4/5/22

One of the sillier novels in the Destroyer series, the central plot revolves around a college professor's invention that enables a person to view their dreams on a television set. Villainy takes the form of both Organized Crime and Big Business, as Gangsters and TV Execs leave a wake of dead bodies behind them as they compete to acquire the "Dreamocizer" at any cost. All Remo wants is a normal life, but hopes of that quickly fade as he tries to keep up with multiple hit men. It's hard to fully grasp why such a device would inspire wholesale slaughter to possess it, but it's enough to get the story in motion, the majority of the book maintains the level of seriousness that such a setup deserves (ie. Not much).

The femme fatale in this one is Patti Shea, a notoriously busty and bitchy television journalist sent by her studio to get the Dreamocizer, but she's rather ineffectual and manages to do little more than provide eye candy and unsuccessfully try to drag Remo into some kinky sex. Then there is the hit man the studio sends to help Patti clean up: T.B. Donleavy, the (self-proclaimed) world's thirty-third greatest assassin. Donleavy prefers flashy assassinations that result in massive collateral damage, and is driven from one assignment to the next by the voices of his previous victims, who chant "Kill for us" in his mind. He manages to make a big impression (and a big mess) before finally running into Remo, and is definitely the most entertaining character out side of the Sinanju Duo themselves.

For fans of the series, Syndicate hit-man Arthur Grassione is on the lookout for Remo after past run-ins with the Destroyer have vastly depleted the Syndicate's workforce, and at one point he reference past instances of mysterious gangland deaths, directly linking this book to Union Bust (#7) and Summit Chase (#8). ( )