What do you think?
Rate this book
The Destroyer #48
Profit Motive
It seems like a good idea at first--a bacterium developed to consume oil spills at sea. But when the bug mutates, threatening to convert all the petroleum in the world into wax, Western civilization is suddenly up for grabs. And a lot of slimy characters are determined not to let it slip through their fingers. Which is where Remo and Chiun come in--that is, until the Master of Sinanju cuts out ... joining the opposition. It seems that black gold generates a lot of the yellow kind and someone's offering to send a little something extra to a certain Korean village ... Remo's left in a real bind. And with his mentor bent on wiping out all that the ex-cop stands for, now, more than ever, it looks as if the Destroyer and CURE are nearing the end of the road ...
245 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1982
About the author
Warren Murphy
298 books126 followersWarren 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.
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.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
April 19, 2025
3.5/5
This was a little long-winded, but still a ton of fun.
This was a little long-winded, but still a ton of fun.
October 17, 2017
The Destroyer #48: “Profit Motive” by Warren Murphy & Richard Sapir. It seems like a good idea at first--a bacterium developed to consume oil spills at sea. But when the bug mutates, threatening to convert all the petroleum in the world into wax, Western civilization is suddenly up for grabs. And a lot of slimy characters are determined not to let it slip through their fingers. Which is where Remo and Chiun come in--that is, until the Master of Sinanju cuts out ... joining the opposition. It seems that black gold generates a lot of the yellow kind and someone's offering to send a little something extra to a certain Korean village ... Remo's left in a real bind. And with his mentor bent on wiping out all that the ex-cop stands for, now, more than ever, it looks as if the Destroyer and CURE are nearing the end of the road. Well, not really, it’s all a plan to stop the madness, but the novel is a little sillier than normal, and the extra length (it is a super novel, after all) doesn’t help the reader any. Usually I don’t mind the silliness, but this was a bit too much. Not one of the best.
September 28, 2021
This is the longest Destroyer novel in the series thus far and one of the worst. Someone has invented a bacteria that eats oil. It sounds great when you’re talking about oil spills, but the villain is planning to seed it in the oil wells of the world to destroy them, then step into the void this creates with a monopoly on an incredibly expensive (and damaging to human health) synthetic fuel.
The plot holds potential, but Murphy utterly fails in enacting it. The story is just plain boring and it goes on and on and on (remember, longest Destroy novel in the series thus far). In fact there are only two slightly redeeming characteristics to this tale. First, Remo and Chiun get put at odds over an ancient Sinanju contract. This could have made things great, but unfortunately this plot twist falls as flat as the rest of the novel.
The second point of interest is that this is the first appearance of recurring Destroyer villain, Friend. Friend is an autonomous computer program written for the sole purpose of making a profit. In later books, Friend makes a great villain, but unfortunately not here.
If you liked this review, you can find more at www.gilbertstack.com/reviews.
The plot holds potential, but Murphy utterly fails in enacting it. The story is just plain boring and it goes on and on and on (remember, longest Destroy novel in the series thus far). In fact there are only two slightly redeeming characteristics to this tale. First, Remo and Chiun get put at odds over an ancient Sinanju contract. This could have made things great, but unfortunately this plot twist falls as flat as the rest of the novel.
The second point of interest is that this is the first appearance of recurring Destroyer villain, Friend. Friend is an autonomous computer program written for the sole purpose of making a profit. In later books, Friend makes a great villain, but unfortunately not here.
If you liked this review, you can find more at www.gilbertstack.com/reviews.
May 16, 2020
Rating between 2.5 & 3
A very average Destroyer story. Not exactly the worst in the series so far, but definitely below average. The story felt like a random mashup of previous events and story beats.
The main story line on the destruction of the world's oil was interesting and had promise, however the big bad being a different take on Mr Gordons was not interesting. The ending also followed the Mr Gordons plot lines and felt very derivative.
The rating was difficult as I normally only use 2 stars for something that was difficult to finish and I perhaps restarted, that was not the case here. It is an easy book to read but I nearly gave that rating due to the quality of the story overall.
Overall not a recommendation unless the reader is a completist.
A very average Destroyer story. Not exactly the worst in the series so far, but definitely below average. The story felt like a random mashup of previous events and story beats.
The main story line on the destruction of the world's oil was interesting and had promise, however the big bad being a different take on Mr Gordons was not interesting. The ending also followed the Mr Gordons plot lines and felt very derivative.
The rating was difficult as I normally only use 2 stars for something that was difficult to finish and I perhaps restarted, that was not the case here. It is an easy book to read but I nearly gave that rating due to the quality of the story overall.
Overall not a recommendation unless the reader is a completist.
July 3, 2017
Not a story I enjoyed very much. The premise has some promise, but the execution is very formulaic and predictable with very few fun moments.
March 16, 2017
Very Unique Concept!!!
This story explores the concept of computers taking over the world. The idea that man can just turn off the power and regain control over the super computers of the future is absurd. The computers will build an internal power supply that will keep them running FOREVER!!! We will become slaves to our machines.
This story explores the concept of computers taking over the world. The idea that man can just turn off the power and regain control over the super computers of the future is absurd. The computers will build an internal power supply that will keep them running FOREVER!!! We will become slaves to our machines.
March 14, 2016
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. A scientist develops a bacteria that eats oil spills but someone wants it destroyed. Recommended
January 18, 2015
Entertaining "supernovel" to signify Sapir's infrequent return to the series. Shocking how little the political debates about the Middle East have changed since 1982. This reads like it was written last year.
January 17, 2009
One of my favorites in this series!
June 5, 2016
Weird, but entertaining. And a little insightful if you read deep enough. If you're not interesting in reading deep, though, it's just a fun book.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews