Waste Not, Want Not

The Destroyer #130

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

When the South American country of Mayana discovers a brilliant new device that can bring relief to their poverty-stricken nation by turning actual trash into cash, Dr. Harold Smith, wary of this turn of events, sends Remo and Chiun to Mayana where they uncover a maniacal plan for world domination. Original.

352 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1998

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]

Garbage in garbage out

Remo and Chiun save the worlds leaders again, more satire, fun filled action, another great read. Recommended to old and new fans.

[Timo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as entertaining and hilarious I remembered this series to be, but still pretty good entertaining reading. And pretty good analyze of Russia and their mental state.

[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. There is a wondrous new way of disposing of garbage and the nation of Mayana is using it to become rich. Someone, however, is unhappy about that and is sinking trash ships heading there. With several world leaders planning on visiting, Remo is sent to check things out. Recommended