Book Review: Union Bust by Richard Sapir and Warren Murphy
Quick recap: Remo Williams used to be a cop before he was framed for murder and “died” in the electric chair, only to find out he’d been recruited by the secret U.S. government agency CURE. He was trained in the deadly martial art/lifestyle Sinanju by its sole master, the ancient Korean known as Chiun. Now he acts as an assassin, protecting the Constitution by secretly killing America’s enemies in unconstitutional ways. He’s also the Destroyer, apparently the fulfillment of several (not entirely compatible) prophecies.
In this seventh installment, Dr. Smith, the head of CURE, has learned of the existence of a plot to merge all of America’s transportation unions into one “superunion” that will in effect control all shipping and commerce. A strike by this superunion would cripple America and the inevitable government backlash would put paid to the freedom of unions, which would also cripple America. Ordinary investigation methods have resulted in those who get too close being turned into flesh puddles, so the president of the United States has reluctantly authorized CURE to handle it.
To do this, Remo, currently under the name “Jones”, infiltrates a convention of the national Trucker’s Union, which is poised to elect a new union president, the dandyish Gene Jethro. He’s authorized to kill a bunch of union leaders and frame another for the deed if necessary, but Remo is having something of an attack of conscience and would rather not do that. He may not have much of a choice, or a chance, because the real enemy is someone he never expected.
By this volume, the authors had really hit their stride, fleshing out the relationship of Remo and Chiun as bickering constantly but the most important persons in each other’s life, as well as getting a better balance of comedy and action. It’s a turning point in the series, as Remo learns that monosodium glutamate is now a deadly poison to him by giving in to the temptation to eat cheap hamburgers. He realizes he’s never going to be “normal” again, never have a normal life even if he leaves his current job.
And we see the contrast between the face Dr. Smith presents to Remo and the president, and the sickness he feels inside at all the murder he has to cause in order to keep CURE, and thus America, safe.
But the big thing this volume has is that it’s the first appearance of Nuihc, Chiun’s nephew and his former student in Sinanju, who betrayed the village and crossed the line from amoral to actively evil. We don’t get his full story here, or exactly what his long-term plan is, but enough to establish Nuihc as someone that Remo is outmatched against…for now.
Unions are treated as generally a good thing in this book–quite a few of the union members have done bad/illegal things, but are noted as having won rights for American workers as a whole, and having to deal with far worse behavior from corporate bosses.
Content note: A lot of people die, some of whom definitely don’t deserve it. Some of them specifically killed by the “good guys” because they know too much. Extramarital sex. Sexism (all the union reps are men, and wives are lauded for their support but treated rather poorly.) Racism, especially in the form of outdated terms. Casual homophobia (there’s no actual gay people, but a constant denigration of them.) Chuin is frequently verbally abusive.
If you’re interested in the Destroyer series, this is a must-read due to introducing a major continuing villain. Thankfully, it’s also pretty good.
