Ghost in the Machine

The Destroyer #90

by Warren Murphy, Richard Sapir

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: Action

256 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1992

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

[Alan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating 3.5

An entertaining entry in this series.
Despite it being another return or partial return of a previous enemy/assignment this one worked due to the banter between Chiun and Remo, as well as the over the top behaviour of Rumpp.

[Jeff J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

#90 in the Destroyer series. A Trump knockoff battles bankruptcy. 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. When the 80's most hyped billionaire, Randal Rumpp, finds his vast fortune crumbling and his real estate empire disappearing, he becomes determined to do whatever it takes to regain his superior position. That appears to mean making a deal with an old enemy of CURE. Recommened

[Travis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another adventure featuring one of Remo's few reoccurring foes, the devious computer program 'Friend'.
Fun, pulp feeling read.