Never Say Die

Remo Williams Wasn't a natural-born killer...

How To Raise Perfect Killers. Forensic evidence in a couple of assassinations reveals a curious link between the killers: identical fingerprints and genetic code. Could it be twins? But when the next killer's traces show the same result, law enforcement authorities are baffled.

The bizarre problem is entrusted to CURE's Dr. Harold Smith, and he puts Remo and Chiun on a trail leading back decades to a literal dead end.

Now it's up to the Master of Sinanju and his disciple to sort out the pieces - a long-dead killer and a shadowy global security corporation - before a deadly kind of immortality is visited upon them.

My comments before reading the book: Cripes - "Wasn't a natural born killer?" Actually, Remo WAS a natural born killer. Chiun brought him beyond that. "Could it be twins?" Er, how about the SAME person? Even the cover text is getting LAME. Puts Remo and Chiun on the trail? Now they investigate, not assassinate?! "Now it's up to the Master of Sinanju and his disciple" - Disciple?! What crap is that - Remo is not and has never been a disciple. This book will truly suck. Big time.

My comments while reading the book: Well, I actually had a positive outlook.  Hope at least. Then I read the first few pages.  It's not as bad as #108 (Can anything be that bad?) Forget it. I swear the writer had a book of cliches next to him and used them all.  And stresses them! Arrrgh. Remo's got the IQ of the Oxford staff - can you imagine REMO having a discussion on genetics? How about Smith relying on Remo's deductions?

We're back to Remo hearing tendons creak in order to dodge bullets - what happened to him being able to see/sense them? In the earlier books, the inner city punks were, well, fun.  The ones in this book are not.   Hell, when Remo disarms one, he pins the kid's hand to a tree with a knife.   Come on -  it's much more enjoyable when Remo drives the punks hand into the tree! Picture the punk explaining that to the cops!

Remo and Chiun sleep on the hotel beds. Chiun - sleep on a bed!? Chiun travels with ONE steamer trunk. Smith tells him to take it (Smith hates those trunks.)  True, there is better dialogue between Remo and Chiun than in the last couple of books, but not on a par with any other previous books. The author also penned 88 - The Ultimate Death, an OK entry in the series.

My biggest complaint is Remo as a character.  He's a detective with martial arts skills that hangs out with an eccentric old Korean and works for a secret government agency. He's not the affable killer we all know and like, the 70 watt bulb in a room full of 100 watts, the imperfect perfect killing machine. Hell, Shiva would totally ignore this dweeb. The electricity is simply gone.

Upon finishing this book I felt I had wasted my time. It was not enjoyable, there was no humor, no satire - nothing clever.  It was worse than the typical "Men's Adventure" novel. Hell, it was even sloppy! Night becomes day, quotes are in the wrong places, the grammar is poor - and those damn cliches!  Some dialogue is nothing but cliches!

Major Screw-Ups: Smith now works at the order of the President - not on his own. Cure is the president's private little problem solver.   Remo is allowed to eat meat!  There's an entire page with Chiun justifying them being able to eat meat!!! How a Sinanju trained body can tolerate  it, even thrive on it when needed! When Remo gets restless, he goes out looking for people to kill! Chiun is now the best assassin in a village of assassins.