The Color of Fear

The Destroyer #99

by Warren Murphy, Richard Sapir

A Civil War reenactment becomes neither civil nor a reenactment. Strange transmissions of laser color are causing all kinds mayhem. Can it really be a menace when cartoon characters are involved? Meanwhile, France attacks it’s own amusement park with deadly results. Can these two events be linked? Uncle Sam Beasley seems to be at the center of it all, but Remo and Chiun must battle their own color phobias to find him. Again.

Genres: Fiction, Mystery

330 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 1, 1995

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

[Tom · Rating 3 out of 5]

After a second American Civil War kicks off between reenactors on a Virginia battlefield our plucky assassin duo become embroiled in an international incident with France over the cultural impact of a thinly disguised Euro Disney park, and also don't forget the giant hypnosis laser that the book is named after. I can't say I was expecting a parody of Michael Eisner to show up. Say what you will about the quality of the writing for the Destroyer series, but at least they manage to keep you guessing. Sure, it's all just zaniness for zaniness's sake, but you don't get this kind of inventiveness from Nick Carter and Mack Bolan very often, if at all.

[Greer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Always a great experience. The audios of these books are wonderful. Full cast.

[Wayne · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Destroyer is up against Uncle Sam Beasley again. This time civil war reenactors start up the second US civil war. While they are fighting, bright lights turn people mad, sad or down right angry. Remo and Chiun are affected as well. Meanwhile the French bomb Euro Beasley world which is on French soil. They also outlaw Americans in their country. All because a guy lost his T.V. remote control.

[Colin Hopper · Rating 5 out of 5]

Funny irreverent action filled

Another hilarious action filled, pun happy story, didn’t disappoint, great read. Highly recommended to fans of this genre, try it.

[Jeff J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

#99 in the Destroyer series. A mad genius deploys a mood-altering laser. 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. A dastardly villain that CURE has fought before returns with a scheme that is wild but has a very real chance of success. A weapon is in his hands that uses a super laser to generate hyper-color to control emotions. Depending on the shade and hue, it can make people happy or drive them to kill. Recommended

[Luigi · Rating 3 out of 5]

An easy read