The Last Monarch

The Destroyer #120

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

Thanks to Chiun's "emptying basin" technique, past U.S. presidents remember nothing about Cure, America's most secret defense organization. Now a former head of state, who was believed to have lost his mind, suddenly finds it. But before Remo and Chiun can redo their amnesia trick, he is kidnapped by bumbling eco-terrorists eager to sell him to a desert despot with a grudge

352 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published July 5, 2000

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

[hotsake (André Troesch)]

3/5
Very goofy, with Remo and Chuin barely having anything to do.

[Colin Hopper]

Another excellent adventure

Remo and Chiun save the Middle East and an ex President, fun, furious and full of satire. A great read.

[Jeff J.]

#120 in the Destroyer series. The president has been kidnapped. Much chaos ensues.

[Little Timmy]

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. It has long been the strategy of CURE to use a little known technique of Sinanju to make former Presidents forget about this ultra secret organization. Now, suddenly, one has remembered and calls Smith to say hello. Remo and Chiun must have another go at making him forget. Recommended