"High atop a Los Angeles skyscraper, an office Christmas party turns into a deadly cage-match between a lone New York City cop and a gang of international terrorists. Every action fan knows it could only be the explosive big-screen blockbuster Die Hard. But before Bruce Willis blew away audiences as unstoppable hero John McClane, author Roderick Thorp knocked out thriller readers with the bestseller that started it all.
A dozen heavily armed terrorists have taken hostages, issued demands, and promised bloodshed all according to plan. But they haven't counted on a death-defying, one-man cavalry with no shoes, no backup, and no intention of going down easily. As hot-headed cops swarm outside, and cold-blooded killers wield machine guns and rocket launchers inside, the stage is set for the ultimate showdown between anti-hero and uber-villains. Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good fight to the death. Ho ho ho!"
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
