Unnatural Selection

The Destroyer #131

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

Sexy -- and totally insane -- scientist Dr. Judith White returns with yet another plan for achieving world domination. She's putting her formula into a brand of bottled water that's all the rage in Manhattan's boardrooms and cocktail parties. When one of CURE's own falls prey to Dr. White's diabolical scheme, his secrets may give the doctor the extra bite she needs to eat The Destroyer for lunch.

352 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published April 1, 2003

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

[Karen Ford · Rating 4 out of 5]

Remo and Chuin face off against an old enemy thought dead - Dr. Judith White, a scientist intent on combining animal DNA with human to create a master race. Her diabolical plan involves taking over a bottled water facility and sending out tampered product that turns humans into cannibalistic creatures.

The story moves along, with a little less of the master-protege banter between Remo and Chuin as there usually is. The book does delve deeper into the psyche of their superior, Mr. Smith. There are a few sections that I thought were added to maybe add to the page count that concentrated on sidebar characters. Other than that, it was a good story and if a reader is familiar with the series, is very enjoyable.

[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. Another old enemy returns. The same Dr. White who tried to create a new species of tiger-people has come out with a special liquid she is secreting into a popular brand of bottled water, turning victims into carnivorous, ferocious animals. Remo and Chiun head to New York where she is wrecking the most damage. Recommended