The Wrong Stuff

The Destroyer #125

by Warren Murphy (Series Creator), Richard Sapir (Series Creator), James Mullaney

A mechanical killer space spider goes on the rampage in Florida. This, however, is no simple angry arachnid robbing armored cars and supermarkets. It's the adopted new brainchild of the reality-challenged head of NASA and his elite cadre of Space Cadets.

But not even Captain Kirk is aware of the nightmare that's been unleashed in the name of interplanetary exploration. An old enemy is back in action and, with a click and a whir, can morph from titanium spider into his ugly old android self. And with NASA and America's favorite horror writer in his steel-plated back pocket, he's got a leg -- or eight -- up on his true mission: destroy the Destroyer.

This time, failure is not an option.

352 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published October 1, 2001

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

[Colin Hopper · Rating 5 out of 5]

Remo and Chiun meet an old foe

Mr Gordon’s is back, NASA has a friend, Chiun and Remo have an adventure. Several old foes appear in this outing, and more stature and fun occurs.

[Eddie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I know a lot of fans do not like the later ones as much, I know I read some. Not this one with the friend, Mr Gordons. Just a fine adventure.

[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. Mr. Gordons is back. It has been several years since he last plagued CURE and the duo but he is back with a vengeance, literally. NASA has created a new machine for exploring alien worlds but it has been hijacked and is killing people in southern Florida. Recommended

[Ralph · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quick fun read. Remo and Chiun go up against NASA and android Mr Gordons in this one. Along the way both O.J. Simpson and Stephen King get the Destroyer treatment. One of the better later books in the series.