4/5/22

His name was Remo, and he was on fire.

Shock Value is a fairly standard sci-fi entry into the Destroyer series, with a typical Bond-Villain bad guy at the source of a global campaign of domination and destruction that only the House of Sinanju and CURE can defeat. The diabolical master plan of the enigmatic Abraxas comes at them sideways this time, as CURE director Harold Smith is abducted by a mysterious organization to use his computer expertise to help take over the world. As Remo and Chuin attempt to follow Smith's trail to the tropical island fortress - we're talking big-time Bond vibes here - Smith finds himself surrounded by brainwashed followers sipping pink drugged daiquiris during world domination boardroom meetings.

This Destroyer adventure is a straight-up action/drama affair, with a minimum of silliness to keep things moving as events ramp up to an emotional race-against-time showdown in the villain's lair. The narrative is somewhat top-heavy, as this is another instance where the main villain's identity isn't fully revealed until the last forty or so pages of the book. Since the story plays everything extremely close to the vest for the first three-quarter's of the book, the visual reveal of the deformed crime boss (essentially a mutilated torso strapped to a chair) occurs roughly thirty pages away from the end, closely preceded by an eight-page info-dump by the Abraxas' betrayed sidekick shortly before succumbing to Remo's advances. The scar-faced Circe (rapidly) becomes one of Remo's tragic romantic involvements, which helps elevate the intensity of the somewhat hokey climax.

A common reoccurring theme in the Destroyer universe, television plays a major role in the plans of the diabolical Abraxas, who uses subliminal messaging inserted in international broadcasts to brainwash the population into subservience. Combined with Chuin's fascination with cheesy soap operas and foreign weather forecasters, the series does not share a positive view of television as a whole. Considering the debacle that was the pilot for a Destroyer TV show, it's easy to understand why. ( )