Synopsis
Traveling to Los Angeles for Christmas, Joe Leland, a veteran cop and former war hero, stumbles upon a sensational terrorist crime in progress and is forced to quickly make hard life or death decisions
"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
Review
A ferocious, bloody, raging book so single-mindedly brilliant in concept and execution it should be read at a single sitting. -- Los Angeles Times "Los Angeles Times"
Keeps us in a state of almost unequaled
suspense and excitement! -- The New Yorker "The New Yorker"
Novel That Inspired 'Die Hard' Returns to Print After 20 Years
Roderick Thorp's "Nothing Lasts Forever" was adapted into the iconic franchise's first film.
Die Hard has returned, and not just to movie theaters. The book that inspired the original film is back in print after 20 years.Late author Roderick Thorp's Nothing Lasts Forever is being released in trade paperback and ebook by Graymalkin Media to mark the 25th anniversary of its original publication.
The book was adapted into 1988's Die Hard. But before Bruce Willis brought New York cop John McClane to life, he was an idea scrawled in Thorp's notebook. (The cop is named Joe Leland in the novel.)
The ebook includes copies of Thorp's notes, the first time they have been published. He wrote them while living in Laurel Canyon, his house overlooking a high-rise building on the Wilshire Corridor. (That building became the inspiration for the one taken over by terrorists in the book.)
"Just as there are no flashbacks, there are no shifts in point of view. Everything is told -- discovered -- from Leland's interior," Thorp wrote in his treatment for the novel.
Before Willis ultimately took the role, a number of other stars turned it down. The first to pass was Frank Sinatra, who played Joe Leland in The Detective (1968), based on Thorp's novel of the same name. Other stars who declined to play the now iconic role included Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone, Burt Reynolds, Richard Gere, Harrison Ford and Mel Gibson.
"Die Hard very closely follows the book, so reading Nothing Lasts Forever gives fans the chance to enjoy the thrill of the Die Hard story in more detail, experience the scenes that didn't make it into the film, and discover the novel's shocking ending," said Graymalkin Media Owner and CEO David Zindel.
The Hollywood Reporter, 2/23/2013 by Aaron Couch
About the Author
Roderick Thorp is the author of "The Detective", "Rainbow Drive", and"Nothing Lasts Forever", the basis for the movie "Die Hard". He has worked as a private detective and done extensive crime reporting, including a twenty-one-part series on cocaine traffic in Southern California, which was published in the "Los Angeles Herald Examiner". Thorp s other novels include "Into the Forest", " Dionysus", "Slaves", "The Circle of Love", "Westfield", "Jenny and Barnum", "Devlin", and "River".
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Search results for Nothing Lasts Forever
Stock Image
Nothing Lasts Forever
Published by
W. W. Norton & Company, New York, NY, 1979
ISBN 10: 0393012492
ISBN 13: 9780393012491
Used
Hardcover
Seller: Lost Books, AUSTIN, TX, U.S.A.
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
188 p. Audience: General/trade. Very good in very good dust jacket. Seller Inventory # Alibris.0017837
Seller Image
Nothing Lasts Forever (DIE HARD)-- (SIGNED Plus MOVIE TIE-INS)
Published by
W. W. Norton & Company, Incorporated, New York, NY, U.S.A., 1979
ISBN 10: 0393012492
ISBN 13: 9780393012491
Used
Hardcover
First Edition
Signed
Seller: Daniel Montemarano, Newfield, NJ, U.S.A.
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Hard Cover. Condition: Near Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good +. 1st Edition/1st Printing (complete number line). SIGNED by author on a bookplate decal attached to half-title page (signature only). DJ clipped at bottom but not price clipped ($9.95 intact on top right). DJ has chip at spine top; mylar protected. Scarce 1st printing hardcover copy of book that was basis for the movie "Die Hard". Laid-in is a card SIGNED by ALAN RICKMAN (played 'Hans Gruber' in film---also laid-in is original New York Times obituary for Rickman); plus a laid-in B&W photo SIGNED by BRUCE WILLIS (played 'John McClaine). Also includes laid-in a card SIGNED by WILLIAM ALTHERTON (played Richard Thornburg Die Hard #1 & #2 films). Also includes laid-in a sheet SIGNED by STEVEN DE SOUZA (screenwriter for all 3 Die Hard films). Also laid-in is a card SIGNED by JOHN AMOS (played 'Maj. Grant' in Die Hard 2); another photo-card SIGNED by HART BOCHNER (played 'Harry Ellis'); and a B&W.photo SIGNED by ROBERT DAVI (played 'Big Johnson'. Laid-in is an album page SIGNED by KEVIN CHAMBERLAIN (played 'Charles Weiss' in Die Hard 2). Also comes with a DVD of original 'Die Hard' film. Unique signed copy for the Rod Thorpe-Die Hard fan or collector. No international orders for this item. Size: 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall. Signed by Author. Seller Inventory # 027941
Seller Image
NOTHING LASTS FOREVER
Published by
W.W. Norton & Company, New York, 1979
ISBN 10: 0393012492
ISBN 13: 9780393012491
Used
Hardcover
First Edition
Seller: Type Punch Matrix, Silver Spring, MD, U.S.A.
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Dust Jacket Condition: dj. First edition. First printing of Thorp's thriller, the tale of an off-duty policeman battling German terrorists in a Los Angeles office building ? and basis for the blockbuster holiday stalwart DIE HARD. Thorp's sequel to his 1966 novel THE DETECTIVE, continuing the gritty, noirish adventures of Joe Leland, played by Frank Sinatra in the 1968 adaptation of that first installment. In this sequel, set over a single 24-hour period in a single building, Thorp follows the traditional prescriptions for a dramatic tragedy, adhering to the unities of time, place, and action. Remarkably, obedience to the formal elements suggested by Aristotle and codified by 16th-century Italian dramatists is not the book's most enduring claim to fame: NOTHING LASTS FOREVER also had a film adaptation, in which Joe Leland was renamed John MacLane; and under that name, incarnated by Bruce Willis in DIE HARD, Thorp's character ascended to immortality in the pantheon of world-weary tough guys who have an excessively hard time during the holidays. Increasingly scarce. 8'' x 5.75''. Original half dark blue cloth with speckled red cloth boards. In original unclipped ($9.95) dust jacket, illustration by Charlie Geer. 188 pages. Minor edgwear, rubbing to jacket with some foxing on verso. Lower front flap corner clipped, but price intact (as common). Couple of small bumps to corners of book. Overall, bright and sound. Near fine in a very good jacket. Seller Inventory # 55166
Stock Image
Nothing Lasts Forever
Published by
Norton & Company, Incorporated, W. W., 1979, 1979
ISBN 10: 0393012492
ISBN 13: 9780393012491
Used
Hardcover
Seller: Tacoma Book Center, Tacoma, WA, U.S.A.
Seller rating 4 out of 5 stars
Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Dustjacket included. Later Edition. ISBN 0393012492 . Hardback. Second printing of the First Edition with descending number line going down to #2 right below the First Edition statement on the copyright page. Book is same size and format as the First Edition. Book is in Very Good to Near Fine condition, a tight bright attractive copy with no markings to the book, having been well protected by the dustjacket over the years. Dustjacket is in Very Good plus condition with slight edgewear. $ 9.95 original price is present and unclipped on front dustjacket flap. The dustjacket has been placed in a Brodart protective cover by us to protect it and it looks much better than described. . This does not affect the dustjacket in any way, as all taping is done on the outside of the protector. Basis for the movie Die-Hard . No Signature. Seller Inventory # 215174