Last War Dance

The Destroyer #17

by Warren Murphy, Richard Sapir

The rebels from the Revolutionary Indian Party plan on capturing the small midwestern town of Wounded Elk, intent on a final showdown against the white man. But only CURE knows that just outside the city limits is the Cassandra - the United States' most secret nuclear installation, an atomic doomsday machine big enough to blow up the world. Remo and Chiun are needed - to divert the Indian attack on the monument where the Cassandra is hidden. And to stop a ruthless KGB agent from finding the deadly weapon.

Genres: Fiction, Adventure, Thriller, Pulp, Action, Espionage, Mystery

123 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1974

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

[Patrick Hayes · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is probably the most non-PC book in this series I've read so far, but it was 1974 and the world was a much different place. I'm not excusing it, I'm just saying be prepared should you read this. The illustration on the first few editions of this book (which is wildly inaccurate of what the story holds)) should show you what you're in for.

In 1961 the US built a secret bunker for a nuclear doomsday weapon that would be used if the US lost a war. It was built on the site of a Native American massacre from the 1800's. It was hidden as a monument to those killed at that site. In the present day a group of forty people, claiming to be Native Americans (but are not) have decided to take over that site to further the wronged natives' plight. The "wronged natives" are not happy with these wannabes appropriating their past and acting like the worst of cliches. Remo and Chiun are dispatched to make sure the hidden doomsday weapon stays inactive. Complicating matters are the fake natives, the angry real Native Americans, the press willing to do anything for a story, a female writer who has penned the "true" tale of injustices inflicted on Native Americans, and the Russian general who was tasked to find this weapon over ten years ago and has now figured out its location.

There's a lot of the expected humor in this book, but it has not aged well. I did enjoy the book, though there were many times when I caught myself going back to reread a line of paragraph to be sure I had read what I thought I had read, and I had.

I enjoyed this book more so than previous books for it's now got the tone I was expecting of this series, but the jokes are cringe-worthy for modern readers.

[Elden · Rating 2 out of 5]

Probably the worst one in the series so far. I read it online so I don't know if it ends abruptly or it didn't all get into the ebook, but I feel like I can move onto the bext one anyways.

If you are reading the series like me you can probably skip this one and not worry.

[John Grace · Rating 3 out of 5]

A reminder that TEAM AMERICA: WORLD POLICE is more like a Destroyer novel than REMO WILLIAMS THE ADVENTURE BEGINS...

[Jeff J. · Rating 3 out of 5]

#17 in the Destroyer series. A Native American uprising exposes a secret nuclear missile installation. Much chaos ensues.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great!!

It’s hard to keep saying how entertaining these books are but I will. This was another entertaining read. The humor is awesome and the story was terrific. Highly recommend.

[Thomas Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Adequate but nothing special.

Okay but not special. All the recent books are pretty much the same. Good to kill time but don't take much brain power.

[Daniel · Rating 2 out of 5]

As may be given away by the title, Last War Dance is arguably the most racist of these books I've read, which is really saying something.

That it took almost a month to finish instead of a couple of days, tells how I felt about it. On the off chance you, dear reader, decide to dive into these as I did (which is going to be tricky now that the e-books have all been pulled from Amazon), this is one you can definitely skip.

There are a couple of good lines, all of which I've clipped as notes, should you wish to indulge.

[Balkron · Rating 3 out of 5]

My Rating Scale:
1 Star - Horrible book, It was so bad I stopped reading it. I have not read the whole book and wont
2 Star - Bad book, I forced myself to finish it and do NOT recommend. I can't believe I read it once
3 Star - Average book, Was entertaining but nothing special. No plans to ever re-read
4 Star - Good Book, Was a really good book and I would recommend. I am Likely to re-read this book
5 Star - GREAT book, A great story and well written. I can't wait for the next book. I Will Re-Read this one or more times.

Times Read: 1

One of the first series I read consistently. This series and the Executioner series are responsible for my love of reading and stories.

Characters - Looking back to my younger reading days, I loved Remo Williams and thought he was one of the coolest characters in history. I still think Remo is a good character. Unique in a number of ways even today.

Story - The stories are average and fairly typical. Bad guys going to kill or hurt, Remo is going to kill them first (no way he is going to die not with Chuin as his teacher). Not much in creativity but it really worked for me as a male teenager. I started learning Judo and Karate partly because of Remo.

Overall - I started reading these when I was 16. I enjoyed them up until about age 19. My tastes changed from Military intrigue to Fantasy / SciFi. I would recommend reading these especially for younger males.

NOTE: I am going to rate these all the books in this series the same. Some of the stories are a bit better or a bit worse but I can't find one that I would rate a 2 or 4.

[Gilbert Stack · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sometimes a Destroyer novel works because of the introduction of a fascinating problem. That’s the case in this book. Back in the early 1960s, the U.S. developed a doomsday nuclear weapon to frighten the Soviets out of launching a first strike. As long as the weapon’s location is secret, it deters the Soviets. If its location is ever revealed, however, there is the possibility that the Soviets could turn the weapon back on America destroying much of North America. A decade has passed and the weapon, hidden beneath a memorial marking a massacre of native Americans by the U.S. army, is in danger of being revealed due to protestors planning to destroy the memorial.

That’s the problem confronting CURE—how to deactivate the weapon without the Soviets ever figuring out that it is really there. To complicate matters, Remo and Chiun also have to deal with the protestors (a ridiculous parody that really didn’t work that well). Weaknesses aside, the eventual resolution of the problem was sheer genius.

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

[Bryan457 · Rating 3 out of 5]

In 1961, the U.S. developed and hid the perfect weapon. The Cassandra missle. Only one man knows its location. Russia has tried for years to find it. Now, over a decade later, a group of Indian activists have an uprising on the secret site. Remo and the weapon's designer are sent to keep everything from goin boom.

Favorite tidbits: Chiun supports third world peoples, except for browns, blacks, Latins, Chinese, Japanese, Thai, Filipino, Burmese, and Vietnamese. That leaves Koreans but the south Koreans are lazy, the Yalu are dirty, Pyong Yang is a whorehouse. Only Sinanju is acceptable and then only a small part of it. Remo says his name is George Armstrong Custer. When Remo can’t find his marshall’s badge he flashes a Twinkie wrapper.

Warning, sex and graphic gory violence.

[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. Remo and Chiun must face off against Indian protesters that are in danger. Recommended

[Grantimatter · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Destroyer novels are beyond star ratings. The racial politics in this one are bewilderingly complex - caricatures that, because they're caricatures, more closely represent real life than any reasonable "portrait" or "slice of life" could.

[Charles · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mine has an older cover

[Carl · Rating 2 out of 5]

Twas ok

[Joshua · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's another assassin story with Remo and Chiun. This is a Cold War story with a Russian villain. I enjoyed it.

[Frank · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this hack series faithfully for years. Now I hear a movie (another move) is in the works. Not a bad read, And emojis a sympath tic character

[Miralinda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Кассандра

[DOUGLAS J BERRY · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cassandra, Cassandra, who has the Cassandra?

Warren Murphy and Richard Sapir offering. Suitable for adults. A story of a lost doomsday weapon and the house of Sinanju.