#354 in our old book database. Not rated.

4/5/22

In Death Therapy, Remo and Chiun are launched into a race against time to find out who is auctioning off control of the U.S. government to the highest foreign bidder, and how they are influencing high-ranking government officials into acts of destructive suicide, eventually leading them to mental health facility run by yet another Femme Fatale.

My copy of Death Therapy includes a strange forward by Warren Murphy and Richard Sapir written in 1984, in which they make a vague apology about how not all of the kills in the book "deserve termination with extreme prejudice" (I assume because Remo kills a Navy frogman just following orders, oh my), and another vague reference to a recent television show stealing the idea in this book, the latter of which is weird considering that nothing in this novel's plot is overwhelmingly original or new.

Once again Nixon is assumed to still be president based on the time the book was written, but no contextual hints are dropped like in the previous novels. This could be due to them considering the longevity of the series now that it was becoming a solid series, but as I recall from later books in the series I have read, this does not remain the case.

Pretty standard poor-man's espionage story in this one, with a lone Bond-type villain threatening the security of America. Healthy doses of patriotic xenophobia scattered throughout, and a couple of underwhelming twists to keep the plot moving along.

HIS NAME WAS REMO: "HIS NAME WAS REMO and when he stepped up to the first tee of the Silver Creek Country Club in Miami Beach, he was mad."

THE BAD GUY: Just like Dr. Quake, the Bond-type villain behind the auctioning off of American powers is fronted by a ridiculously beautiful femme fatale (although this time just one) that rouses Remo's libido. The secret identity of the main heavy is predictable but not blatantly obvious, so I'll leave that name unspoiled in this review. The gorgeous patsy in this case is Dr. Lithia Forrester, head of the Human Awareness Laboratories (HAL, intentional?), a high-profile mental health facility that includes powerful government officials as its customer base. Using her feminine charms and psychiatric know-how, Dr. Forrester coordinates Manchurian Candidate styled acts of terrorism triggered by a Disney film song (like I said, not exactly a new concept). This falls right into another Destroyer series staple, highlighting progressive or new-age movements of the time period as absurd and-or exploitative, and raises one of the weird contradictions found in some of these earlier novels; the theme and tone of the book obviously leans towards a conservative readership, yet there are always one or two more liberal moments that strive to dispel stereotypes that are unflinchingly reinforced in other sections.

REMO & CURE: Remo starts this book disillusioned with his roll as American assassin (again), and threatens to quit CURE, but is pulled back in when Smith appeals to his compassion for the other innocent patriots killed because of their proximity to the criminal plot.

REMO & CHIUN: Chiun is dragged away from his soap operas to join Remo undercover at the Human Awareness Laboratories due to his crippling of a celebrity boxer in the hotel restaurant, and Chiun really gets into the group therapy interactions while Remo gets down to business. It's a warmer and more humanized Chiun that appears in this book, even though it is also the first time Chiun tells his racist story of how God made Koreans.

SINANJU Wisdom: "We are weaker than the buffalo and slower than the horse. Our nails are not so sharp as the lion's. But where we walk, we rule."

REMO’S LADIES: Sex plays a major role in Death Therapy, but the authors always manage to put a different twist on the sexy stuff. Dr. Lithia Forrester isn't much different from other Femme Fatales in the series in that she uses sex to manipulate others, except that she hypnotizes her "victims" to believe they actually had sex. Ironically, the main villain uses her sexual desires for them to manipulate the cuckolding dominatrix to do his bidding. On top of that, everyone involved in these sexual escapades makes it a point of accusing the other of not being "good in bed." Beyond all of that wackiness, Remo only has sex with Forrester (she's bad at it), although he also sexually interrogates Forrester's hot secretary.

BODY COUNT: Remo only racks up 7 kills in Death Therapy: 3 special forces assassins on a golf course, a General killed in his sleep, one unfortunate Navy frogman, and our two main baddies.

Chiun only gets 3 confirmed kills this time, as he takes out three FBI agents foolish enough to interrupt his soap operas.

Once again, the vague apology in the forward seems to be for having Remo kill U.S. military and government agents who are used by the main villain yet not complicit in the plot, but it's a weird thing to apologize for when you are writing about a professional assassin and international espionage. Whether it's actual writer's remorse or an attempt to answer complaints from a growing conservative readership is beyond me, but I find it interesting.

Overall, Death Sentence is a very standard Destroyer novel, and signals that the series is settling down into a soon to be familiar pattern. ( )

Another "solid" Remo Williams adventure. If you've liked the preceding books you'll like this one. I don't feel like there is as much action in this one as the others but the investigation aspect is pretty solid. This one may even be less racist than some of the others so that's a plus. But if you're reading these, you're probably not too concerned about that sort of stuff.

4 stars. ( )

Sixth in the Destroyer series. The book opens with a great scheme that Remo must thwart: someone has put the United States government up for sale. (As if it wasn't already.) How can they do this? Simple: someone is essentially mind-controlling top government officials and military officers and can guarantee that they will behave in certain ways. Remo eventually figures out that all the government officials have been undergoing therapy at the same Maryland clinic, including hypnosis by the same sexy female doctor. Remo and Chiun infiltrate the clinic (Chiun's interactions with his fellow "patients" are hilarious), and the psychotherapy industry is soundly skewered.

The execution of the book was a little on the forgettable side. There's nothing wrong with it, it's still entertaining, but it's just not one of the best Destroyers. There are some fun moments, so I don't recommend skipping it if you're a fan of the series.

Review copyright 2008 J. Andrew Byers ( )