Review ~ Created, the Destroyer by Warren Murphy and Richard Sapir.

Title: Created, the Destroyer (#1).
Author: Warren Murphy and Richard Sapir.
Publisher: Sphere.
Genre: Action.
Publication Date: August 21, 2014.
Source: Review copy/Netgalley.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars.

Purchase: Amazon UK

Before Jack Reacher. Before Jason Bourne. Before Alex Cross. . . There was The Destroyer. One legendary hero. One epic series.

Remo Williams is a former police officer who was sentenced to death for a crime he didn’t commit and is now hours away from sitting in the electric chair. During his last rites Remo’s confessor gives him a black pill to bite down on exactly before he is electrocuted. Remo does as ordered but, instead of dying, he wakes up in an ambulance. He is still alive.

Remo has been recruited by CURE, a secret government organization set up to defend the country outside the law. He is their new assassin: The Destroyer.

I was completely sold on Created, the Destroyer just by the press release. Action books aren’t the main genre I read but I have a not-so-hidden and unexplainable love for fast-paced action novels, generally the shorter and cheesier the better. I’m happy to say that this book did not disappoint on that level at all. Created, the Destroyer was sharp, witty, with very entertaining action and overall, a whole lot of fun.

Remo Williams is about to face the electric chair – about to face his death for a crime he did not commit. The opening few chapters of this book were so captivating – in fact, probably the best I’ve read in the action genre – and set the tone brilliantly for the rest of the book. More than just being a fascinating start to the novel, its uncertainty and unpredictability was exhilarating and I was in no way about to put this book down and go to bed. I stayed up reading it, eager to carry on and discover more, and actually I didn’t stop reading the book until a couple of hours later, when I’d finished it. The plot was quick, a little far-fetched and written in a very addictive fashion.

I did love the fast pace of the book although I had my issues with it too. The chapters were short and snappy and I thought they did a great job at controlling the action and cutting out an overload of description which wasn’t needed for such an implausible concept. That the plot is difficult to believe is not a criticism at all – surely nobody expects this kind of stuff to happen often in everyday life. I loved how unlikely it was because it made it difficult to predict and a really edgy story, which adds to the over-the-top action movie feel that made it so amusing to read.

What I struggled with was that the pace of this book meant it was difficult for much character development. There were a lot of names mentioned in this book but for quite a few of them, names were all they felt like. I couldn’t really get a proper picture of them as people and I would have liked to have seen a bit more work on their characters. Remo’s character was the exception here – his character was built up well almost instantaneously and I loved seeing the progression in his persona throughout too – intrigued by how much his character might change and whether he’d gain acceptance of his newfound role or not. I especially liked reading his relationship with Chiun which I would have loved to see explored a little more.

As The Destroyer was originally published a good few decades ago and is therefore quite a bit older than me, some of the attitudes and conversations went a little over my head and I was more eager to read the fantastic action scenes the book brings. Regardless of that, Created, the Destroyer was still a completely satisfying read. I loved the dialogue and that I never knew what to expect from the story, and with there being over 140 more books to this series, I can’t wait to read more.




Review also posted on Goodreads | Amazon UK