Balance of Power
by Richard Sapir, Warren Murphy, and Molly Cochran
His name was Remo and he was buying dirt.

Thrown for a Loop

Remo and Chiun must focus on the dizzy series of events connecting the banana republic of Hispania, the Peaches of Mecca, and a luscious blonde named Gloria X. The missing like lies in the tequila-soaked brain of Barney Daniels, an ex-CIA agent who is spirited away to a mental hospital when he tips a few wild stories to the press.

Under the influence of an intoxicating woman, the groggy sot becomes a hired assassin and gets into some tight situations. Every cutthroat in New York City is plying his with drinks to find out what he knows, and Daniels is having a high time...until someone slips him a mickey.

It all comes back to his staggering memory in a dream: it's not the U.S. but the Russkies who are pouring missiles into the lush jungles of Hispania. Unless Remo and Chiun act fast, Washington, D.C. is likely to get blasted.

Review: This tenth anniversary book felt to me like Warren Murphy was trying to develop a new series based around Barney Daniels, ex-CIA agent. He took up too much space in the book. I didn't like his character, and I really resented the small roles that Remo and Chiun were delegated to. This is one of my least favorite novels in the series.

Balance of Power tips the scales at .