Identity Crisis

The Destroyer #97

by Warren Murphy (Series Creator), Richard Sapir (Series Creator), Will Murray

Learning that Harold Smith might be his biological father, Remo Williams rebels against the doctor, who does not want his son to remain with CURE, until an archenemy decides to use the strained relationship to his advantage. Original.

Genres: Fiction, Mystery, Action

350 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

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

[Wayne · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of the more satirical Destroyers I have read. These pages drip with satire. A pretty decent story. Someone who looks like Lee Harvey Oswald guns for the President of the USA. Someone who looks like Jack Ruby guns for Oswald. The story unfolds with more lookalikes out for blood. I still prefer the early books in this series. This one was nice, though.

[hotsake (André Troesch) · Rating 3 out of 5]

WTF was this? There was barely a story, it was more like a bunch of zany crap thrown together. Don't get me wrong it was entertaining, but that doesn't necessarily make it good.

[Tom · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Destroyer again aims for a farce on a grand scale as the IRS raids the super-duper-secret base of the Remo "The Destroyer" Williams and his North Korean martial arts master. There's more personality in these later entries in the series, perhaps since Gold Eagle took over the publishing, although I need to check on the Signet published ones before making too broad a statement. The original few entries in the series had a mean-spirited streak that is not entirely absent from these later installments: a bit more punching down in their satire than I would like to see, but these are a nice change of pace from the Poe-faced adventures of Mack Bolan that Gold Eagle was also churning out at the time.

[Jeff J. · Rating 5 out of 5]

#97 in the Destroyer series. Folcroft Sanitarium is raided by the IRS & DEA. 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. In what amounts to as a Part II from #96, CURE is still reeling from the trouble caused by Friend as agents from both the IRS and the DEA converge on Folcroft Sanitarium, the headquarters for CURE and wreck years of work by Smith. Recommended

[Daniel Farrell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quick read but great action.