Remo: The Adventure Begins...

The Destroyer #Alternate #1

by Warren Murphy (Series Creator), Richard Sapir (Series Creator), Christopher Wood

It Was Going to Take a Dead Man to Save the Country

He was the toughest cop in Brooklyn. Until he woke up one morning to see his own name in the obit headlines-and a new face in the mirror. The face came with a new name, a new I.D., and a new job.

Remo Williams was going to be the Eleventh Commandment: thou shalt not get away with it. And Chiun, a wispy little Korean who talked like a fortune cookie and fought like a martial arts master, was going to show him how. Just in time to save a beautiful bombshell of an Army major-not to mention America-from a death merchant's dream of destruction....

Novelization of the screenplay for the eponymous movie.

Genres: Fiction, Thriller, Adventure

253 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published October 1, 1985

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

[John Grace · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent novelization where Murphy & Sapir make a readable novel out of the disappointing movie's very average screenplay. Despite the rebooted movie continuity of Remo's origin, it is superior to the first series novel Created, The Destroyer.

[S. Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the novelization of the screen adaptation of the Destroyer novel series by Warren Murphy and Richard Sapir. Remo: The Adventure Begins is an odd entry into the realm of film novelizations, as it was written by the authors of the original series, but is an adaptation of a film not adapted from any previous Destroyer novels, but a new origin story that reboots (well before Rebooting was really a thing) the Destroyer universe for the screen, a full two degrees of separation for fans of the Destroyer series. I'm unsure of how much of the screenplay was created or suggested by Murphy and Sapir, so it's hard to tell how much material is actually "adapted" to the novel from the screen, and how much originated with the writing of the novelization. On a side note, I also don't know why the film adaptation was called Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins, but the novelization is just called Remo: The Adventure Begins. Confused yet? Sorry about that.

Anyway, the upshot to Murphy and Sapir writing the novelization of the film is that the translation from screen to novel smooths over some of the major differences between the original books and films that are based solely on narrative style or low-budget special effects limitations, so the novelization of Remo feels much more like the original Destroyer novels than Remo the movie actually did. This also means if you saw the movie but never read the books, odds are you'll enjoy the novelization more than the film.

[Dan Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have a soft spot in my heart for the movie version of The Destroyer, but after reading a number of books in the series I can see why fans don't love it the way I do. This tie-in novel, based on the script but written by series creators Warren Murphy and Richard Sapir, greatly improves upon the finished film by adding depth and character (not to mention repairing some plot holes) and making the whole thing... well, more like a real Destroyer novel.

[Steve · Rating 3 out of 5]

This novelization of the motion picture based on the novels in a long paperback series called The Destroyer is a hoot. It's classic pulp action with a lot more detail into the hero's origin story than I'm used to seeing. It's also built on the entirely 80s idea that democracy can only be saved by having a super-secret organization that works way outside the law - in this case, though, that organization consists of only three men, one of whom is actually recruited in this book.

It's all ridiculous, and the bad guys include a weapons manufacturer and the army general who enables him. Title character Remo studies under Korean master of Sinanju - the art from which all martial arts proceed, or perhaps attempt to imitate - Chiun who in between falling for American soap operas, teaches the American how to dive under earth or move at great speeds across impossible obstacles. These powers come in handy eventually.

I've never seen the movie, nor have I read the original books. I may never revisit this character again, but this was a fine way to pass a few hours.

[N. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lordy, that was bad. But I was in the mood for something stupid and pulp fictiony and it certainly fit the bill.

[Duffy Laudick · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good novelization with some additional info that isn't in the movie. It is a bit sexist at times, but it is a product of its times.

[Bryan457 · Rating 3 out of 5]

This retells the story of Remo's recruitment and early training. It throws in a different first mission involving a corrupt defense contractor selling shoddy weapons and worthless defense programs to the military.

A better origin book than the original Destroyer #1. It's too bad they couldn't have found a worthy villain. The interaction between Remo and Chiun, and Remo's wisecracking humor are in place.

[J. Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yes, believe it or not I HAVE read a "men's adventure" series. But The Destroyer wasn't like the rest of them. Sure, it had plenty of fights, and Remo got all the babes, but it also had Chiun, the Master of Sinanju, sun source of all martial arts. His pithy witticisms rival Lazarus Long's easily.

The quality of the writing, at least for the first 70 books or so before it got handed off to ghost writers, is several steps above the rest, as well. Give them a try!

[Lynda · Rating 2 out of 5]

Based on the screenplay. Not as good as the series' books.