The End of the Beginning

The Destroyer #128

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

A secret crime-fighting organization called Cure chooses Remo Williams, a Newark beat cop, to become America's secret weapon against evil. But first, Remo is framed for murder and sentenced to death. After a fake execution, Remo is secretly handed over to an extremely put-out Korean killing machine named Chiun. Chiun, the reigning master of Sinanju, is in charge of Remo's training...and it is there that the adventures begin

Master's Line is a two-book story arc that revisits the early days of Remo Williams's training as Master of Sinanju -- fans will be drawn back to the rack for the exciting conclusion, Father to Son, in October 2002.

352 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published July 1, 2002

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

[Colin Hopper · Rating 5 out of 5]

Back to the beginning

Remo and Chiun, the back story retold. We finally learn more about Chiun and Remo and their relationship. Great to finally learn more about the beginning. Highly Recommended.

[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 a spectacular retelling of the first adventure, Created, The Destroyer, many holes are filled in the storyline and new interpretations are given to events. For fans of the series, this is really a dynamite book, if not one of the best. Recommended