The Prophet of Doom

The Destroyer #111

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

A rash of missing women in the American West has the police spooked. The only clues point to Prophetess Esther Seer-Clear and her Church of the Absolute and Incontrovertible Truth. The Church's large, fortified compound in the rural West is secure for good reason: most of its congregation is comprised of politicians, senators and high-powered executives, anxious to get a glimpse into the future. Remo and Chiun are sent in to investigate--and find the Church is a more horrible and dangerous place than they ever could have imagined.

Genres: Urban Fantasy, Martial Arts

360 pages, Audio CD

First published May 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

[hotsake (André Troesch) · Rating 3 out of 5]

This seemed more like a separate story that had the Destroyer story shoehorned into it. This wasn't bad but it was decidedly mediocre.

[Jeeves]

So warren Murphy grabbed everything he could out of the current days headlines. Presidential battles, crooked politicians, strange yellow dust making people crazy ( what was that stuff) it has it all.
The story over all was not the greatest but after over one hundred books it follows the form.

[Jeff J. · Rating 5 out of 5]

#111 in the Destroyer series. A mysterious cult attracts the attention of Remo and Chiun. 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. The church is called the Esther Clear Seer's Church of the Absolute and Incontrovertible Truth. Its site is the location for an amazing yellow smoke that curls about the area and seems to give inhalers a glimpse of the future. Then young women start disappearing around the area. One is the daughter of a Senator. Recommended

[Bryan457 · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoy these way more than I should. The ending was completely predictable.

Favorite bits - Spoofs on Zen and Gary, makers of specialty ice cream and washed up presidential wannabe Moss Monroe. Loved the completely predictable ending.

The Graphic Audio version I listened to had different voices for the different people and sound effects that were so loud they drowned out the person who was speaking at times. There was only one place where the abridgement was too abrupt and I noticed that something had been cut out.

[bluetyson]

Prophet Of Doom (Destroyer 111) (Destroyer , No 111) by Murphy & Sapir (1998)

[Colin Hopper · Rating 5 out of 5]

Politics, it’s a dirty world

Another thrilling instalment, Remo and Chiun battle the evil forces of politics, who are you going to vote for? Satire, un filled adventure.