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
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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!
Roderick Thorp is the bestselling author of The Detective, which was made into a film starring Frank Sinatra. Mr. Thorp worked as a private detective for nine years and did extensive crime reporting including a twenty-one-part series on cocaine traffic in southern California, which was published in the Los Angeles Herald Examiner. His other titles include Rainbow Drive and Devlin.
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Seller: Lost Books, AUSTIN, TX, U.S.A.
188 p. Audience: General/trade. Very good in very good dust jacket. Seller Inventory # Alibris.0017837
Seller: Daniel Montemarano, Newfield, NJ, U.S.A.
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: Type Punch Matrix, Silver Spring, MD, U.S.A.
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
Seller: Tacoma Book Center, Tacoma, WA, U.S.A.
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