemma in this series and that makes this book stand out from the others.

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

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

Remo is having a conscience problem, as he's sent to squash a renegade group of police who are doing the same thing he is.

After this, I'd read a Joe Ryker book from '75, Death Squad, that tackles the same dilemma.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good read.

I’m tired of using the same description but I can’t help it. These books are fast-paced, entertaining, and unique. I have enjoyed each one and headed to the next.

[Andy Rausch · Rating 2 out of 5]

This one was pretty run of the mill. In this one, Remo has to go up against a band of vigilante cops who are going around killing people they believe to be otherwise untouchable bad guys. I'm not a fan of the fact that the cops (and, sadly, Remo the protagonist) are pretty open about their racism, which is all done in the name of being "right wing." (The cops claim that repeatedly.) Along with that, there is a lot of mocking of liberals and the fact that a liberal police commissioner's daughter is raped by a group of black men is found hilarious by the other cops. I know these books are "of their time," and I don't like to get too much into the racial and political aspects of these books, but it is unavoidable here. This one seemed to try to go above and beyond in terms of overt racism and pro-cop vigilantism. This isn't a complaint just because we live in 2021. I'm not some "safe space" cancel culture guy, but there is some legitimately grotesque stuff in this book that I would have had a problem with at the time of its release had I been old enough to have read it and understood it. (I was born the year this book was released.)

Beyond those awful aspects, this book, the ninth in the series, was woefully bland in terms of story and characterization. There's not even a memorable action sequence in it. The book offered nothing new or even bothered to give a twist on things readers had already seen in the previous eight books. This one flat out sucked in just about every way possible. This was easily the worst of the first nine books. Plus, it was already becoming ridiculously formulaic and it's clear that Murphy and Sapir were just checking off boxes of needed ingredients (i.e. sex, violence, humor, etc.). I would only recommend this to completists. God help anyone who reads this as their first Destroyer book, as it would likely be their last.

[Glen Engel-Cox · Rating 3 out of 5]

Finally, a Destroyer book with some moral complexity. By the ninth book in the series, it’s overdue. Remo, a former policeman, is forced to confront a group of policemen engaged in basically the same activities as himself: the vigilante killing of thieves, killers, and corrupt officials. In doing so, he has to decide what makes the difference between him doing it—extra-legally—and the actions of these police. This puts him at odds with Chiun, whose training of Remo is portrayed as only making him a brainless weapon. This is classic “who watches the watchmen” territory and kudos for Murphy and Sapir for tackling it in this pulp format. While I’m not sure the resolution pays it off entirely—I think the authors took a very easy way out—it bodes well for some additional nuances in this adventure series.

[Wayne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Vigilante cops are being lead by a power hungry cop from New York to start up M.O.T.S. (Men Of The Shield) group. They plan to take back the streets by force. Pimps, gunrunners, mafia enforcers and even legit people in authority are all fair game. Remo is called in to put his skillful touch on things. A former cop himself, he finds himself conflicted. Nice action keeps this thing moving along at a nice brisk pace. I must say, I always liked the early books in this series to the newer ones.

[Rory · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty standard entry in the series and one of the less crazy books. This one has a decent plot about killer cops and Remo confronting his past as a serving officer. A bit too straight laced for me but it has its moments. Chiun's scenes are always excellent, and one of the main highlights of reading these Destroyers.

[Jeff J. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Remo takes on a group of renegade police officers. Not one of the stronger stories in the series.

[ShanDizzy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ditto what several of the other reviewers have said.

[Judy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun read. Followed characters from Remo movie. Quick and entertaining.

[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.

[George K. · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Ομάδα δολοφόνων", εκδόσεις ΒΙΠΕΡ.

Ακόμα ένα βιβλίο της σειράς Εξολοθρευτής. Εδώ έχουμε να κάνουμε με έναν στρατό αστυνομικών σε όλη τη χώρα, όπου έχουν ένα κοινό σκοπό: Να σκοτώσουν όλους όσους έχουν κάνει βαριά εγκλήματα ή έχουν βοηθήσει κάποιους που έκαναν βαριά εγκλήματα. Σκοτώνουν δολοφόνους, μαφιόζους, δικηγόρους που υπερασπίστηκαν δολοφόνους, δικαστές που αθώωσαν ενόχους και ούτω καθεξής. Γιατί μερικές φορές ο νόμος και η δικαιοσύνη βρίσκουν εμπόδια...

Αυτό όμως δεν αρέσει στην ομάδα CURE, και έτσι αναλαμβάνει δράση ο Ρέμο και ο δάσκαλός του Τσιουν. Ο Ρέμο βέβαια, σαν πρώην αστυνομικός, δεν θέλει αρχικά να κάνει κακό σε αστυνομικούς, αφήστε δε που συμφωνεί με τις ενέργειες αυτές. Όμως κάποια στιγμή μπαίνει στην μέση και η πολιτική, κάτι που αλλάζει άρδην τους στόχους της ομάδας δολοφόνων, της ομάδας Ασπίδα.

Καλό ήταν, αλλά όχι το καλύτερο από αυτά που έχω διαβάσει μέχρι στιγμής. Πάντως είχε πολύ χιούμορ μέσα και κάποιες γαμάτες ατάκες, και εννοείται πως υπήρξαν μπόλικες δυνατές και γραφικές σκηνές βίας. Η γραφή σε καλό παλπ επίπεδο. Γενικά ένα μυθιστόρημα για να περάσει γρήγορα και πολύ ευχάριστα η ώρα.

[Bryan457 · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nation wide organization of policemen is being formed to take care of the bad guys vigilante style. Remo has to find out who is behind it. Problem is, Remo is a former cop and he kind of agrees with what they are doing.

The humor made a big showing here, and it has one of the best plots of the early books.

Favorite tidbits: Chiun takes 8 steamer trunks, 5 large valises, and 6 wooden cartons when he travels. Remo gives aliases of S Holmes and C Chan.

Warning, sex and graphic gory violence.

[Little Timmy · Rating 4 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. A nationwide network of corrupt cops must be shut down, and Remo and Chiun are the team to do it.

[Dan Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Remo and Chiun are at it again! This time, CURE has assigned them to find out who has been taking the law into their own hands and killing criminals and those with criminal ties across the nation. Fast-paced and funny, I'd give this one four stars if not for the ridiculous denouement. One of the best of the series so far.

[Charles · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the better ones.

[Carl · Rating 4 out of 5]

still good

[Joshua · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this book Remo Williams is tasked with destroying a vigilante group of police officers. Remo is a former police officer himself and he is reluctant to kill cops. He struggles with this dilemma.

[Jeff Chase · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the deeper look into Remo's internal conflict, but this particular entry was more of a snack than a meal.

[Miralinda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Римо приходится убивать полицейских, которые творят самосуд.

[Frank · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this hack series faithfully for years. Now I hear a movie (another move) is in the works. Not a bad read, And emojis a sympath tic character

[Michael Fortenberry]

average for the series.

[Kurt Reichenbaugh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Early in the series. Standard wit, satire, sex and violence follow.