Survival Course

The Destroyer #82

by Warren Murphy (Series Creator), Richard Sapir (Series Creator), Will Murray

Air Force One is down in South America with no apparent survivors. Mr. Gordons—aka the Vice Prez—is in full rescue mode and leaves a swath of destruction all the way to the Aztec pyramids. China and Remo must use their Sinanju powers against this unstoppable force, rescue the president and keep the mission a secret from the world.ABOUT THE Sentenced to death for a crime he didn’t commit, ex-cop Remo Williams is rescued from the electric chair and recruited by a secret government organization as an assassin, targeting criminals who are beyond the law. Remo’s trainer is a curmudgeonly old Korean named Chiun, whose mastery of the terrifyingly powerful martial art of Sinanju makes him the deadliest man alive.The winning combination of action, humor, and mysticism has made the Destroyer one of the best-selling series of all time. With more than 150 books and over 50 million copies sold worldwide, the Destroyer has been praised by the LA Times as “flights of hilarious satire,” and gave birth to the mythology of the brash young Westerner taught by an ancient, inscrutable master.

Genres: Adventure

253 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published October 2, 1990

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

[Gilbert Stack · Rating 4 out of 5]

Airforce One is shot down over Mexico enroute to a conference on the drug trade in Columbia but the president survives the crash only to be captured by terrorists and that isn’t even the big trouble Remo and Chiun are facing in this novel. Because—as readers of Destroyer 72 (Sole Survivor) know—the villain, Mr. Gordons, escaped destruction by attaching himself to the president’s airplane and now he’s interested in the president, himself.

Gordons is a shape altering android programed to survive no matter what, and he has become fixated on the fact that the president is the most protected man on earth. This leads him to think that if he wants to be safe, he should stay very close to the president. So, terrorists, Mr. Gordon, and some drug kingpins are after the president and Remo and Chiun have to get to him first—all before America finds out that he’s gone and the intellectually challenged vice president steps up to take the next office.

Bush and Quale were never named in the novel (the series isn’t so discreet in later parodies), but Murphy is definitely having some fun at their expense. In addition to the humor, the action flows pretty quickly. Survival Course isn’t in the top echelon of Destroyer novels, but it is a lot of fun.

[Alan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rating 3.5

Entertaining entry in the series, surprisingly so tbh when it is a fairly straightforward story following Chiun & Remo hunting for the US president who has disappeared after a plane crash in Mexico.
Features the return of an old old adversary.

Fast paced, action oriented, not as humorous as usual. Still for a mid series title then a 4 star read when compared to other Destroyer novels. If compared to non series novels then a 3 star.

[Jeff J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

#82 in the Destroyer series. It’s Remo & Chiun to the rescue when Air Force One crashes. 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 ultra dangerous Mr. Gordons returns to cause trouble for CURE and the world at large. In this adventure, the President of the U.S. is shot down while over the jungle of Mexico. At this point Gordons seems to rescue him, disguised as the VP. Recommended