Dragon Bones (Destroyer) [Mass Market Paperback]

Warren Murphy (Author), Richard Sapir (Author)

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Gold Eagle; First Edition edition (October 10, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0373632606
• ISBN-13: 978-0373632602
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,307,439 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Warren Murphy's first jobs in life were working on a pig farm, then as a movie usher, a sequin polisher, a public relations man for a brothel, a newspaper editor and a Democratic politician in Jersey City, New jersey.
"And then I went bad," he says, "and became a novelist."

That was back in the last century and now some 200 books and several threatened retirements later, he is still at it. And now he is moving full-bore into the world of electronic publishing. Murphy has collaborated with his sons in forming his own publishing company; Ballybunnion Books. The Ballybunnion banner was initially used for the release of special edition books on a limited basis. Now, having acquired the digital rights to the ever popular Destroyer series of adventure books. Murphy's Ballybunnion Books has taken on the arduous task of re-releasing the books digitally. Formatting errors from the previous releases are being corrected to give the readers what they deserve.

Murphy is probably best known for the Destroyer series, which he created with the late Dick Sapir, and which has produced 150 books with worldwide sales of over 50 million copies. The books also spurred a movie, "Remo Williams: The Adventure begins" --(a second movie is threatened to be in the works)-- and a TV pilot and more film and TV ripoffs than anyone could ever imagine.

But Murphy is no one trick pony. As St. james Guide to Mystery Writers said, "The breadth of Murphy's talent staggers the imagination. Comic detectives, caper novels, large suspense novels, sword and sorcery spy novels, and locked room mysteries, together with short stories, comic books, movies, and countless collaborations do not even begin to mark the parameters of his creative genius."

Some of the other work on Murphy's resume would include:
The Trace series of novels
The Digger Series of novels
The Razoni and Jackson series...
and... Leonardo's Law, Ceiling of Hell, Grandmaster and The Forever King (those last two written with Molly Cochran) and dozens of other works.

His books have won ten national awards including a pair of Edgars from the Mystery Writers of America and a handful of nominations, including two Shamus winners from the Private Eye Writers of America.

In Hollywood, he has worked on The Eiger Sanction with Clint Eastwood, on Lethal Weapon II, and his Trace series was the creative spark that led to the ABC TV series, Murphy's Law.

As St James Guide says, "Murphy is the professional's professional with work of consistently high quality" and Encyclopedia Mysteriosa called him "a mentor and teacher to a whole generation of crime and thriller writers."

He has served on the board of the Mystery Writers of America, and also has been a member of the Private Eye Writers of America, the International Association of Crime Writers, the American Crime Writers League, and the Screenwriters Guild.

Murphy is also a member of the Adams Roundtable, a New York writers' social group, among whose members are Mary Higgins Clark, Peter Straub, Susan Isaacs, Lawrence Block, Harlan Coben, Judith Kelman, Mickey Friedman, Dorothy Salisbury Davis, Justin Scott, Stanley Cohen and Whitley Strieber, and who occasionally produce mystery anthologies.

Murphy, a New Jersey native, now lives in Virginia. He has five children, most of whom, he says "wash up pretty well."

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Not with a bang, but a whimper, November 4, 2006

By 

Donna - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dragon Bones (Destroyer) (Mass Market Paperback)

I guess Somheil knew Gold Eagle had lost the contract to publish the Destroyer by the time he was writing this. He puts little effort into making this a Destroyer book. The main characters aren't there much. Most of the middle of the book is an long extended dinosaur chase.

It would be a sad end if it were the end. Fortunately, along with The New Destroyer, Tor is publishing The Best of the Destroyer. Readers who only know the Somheil Destroyers will be able to enjoy some of the earlier books when Warren Murphy and Richard Sapir were still writing them.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely pathetic, October 9, 2006

By 

Dale B - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dragon Bones (Destroyer) (Mass Market Paperback)

If you buy Destroyer to read about Remo and Chiun, then save your money. They barely appear in this book and when they do they are pale comparisons to the heroes some of us have read about for over 30 years. The author showed promise in some of his early books but when Gold Eagle lost the rights to continue publishing the book it seemed like the author lost complete interest in the books. Most of the book is about the bad guys and all their baggage. I don't buy these books for background info on soon to be dead characters. I buy them to read about Remo and Chiun. Thank goodness Tor publishing has taken over the publishing rights to The Destroyer and will be putting out the first edition of The New Destroyer, Guardian Angel, next May. They even have one of the creators of the series, Warren Murphy, as one of the writers of the new series. He will be co-writing with Jim Mullaney who was the ghost writer for some of the best Destroyer adventures in the series. Buy Dragon Bones to keep your collection complete if you must but there is no need to read it, it is awful. If you do read it, don't blame me for any sickness that comes later.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars I thought he'd at least TRY to go out with a good book, November 2, 2006

By 

Gerald Welch "The Last Witness" (Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dragon Bones (Destroyer) (Mass Market Paperback)

But the strings are showing; several parts of the books aren't edited; some are so blatantly a first draft that it shocks me. I really thought Tim would try to go out with a bang, but this is the dull thud of a mud puddle.

At least Warren Murphy and Jim Mullaney are taking over the series again to set things right with Tor Publishing next May.