Unlike the majority of the books in the Destroyer series, this second entry finds Remo on a solo mission to protect American interests from... well, American Interests. And NAZIS!!!

Death Check sets up the intended tone of the series after Created, the Destroyer laid the foundation. Oddly enough, the second book takes place eight years after the first one, despite being published a year apart. A flashback (of sorts) demonstrating how the outgoing POTUS passes the knowledge to the incoming one establishes that Cure has been operating since JFK by eavesdropping on LBJ passing the torch onto Nixon; as with future books in the series, no names are given, only hints as to the true identity of political figures. Considering that JFK was assassinated in 1963, that places Death Check no later than 1971.

In Death Check, Remo Williams takes on the identity of Remo Pelham to investigate the death of a CURE agent at the government think tank Brewster Forum, where somebody appears to be gathering blackmail photos of the resident geniuses, potentially to obtain their plans on how to "Conquer the world." Remo's mission is to find out who is behind the blackmail attempt, and if all else fails, eliminate the think tank members. Complications arise from Remo having held himself at peak physical condition to the breaking point while waiting for the assignment, and from him falling for a think tank psychiatrist with a hidden agenda of her own. Unlike the first book in the series , Death Check is a straight up espionage story, albeit with a sardonic Destroyer twist.

I started reading the Destroyer series at eight or nine, when an Uncle I was visiting one summer told me to help myself to any of the books on his shelf if I was bored. He was not a good babysitter. Revisiting the series nearly four decades later, Death Check contains two mental images that have stayed with me since I started reading the series as a child; Remo increasing his body temperature to recover from an illness, and a man being castrated with a whip. It turns out the second memory was slightly faulty, as the castration was not performed with a whip, a whip just happened to be in use at the same time. Kids, am I right?

Death Check is a simple novel as far as setting and characters; the majority of the book takes place on the grounds of the small think tank community, which is populated with stereotypical too-smart-for-their-own-good intelligentsia. Speaking of stereotypes, some of the ones on display reflect 1970 mindsets that don't read as well from a new millennium vantage point, and might inspire some to label parts of the book as homophobic and misogynistic. But we are talking about a seventies men's adventure series, so we can't really pretend to be too surprised. Liberals are also a favorite target of the series, and the arrogant elitist director of the think tank fills that role in spades.

Outside of some dated sociopolitical attitudes, Death Check is a solid start to the series, and establishes many of what would become standard staples of the series. If I have one complaint, it's that the first of the Chapter Two "His name was Remo..." opening lines is a tad unwieldy:

"HIS NAME WAS REMO and the gymnasium was dark with only speckles of light coming from the ceiling-high windows where minute paint bubbles had burst shortly after workmen had applied the first layer of black."

Thankfully, they manage to tighten them in future novels.

THE BAD GUY: Remo's first government agent adversary is former Nazi Doctor Hans Frichtmann, who is utilizing his nymphomaniac daughter and knowledge of psychotropic mind control to acquire blackmail material. He does this while masquerading as a chess instructor, which provides a cat-and-mouse game with Remo, and is alluded to in the book's title. Frichtmann's motivation and background never strays too far way from being a Nazi (this guy REALLY doesn't like Jewish people), and it's a shame that Murphy and Sapir couldn't weave a little Project Paperclip origin into the works.

REMO & CURE: We're only two books in, so even though there is an eight year gap, Remo still sees his position with CURE as a captive agent, and contemplates "running" multiple times.

REMO & CHIUN: Chuin is almost entirely absent in Death Check, with the exception of an occasional flashback, Sinanju wisdom, and a couple of trips to Remo's mental "safe room." It seems as if the eight year gap between the two books was partially to set it up that Remo now only sees Chiun at occasional scheduled training sessions. Not yet the inseparable duo they become later in the series.

REMO’S LADIES: Only four women have any real interaction with Remo this go round, and the only one he sexes is the Nazi Doctor's nympho daughter, in a scene that gets rather uncomfortably rapey. His doesn't get around to sleeping with his romantic interest, who is unsurprisingly the only positive female character in the book. The other two are an obnoxious woman in a car at the think tank that Remo is unpleasant to, and another obnoxious woman that Remo shares a taxi with before destroying her luggage and stranding her in Manhattan because women, am I right guys?

BODY COUNT: Death Check's total body count comes in at 10, with 7 belonging to Remo. Highlights include an electric paint-mixing machine, some skydiving hi-jinks, and a rather unorthodox chess move. ( )

The second of the long-running Destroyer series; as with the first, I was warned to start reading the series with #3, but I read it anyway. No regrets about that, it's better than the first, but not as good as #3 and 4, which I've read as well by now.

Remo is sent on his own to investigate the strange doings at an ultra-secret US government think tank in rural Northern Virginia. The various scientists are quite a hoot and I feel as though I may have worked with several of them at various times.

Obviously Murphy and Sapir had not yet hit their stride with this one and found quite the right formula yet, but it's not bad. I would say that the recommendation to start with #3 is fair, as this one is relatively forgettable.

Review copyright 2008 J. Andrew Byers ( )

If the first book piqued your interest enough that you want to know more about the characters, you are now hooked. Enjoy their world. ( )