Slave Safari

The Destroyer #12

by Warren Murphy, Richard Sapir

Chiun knows a secret and he isn't even telling Remo, the Destroyer, whom he has taught all his skills and loves as a son, because America has committed a sin against him he cannot pardon. They are in Africa, where feuds that have smoldered over centuries are being resolved by death and massacre. But how many deaths? And why? The facts are bizarre. In a Baltimore cemetery a white woman of aristocratic birth, who had died as a slave in Africa many years ago, is supposed to lie buried. But it is not her body in the coffin - and that can spark an international incident. It's going to get hotter in Africa. America's future seems dark indeed - and only Remo, the Destroyer, can bring back the light.

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

148 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1973

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

[Mikepottz · Rating 3 out of 5]

In a country where cars were stripped clean faster than a piranha on a fat cow James heard a rumour of white women enslaved in Africa. He will enter this establishment and with a whip inflict pain and suffering turning a women into minced meat. James will take a spear through his chest and become mere fertiliser. An avenger is ready to take Africa back. Remo and Chiun are sent to this African country. They will both jump from a moving jeep after being captured by the army. They will take out the army search party leaving the bodies sleeping peacefully in their graves. Chiun will chop paper into confetti, the snow-like paper floating beautifully to the ground against the harsh desert surroundings. Chiun will wear a ninja outfit and Remo will smash a face and plunge a gun and its holster down a man's throat. Remo will hit a soldier with his finger tips over and over turning the skin, muscles and bone into oozy goo, a disgusting mess and then jump onto the face crunching and crushing the meat cheese. This is my least favourite in this series. Too much political bullshit and not enough of the destructive pair committing acts of violence. Way off but still love the chemistry between these two.

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

1st read back in the '70s - Chiun and Remo are sent to Africa to find affluent women abducted into forced prostitution.

[Todd Landrum · Rating 3 out of 5]

Again, light hearted vacation read and visiting something I used to enjoy --

The rape from #3 was hard to get past. The racism in this one is nearly as bad. Just the casual, condescending, take-it-for-granted tone of it is gross and it runs through the entire book. I suppose the redemption at the end is supposed to make it feel a little better, but it comes awfully late. And the titillating "black men are going to rape our white women" is just, jesus, I don't even know what to say about that.

Kind of amazing that Murphy will write a new intro to this 30 years later and not have anything to say about all of that.

Visiting with Remo and Chiun getting less and less interesting.

[Cheruv · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is more a 3.5 star read.
I have read it once before years ago, and it was interesting how much I remembered of the story.
The authors may not have been literary giants, but they knew how to write an entertaining yarn.

[Glen Engel-Cox · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Destroyer series always had an element of fantasy to it, what I’ve called in previous books the superhero element. But in this book, that element turns into more straight fantasy, as Chiun and Remo engage in a Ruritanian adventure in a non-existent African nation. Part of the plot is about a prophecy of how the master from the East and the dead man from the West will come back and the tribe will once again be the leaders, and the specific nature of that is part of the fantasy. The other is a bit of demonstration of firewalking on Chiun and other characters’ part.

Because of their nature as men’s pulp novels, the amount of violence described isn’t surprising. There’s a couple of scenes in this one that were a lot more graphic than earlier: descriptions of violence against women in particular. I hope this is not going to be a trend for future books.

Finally, where these books really shine is in the depiction of the relationship between Remo and Chiun, and this one has some excellent banter and surprises, especially with regards to the reason why Chiun feels an obligation to fulfill an ancestor’s promise. It takes the whole novel to set up, but it’s worth the payoff.

[Gilbert Stack · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the things I like best about this series are the large number of legends of Sinanju that the authors relate. These are not just stories of past masters, but prophecies and other legends that derived out of the thousands of years of the masters interacting with the great powers of the world. Slave Safari offers one of these legends and part of the fun is in trying to figure out who the various pieces of the legend refer to in the story.

Overtop of this legend is a storyline having to do with a corrupt African government and an American trying to avenge all of those who were kidnapped into slavery by torturing the modern-day descendants of families who built their fortune on the slave trade. Throw into the mix a conflict between two differing tribal groups in the fictional African country and major money-driven power-politics in the U.S. and you have all the makings of a classic early Destroyer adventure.

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

[Brent White · Rating 3 out of 5]

First pool book of the season.
I have a stack of used books picked up at the Iliad from the neighborhood.
Pool books that I can read as I spin in the water on hot summer days.
This is one of a long series of books about Remo Williams.
12 in the series Remo has adventures in Africa.
Dated, formulaic, politically incorrect but perfect for summer wet work.

[Bobby H · Rating 4 out of 5]

Only my second Remo but I really enjoyed this one. I love the interaction between Remo and "Little Father."
Spoilers... Remember this was written in 1973 so if you are easily offended by racial language that would not find its way into modern books, this one is not for you.

[Pat · Rating 1 out of 5]

One of the least entertaining books in the series. The violence towards women in this one was just disturbing and in addition to the racism just unpleasant. Especially since the interaction between Remo and Chiun is still fun.

[Stelios · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.75 stars

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love these books.

They’re reasonably short, they’re well-written, and they have great plots that keep the story going. Well done, sir. Well done.

[Paz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Poco creíble, pero entretenido

[Michael Fortenberry · Rating 4 out of 5]

above average story

[Jeff J. · Rating 5 out of 5]

#12 in the Destroyer series. Remo battles human traffickers.

[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.

[George K. · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Σαφάρι σκλάβων", εκδόσεις ΒΙΠΕΡ.

Δωδέκατο βιβλίο της σειράς με ήρωα τον Εξολοθρευτή Ρέμο Ουίλιαμς, θα έλεγα ότι είναι το πιο αδύναμο μέχρι τώρα. Όχι ότι δεν πέρασα καλά όσο κράτησε η ανάγνωσή του (αλίμονο!), όμως συγκριτικά με τα προηγούμενα μου φάνηκε κάπως κουραστικό και άνευρο, με το χιούμορ να μην φτάνει τα καλά επίπεδα προηγούμενων βιβλίων.

Ο Ρέμο, καθώς και ο δάσκαλος του Σιναντζού και μέντορας του, Τσιουν, καλούνται να ταξιδέψουν στο Μπουσάτι, μια μικρή Αφρικανική χώρα και πρώην αποικία των Βρετανών, όπου ένα εμπόριο λευκής σαρκός έχει ανθίσει, με Αμερικανίδες της υψηλής κοινωνίας να απάγονται από την πατρίδα τους και να στέλνονται ως πόρνες στην πρωτεύουσα της Αφρικανικής αυτής χώρας. Οι Ρέμο και Τσιουν πρέπει να μάθουν ποιος κρύβεται πίσω από τις απαγωγές αυτές και γιατί τις πραγματοποιεί, αλλά και να κάνουν κάτι με τον αιμοσταγή δικτάτορα της χώρας και με τις φυλές που μάχονται μεταξύ τους.

Πλάκα ��ίχε και αυτό το βιβλίο, σίγουρα ευκολοδιάβαστο και χωρίς πολλές απαιτήσεις από το μυαλό του αναγνώστη, με πλοκή γεμάτη υπερβολές και γραφική βία, όπως και με σατιρική διάθεση απέναντι σε πολλά πράγματα (όπως συνήθως), όμως συνάντησα πιο χτυπητές αδυναμίες σε σχέση με άλλα βιβλία της σειράς που έχω διαβάσει. Πάντως η ώρα πέρασε σίγουρα ευχάριστα.

[Bryan457 · Rating 3 out of 5]

A former football player finds his roots in Africa and decides to get revenge on the enslavers of his ancestors. The African tribe of his heritage has an old contract with Sinanju and an unfulfilled legend that could mean the end of the Master.

A step down from the last few books. The humor was lacking and there was a lot of filler about other characters.

Favorite tidbits: There is a family of characters named Lippincott, whose wealth came from slave trading. Chiun is upset with the Watergate hearings because they preempt his soaps, so he spends his time overseeing Remo's exercise. Chiun says that Remo "moves like a duck."

Warning, sex and graphic gory violence.

[Patrick Hayes · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very different story for Remo and Chiun. For one thing, the second chapter does NOT begin with "His name was Remo and..." This was shocking to say the least! This time around someone is faking the deaths of wealthy white girls and sending them to Africa as slaves. Remo and Chiun have to find out who's behind this plot while also taking down Dada "Big Daddy" Obode, the new leader of the African nation this scheme is occurring in. There's even some history of Sinanju that I hadn't read before. This is a little more serious than most Destroyer books I've read, but the banter between master and student is right on par. A very worthwhile read from this series of books.

[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 team must stop a white slavery ring. Recommended

[Joshua · Rating 5 out of 5]

There is a bit of a serious side to this novel which is unusual for a Destoryer book. Slavery is an issue that is theme in the story. It still has humorous moments although there moments that are disturbing.

[Nathan Balyeat · Rating 2 out of 5]

One of many Remo Williams (The Destroyer) books. It's not tightly plotted or well written, but it's short and reasonably fun. The interaction between Master Chiun and Remo is amusing at least.

[Jim · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was one of the author's choice books. It's better than most, although knowing the current events of when it was published & having a low sense of humor make all the series fun.

[Charles · Rating 3 out of 5]

All the Destroyer books are fun reads.

[Joan · Rating 5 out of 5]

loved this one.i liked the happy ending. i wish all african leaders will read this and take note.

[Frank · Rating 3 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

[Michael Fortenberry]

average for the series

[Rob · Rating 5 out of 5]

Master of Sinanju says read this book. To learn why Sinanju is the sun.

[Ralph McEwen · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good story to listen to. I must agree with Chung though, "You read junk!". :)