Time Trial

The Destroyer #53

by Warren Murphy

Remo and Chiun are sent to Guatemala to investigate the mysterious disappearance of a team of American archaeologists

Genres: Thriller, Adventure, Action

202 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 1983

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 5 out of 5]

It’s hard to come up with a truly fresh plot in a series with more than fifty books in it, but Murphy accomplished exactly that in Time Trial. Remo and Chiun get pulled back in time while investigating advanced weaponry near a Mayan ruin in the jungle. In fact, they get pulled back 5000 years where they become involved in the events that begin the Mayan calendar and find themselves the pivotal players in determining whether the young Mayan people will survive or be snuffed out by the Olmec. Now I won’t pretend there is any actual history in this story, but it is an enjoyable adventure with a lot of action and some interesting problems.

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

[Alan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating 3

An oddly entertaining Destroyer novel.
It was good to have a return to the banter between Chiun and Remo that seems to have been missing from the last couple of entries in the series.
The time travelling elements were crackers and didn’t really sit very well in the Destroyer world I thought.

Overall though it was entertaining and is a definite recommendation, certainly over the last few in the series.

[Marko · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perhaps the craziest Remo&Chiun story thus far - with a time travel ingredient that actually has them make history. In earlier novels we've often hear stories about past Sinanju masters and how they affected history - by killing of historical figures - but this time it is Remo and Chiun who will help create a nation that still adorns the pages of history books.

[Trentrey · Rating 2 out of 5]

An uncharacteristic misfire from the ordinarily great Destroyer ghost Molly Cochran. I'm not sure I dig time travel being a part of this universe, and the characterizations of Remo and Chiun just seem...off.

[John Grace · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting to see the series veer more to sci-fi territory in the last few Pinnacle volumes, although real time travel might be a bridge too far for many Destroyer fans. Found it to be an enjoyable and quick afternoon read while waiting for an IT repair call at work.

[Beorn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unexpected, interesting plot twist. Quite enjoyable.

[Jeff J. · Rating 3 out of 5]

#53 in the Destroyer series. More of a SF adventure than I prefer with these books, but it did have a unique spin on time travel.

[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. Tribes in the jungle are using high-tech weapons and CURE must find out the source. Recommended

[Eddie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like a book that travels well when you are stuck long term in a undesirable Spot. A little adventure with Remo. Still reading the ones I missed when I was a teenager.

[Tony Hinde · Rating 4 out of 5]

These are like pop-corn, bite-sized, and more-ish.

There's a very similar book in the Casca series... also worth a read.