A Pound of Prevention

The Destroyer #121

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

As organized crime lords converge on the East African nation of Luzuland for what appears to be an underworld summit, Dr. Harold Smith sends Remo to Africa to find out what is going on and to neutralize the situation, but his solution may prove to be more dangerous than the problem. Original.

352 pages, Paperback

First published September 22, 2000

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

[Jeffrey Caston]

Decent escapist reading. There isn't much suspense. You know by this point that Remo and Chiun are essentially unstoppable and the only real question is what the body count will be in their wake.

Still, it had some touching moments in the Masters of Sinanjus' relationship.

[hotsake (André Troesch)]

2.5/5
Too goofy to be one of the more serious stories but too serious to be one of the brainless fun ones, this one just fell a little flat.

[Colin Hopper]

It’s off to Africa

Really enjoyed this one, a satire on racism. Remo saves a Tibet’s future,and meets Chiun son in the process. Highly recommended.

[Jeff J.]

#121 in the Destroyer series. Remo & Chiun investigate an underworld summit. Much chaos ensues.

[Little Timmy]

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. Why are many of the biggest crime lords in the world converging on the African nation of Luzuland? This country in Africa is suddenly the crime Mecca and CURE is worried that it portends ill for that nation. Remo and Chiun are sent there but then Chiun disappears with a Luzu native. Recommended