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The Destroyer #45
Spoils of War
Remo and Chiun, agents of the secret organization, CURE, investigate a bogus preacher responsible for the disappearance of soldiers from American army bases
182 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1981
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
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
November 13, 2023
2.75/5
The story itself was fairly average, which was fine but Chuin and Remo seemed off in this one.
The story itself was fairly average, which was fine but Chuin and Remo seemed off in this one.
June 25, 2021
This was another weak book in the series. A charismatic minister is taking over army bases and turning the soldiers into his own army and no one can figure out what’s happening to the soldiers. No, that doesn’t make sense, and neither did this novel. Remo and Chiun come in to fix things, get attacked a few times, and finally figure out what’s going on. There’s really nothing to write home about here.
The only truly good thing about the novel is that Remo passes another phase of his Sinanju training, having a dream about dying. I didn’t think this boosted the story very much, but in the larger scheme of things as Remo advances toward being a master, it’s worth noting. I also wonder if Chiun’s former pupil, Nuich, passed this stage.
If you liked this review, you can find more at www.gilbertstack.com/reviews.
The only truly good thing about the novel is that Remo passes another phase of his Sinanju training, having a dream about dying. I didn’t think this boosted the story very much, but in the larger scheme of things as Remo advances toward being a master, it’s worth noting. I also wonder if Chiun’s former pupil, Nuich, passed this stage.
If you liked this review, you can find more at www.gilbertstack.com/reviews.
September 28, 2019
Rating 3
An improvement over the last few books in the series but still not very good.
The story passed the time and at least the characters didn’t act too much out of character it suddenly develop new and never before seen skills.
It is another one of the sequence where Remo has to face some legendary test or opponents to reach the next level of Sinanju, and whilst they are interesting it feels like there have been a lit of them already and this is only book 45.
Overall then an okay book which at least doesn’t feel like an intrusion from another series and is worth reading to complete the set.
An improvement over the last few books in the series but still not very good.
The story passed the time and at least the characters didn’t act too much out of character it suddenly develop new and never before seen skills.
It is another one of the sequence where Remo has to face some legendary test or opponents to reach the next level of Sinanju, and whilst they are interesting it feels like there have been a lit of them already and this is only book 45.
Overall then an okay book which at least doesn’t feel like an intrusion from another series and is worth reading to complete the set.
May 20, 2017
Not as strong as the previous story in the series, but still far better than the several books before these. The story has some leaps of logic that are never satisfactorily explained, but it is interesting enough to warrant a read-through. Remo and Chiun have enough to do as well and their silly skills get a good showing in the final battle.
November 17, 2021
#45 in the Destroyer series. Remo & Chiun face a brainwashed US Army. Much chaos ensues.
December 19, 2022
Not a great one, but not horrible. You can definitely tell that Sapir is missing from the writing of this one.
February 12, 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. Remo is sent to stop a revolution and solve the mystery of murdered army chaplains. Recommended
April 30, 2017
His name was Remo and he was flying like a captive god.
Remo and Chiun are tasked with investigating reports of erratic behavior and disappearing chaplains at military bases, only to discover a Senator's plan to install a foreign army on American soil with the help of a homicidal religious con-artist couple. The setup for this Destroyer novel takes a bit more suspension of disbelief than others; Senator Nooner's plans to take over America are sketchy at best, soldiers are turned into mindless zombies with some LSD concoction, and the name of the main femme fatale is Randy Nooner. Nothing to take too seriously here other than some more Shiva the Destroyer dream sequences, but plenty of fun to be had as Remo and Chiun take on a corrupted US Army.
Remo and Chiun are tasked with investigating reports of erratic behavior and disappearing chaplains at military bases, only to discover a Senator's plan to install a foreign army on American soil with the help of a homicidal religious con-artist couple. The setup for this Destroyer novel takes a bit more suspension of disbelief than others; Senator Nooner's plans to take over America are sketchy at best, soldiers are turned into mindless zombies with some LSD concoction, and the name of the main femme fatale is Randy Nooner. Nothing to take too seriously here other than some more Shiva the Destroyer dream sequences, but plenty of fun to be had as Remo and Chiun take on a corrupted US Army.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews