The Last Temple

The Destroyer #27

by Warren Murphy, Richard Sapir

The bodies of two murdered Israelis have turned up, hacked to bits and the pieces arranged in a bloody swastika - and Remo and Chiun are on their way to meet the leaders of an Israeli doomsday group, Zeher Lahurban. In the event of Israel losing the war with the Arabs, secretly stored atom bombs will drop on Arab territory. But a group of ex-Nazis discover the plan, and see a way to destroy the Jewish nation once and for all - without any help from the Arabs. Remo and Chiun are up against fanatics with long memories, who are keeping Hitler's schemes alive in their twisted minds.

Genres: Thriller, Action, Fiction, Pulp, Martial Arts

128 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1977

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

[Bryan457 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Two Israelis have been murdered, their bodies dismembered and the pieces arranged in the form of a bloody swastika. Remo and Chiun are sent to find and fix the problem.

The Nazi hunting plot has been overused, but Remo and Chiun put their own twist on it that is of course much better than the others.

Favorite tidbits: Remo drops a drug dealer off the Eiffel Tower. The name of one of the soap operas Chiun watches is, “The Old and the Agitated.”

Warning, sex and graphic gory violence.

[Marko · Rating 3 out of 5]

More insightful than the standard Remo fare, with a story of war-torn Israel and the persecution of Jews.

[Gilbert Stack · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is by far the worst of the Destroyer novels thus far. The plot moves along at a pace slightly slower than cold molasses dripping off a table. It should have been captivating—Remo and Chiun are trying to stop Nazis from exploding one of Israel’s atomic weapons in Israel so that it will destroy the nation—but it just never worked. The only interesting facet of the story is that the head Nazi is superficially similar in appearance to Remo (thin with thick wrists) but the authors don’t utilize this similarity in any effective manner.

If you liked this review, you can find more at www.gilbertstack.com/reviews.

[Jeff J. · Rating 3 out of 5]

#27 in the Destroyer series. Remo & Chiun encounter Nazis planning to destroy Israel. Much chaos ensues.

[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. Hate crimes against Israelis cause an uproar on the international scene the team must stop the killers. Recommended

[Joshua · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this story. I regret that the author attempted to insert a political message into the story. I would rather keep politics out of my personal entertainment. Remo and Chiun are fun characters.

[DOUGLAS J BERRY · Rating 5 out of 5]

His name is Remo. And that's the biz.

Warren Murphy and Richard Sapir offering. Suitable for teens and adults. I have often wondered why the national socialists have not launched covert strikes? There used to be pro German groups all over the US?

[Jeff J. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Remo & Chiun travel to Israel in this adventure. It is a bit dated - Israel faces many threats today but leftover Nazis are pretty much obsolete. There were a couple of recurring gags I enjoyed - one about how King Herod was misunderstood, and another on how Norman Lear was ruining television.

[Christian · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the better Destroyer books, the main plot is ludicrous as usual but the banter between Remo and Chiun is one of the best I read so far in the series.