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Sapir, Richard Ben

(1936-1987) US author who published some borderline fantasy as by Richard Ben and, as Richard Sapir and in collaboration with Warren B Murphy, large parts of the Destroyer series of spoof thrillers featuring the Doc Savage-like adventures of Remo Williams, a White Superhero (and avatar of Shiva the Destroyer) trained in the paranormal combat arts of Sinanju. The Assassin's Handbook (coll 1982; rev vt Inside Sinanju 1985) as by Sapir and Murphy (in fact by Will Murray) is an amused (and amusing) companion to the sequence. Sapir is of sf interest in his own right mainly for The Far Arena (1978), a Sleeper-Awakes tale in which a Roman gladiator, having offended the Emperor Domitian, is cast upon an ice floe where he freezes until resuscitated in the twentieth century; his responses to the contemporary world are illuminatingly critical. In The Body (1983) the remains of Christ are apparently discovered; in Quest (1987) the Holy Grail is discovered and becomes the object of a violent modern-day quest. [JC]

see also: Cryonics; Suspended Animation.

Richard Ben Sapir

born New York: 27 July 1936

died New Hampshire: 27 January 1987

works

series

Destroyer (gaps in chronology mark titles Sapir did not contribute to)

• Destroyer #1: Created, the Destroyer (New York: Pinnacle Books, 1971) with Warren B Murphy [Destroyer: pb/]
• Destroyer #2: Death Check (New York: Pinnacle Books, 1972) with Warren B Murphy [Destroyer: pb/]
• Destroyer #3: Chinese Puzzle (New York: Pinnacle Books, 1972) with Warren B Murphy [Destroyer: pb/]
• Destroyer #4: Mafia Fix (New York: Pinnacle Books, 1972) with Warren B Murphy [Destroyer: pb/]
• Destroyer #5: Dr. Quake (New York: Pinnacle Books, 1972) with Warren B Murphy [Destroyer: pb/]
• Destroyer #6: Death Therapy (New York: Pinnacle Books, 1972) with Warren B Murphy [Destroyer: pb/]
• Destroyer #7: Union Bust (New York: Pinnacle Books, 1973) with Warren B Murphy [Destroyer: pb/]
• Destroyer #9: Murder's Shield (New York: Pinnacle Books, 1973) with Warren B Murphy [Destroyer: pb/Hector Garrido]
• Destroyer #10: Terror Squad (New York: Pinnacle Books, 1973) with Warren B Murphy [Destroyer: pb/]
• Destroyer #11: Kill or CURE (New York: Pinnacle Books, 1973) with Warren B Murphy [Destroyer: pb/]
• Destroyer #12: Slave Safari (New York: Pinnacle Books, 1973) with Warren B Murphy [Destroyer: pb/]
• Destroyer #13: Acid Rock (New York: Pinnacle Books, 1973) with Warren B Murphy [Destroyer: pb/]
• Destroyer #14: Judgment Day (New York: Pinnacle Books, 1974) with Warren B Murphy [Destroyer: pb/]
• Destroyer #15: Murder Ward (New York: Pinnacle Books, 1974) with Warren B Murphy [Destroyer: pb/Hector Garrido]
• Destroyer #16: Oil Slick (New York: Pinnacle Books, 1974) with Warren B Murphy [Destroyer: pb/]
• Destroyer #17: Last War Dance (New York: Pinnacle Books, 1974) with Warren B Murphy [Destroyer: pb/]
• Destroyer #18: Funny Money (New York: Pinnacle Books, 1975) with Warren B Murphy [Destroyer: pb/Hector Garrido]
• Destroyer #19: Holy Terror (New York: Pinnacle Books, 1975) with Warren B Murphy [Destroyer: pb/]
• Destroyer #20: Assassin's Play-off (New York: Pinnacle Books, 1975) with Warren B Murphy [Destroyer: pb/Hector Garrido]
• Destroyer #21: Deadly Seeds (New York: Pinnacle Books, 1975) with Warren B Murphy [Destroyer: pb/Hector Garrido]
• Destroyer #22: Brain Drain (New York: Pinnacle Books, 1976) with Warren B Murphy [Destroyer: pb/Hector Garrido]
• Destroyer #23: Child's Play (New York: Pinnacle Books, 1976) with Warren B Murphy [Destroyer: pb/Hector Garrido]
• Destroyer #24: King's Curse (New York: Pinnacle Books, 1976) with Warren B Murphy [Destroyer: pb/Hector Garrido]
• Destroyer #29: The Final Death (New York: Pinnacle Books, 1977) with Ric Meyers (anonymous) and Warren B Murphy [Destroyer: pb/Hector Garrido]
• Destroyer #48: Profit Motive (New York: Pinnacle Books, 1982) with Warren B Murphy [Destroyer: pb/Hector Garrido]
• The Assassin's Handbook (New York: St Martin's Press, 1982) as by Warren Murphy and Richard Sapir, actually ghosted by Will Murray [coll: Destroyer: pb/]
  • Inside Sinanju (New York: Pinnacle Crossfire, 1985) as by Warren Murphy and Richard Sapir, actually ghosted by Will Murray [coll: rev vt of the above: Destroyer: pb/]
• Destroyer #52: Fool's Gold (New York: Pinnacle Books, 1983) with Warren B Murphy [Destroyer: pb/Hector Garrido]
• Destroyer #53: Time Trial (New York: Pinnacle Books, 1983) with Warren B Murphy [Destroyer: pb/Hector Garrido]
• Destroyer #54: Last Drop (New York: Pinnacle Books, 1983) with Warren B Murphy [Destroyer: pb/Hector Garrido]
• Destroyer #55: Master's Challenge (New York: Pinnacle Books, 1984) with Molly Cochran and Warren B Murphy [Destroyer: pb/]
• Destroyer #59: The Arms of Kali (New York: New American Library/Signet Books, 1984) with Warren B Murphy [Destroyer: pb/Hector Garrido]
• Destroyer #60: The End of the Game (New York: New American Library/Signet Books, 1985) with Warren B Murphy [Destroyer: pb/]
• Destroyer #61: Lords of the Earth (New York: New American Library/Signet Books, 1985) with Warren B Murphy [Destroyer: pb/Hector Garrido]
• Destroyer #62: The Seventh Stone (New York: New American Library/Signet Books, 1985) with Warren B Murphy [Destroyer: pb/]
• Destroyer #63: The Sky Is Falling (New York: New American Library/Signet Books, 1986) with Warren B Murphy [Destroyer: pb/]
• Destroyer #64: The Last Alchemist (New York: New American Library/Signet Books, 1986) with Warren B Murphy [Destroyer: pb/]
• Destroyer #65: Lost Yesterday (New York: New American Library/Signet Books, 1986) with Warren B Murphy [Destroyer: pb/]
• Destroyer #66: Sue Me (New York: New American Library/Signet Books, 1986) [Destroyer: pb/Hector Garrido]
• Destroyer #67: Look into My Eyes (New York: New American Library/Signet Books, 1987) [Destroyer: pb/]
• Destroyer #68: An Old-Fashioned War (New York: New American Library/Signet Books, 1987) [Destroyer: pb/]

individual titles (selected)

• The Far Arena (New York: Seaview Books, 1978) as Richard Ben Sapir [hb/]
• The Body (Garden City, New York: Doubleday and Company, 1983) as Richard Ben Sapir [hb/]
• Quest (New York: E P Dutton, 1987) as Richard Ben Sapir [hb/]

links

• Internet Speculative Fiction Database
• Picture Gallery

Entry from The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction (2011-current) edited by John Clute and David Langford.
Accessed 19:57 pm on 23 April 2024.
<https://sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/sapir_richard_ben>