Review: Created, The Destroyer (By Warren Murphy and Richards Sapir)

Created, The Destroyer
     Source: Goodreads

Length: 190 pages

My rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars

Remo Williams did everything by the book. As a New Jersey cop, he gave the job the dedication it needed. And he did not tarnish the cop name by killing the drug dealer the courts claimed he did. So when a strange man with a hook for a hand and in the guise of a monk gives him a way out from the chair, Remo takes it. The switch is pulled, Remo’s sentence is completed and his body is whirled out by the associates of the monk. A simple pill and a well placed phone call was all it took to bring Remo out of the chair alive while the world believed him to be dead.

But the people who saved his life are the very ones who framed him in the first place. CURE is the agency that America needs but cannot know of. It steps in to stop the crime sweeping the streets of The States even as law enforcement fails on a daily basis. But they need new tactics – they need a new weapon. And Remo is that weapon. Trained by Chiun, a master in the art of Sinanju, Remo becomes a deadly opponent for all those who threaten the Constitution.

The first in the Destroyer series, Created introduces America’s last weapon against its growing criminal activity.

My take:

I really wanted to give this book a 4 star rating, and that was before I even began reading it. The blurb made the entire story sound absolutely brilliant… and maybe that was why I was so disappointed with what it really was. By the time I was done, I could barely bring myself to give it a 3; hence the 2.5 star rating.

Let me begin by saying that the story is good. The entire idea and concept is pretty brilliant and I would definitely read more on it. But even that was not enough to make me think of this book as anything greater than just about okay. The writing style (which may work for some) was altogether too choppy. Things just kept jumping and skipping and the way it was written did not make it any easier to follow. The large number of characters only adds to the point. I don’t have a problem with many characters; but they do get annoying if they’re introduced in a way that makes you feel like they’ve been mentioned before and you have no idea where! That, in my opinion, made the abruptness even more unappealing.

Then there was the great problem with character development. I went through more than half the book with no idea whether I liked a character or not – including Remo himself. The main reason for this is the complete lack of association. Sure, I like reading about what is happening, but what about a little insight into how a character feels? I couldn’t see any emotion, or the intended lack of emotion either; and that made me feel like I was reading something, but nothing I could really care about.

While I could really warm up to the concept, this individual story was too confusing. A lot of things keep happening and you follow them as they happen; but you don’t know why half the stuff is happening. It was a bit of an extension to the lack of writing that is easy to associate with. I couldn’t associate with the characters or why anything really happened.

However, everything said and done, the Destroyer series seems like an interesting one. The concept is fun and has a good helping of graphic action and violence. I would definitely read more books in the series, albeit with lower expectations. If I don’t expect something brilliant, writing wise, I can’t be too disappointed I suppose! If you like violent, vigilante stories, then Created, The Destroyer is one you should pick up. It’s short and quick to read and its concept allows you to overlook the problems that hamper a little bit of the enjoyment. But if you have a problem with graphic violence and characters who work on a near complete lack of a conscience, you should definitely ignore this book.

– Rishika

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