New Releases by David Morrell

Ikoninen toimintasankari Rambo palaa kuvioihin hengästyttävän tiivistunnelmaisessa jatko-osassa! Vietnamin sodan veteraani John Rambo istuu vankilassa sovittaakseen tekonsa, kun tuttu komentaja tulee tarjoamaan vapautta. Tarjoukseen sisältyy kuitenkin ehto: Rambon on palattava vankileirille ja valokuvattava sinne jääneet jenkkisotilaat. Hänen ei tule pelastaa miehiä vaan ainoastaan selvittää, mitä heille on tapahtunut. Kostaminen on kiellettyä. Rambo tarttuu saamaansa oljenkorteen ja laskeutuu samaan, tappavan vaaralliseen helvettiin, josta on jo kertaalleen pelastunut. Pian mikään ei kuitenkaan pidättele häntä rikkomasta operaation ehtoja ja antautumasta taisteluun. Morrellin romaanista on filmatisoitu myös suursuosioon noussut elokuva \"Rambo - taistelija 2\" (1985). Rambo-sarja kuvaa Vietnamin sodassa sissiksi oppineen John Rambon vaiheita – räjähtävää toimintaa ja nokkelia juonenkäänteitä säästelemättä. David Morrell (s. 1943) on kanadalaissyntyinen kirjailija, jonka kirjoja on käännetty 30 kielelle. Hänet tunnetaan erityisesti trillereistään, joissa seikkailee sotaveteraani John Rambo.

Give me my brother, or I’ll give you your fiancée’s dismembered corpse… In this short story from the thrilling anthology MatchUp, bestselling authors Gayle Lynds and David Morrell—along with their popular series characters Liz Sansborough and Rambo—team up for the first time ever.

FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER ... Lee Child''s Jack Reacher will team up with Kathy Reichs'' Temperance Brennan to unmask a cunning killer. Val McDermid''s Tony Hill and Carol Jordan work with Peter James''s Roy Grace on a very unusual murder case. These are just some of the never-before-seen pairings in Match Up - a brand new collaboration between the world''s famous crime writers. Edited be international bestseller Lee Child, this exclusive page-turning anthology promises the same thrills and chills brought to you by the previous collection, Face Off. Read on for the full list of author and character pairings: Diana Gabaldon''s Claire Randall Fraser + Steve Berry''s Cotton Malone Lisa Scottoline''s Bennie Rosato + Nelson DeMille''s John Corey Sandra Brown''s Lee Coburn + C.J. Box''s Joe Pickett Kathy Reichs''s Temperance Brennan + Lee Child''s Jack Reacher Val McDermid''s Tony Hill + Peter James''s Roy Grace Charlaine Harris''s Harper Connelly + Andrew Gross''s Ty Hauck Gayle Lynds''s Liz Sansborough + David Morrell''s Rambo Karin Slaughter''s Jeffrey Tolliver + Michael Koryta''s Lincoln Perry Lara Adrian''s Lucan Thorne + Christopher Rice J.A. Jance''s Ali Reynolds + Eric Van Lustbader''s Bravo Shaw Lisa Jackson''s Regan Pescoli + John Sandford''s Lucas Davenport

Experience a heart-pumping and thrilling tale of suspense! Originally published in THRILLER (2006), edited by #1 New York Times bestselling author James Patterson. In this exciting Thriller Short, New York Times bestselling writer David Morrell revisits Saul, a character from his wildly popular thriller Brotherhood of the Rose. An unexplained attack on Saul’s village motivates him to reenter the fray. It’s also what motivated Morrell to revisit a character he’d thought long gone. But what would a Brotherhood story be without the Abelard sanction? Don’t miss any of these exciting Thriller Shorts: James Penney’s New Identity by Lee Child Operation Northwoods by James Grippando Epitaph by J. A. Konrath The Face in the Window by Heather Graham Kowalski’s in Love by James Rollins The Hunt for Dmitri by Gayle Lynds Disfigured by Michael Palmer and Daniel Palmer The Abelard Sanction by David Morrell Falling by Chris Mooney Success of a Mission by Dennis Lynds The Portal by John Lescroart and M. J. Rose The Double Dealer by David Liss Dirty Weather by Gregg Hurwitz Spirit Walker by David Dun At the Drop of a Hat by Denise Hamilton The Other Side of the Mirror by Eric Van Lustbader Man Catch by Christopher Rice Goodnight, Sweet Mother by Alex Kava Sacrificial Lion by Grant Blackwood Interlude at Duane’s by F. Paul Wilson The Powder Monkey by Ted Bell Surviving Toronto by M. Diane Vogt Assassins by Christopher Reich The Athens Solution by Brad Thor Diplomatic Constraints by Raelynn Hillhouse Kill Zone by Robert Liparulo The Devils’ Due by Steve Berry The Tuesday Club by Katherine Neville Gone Fishing by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child

This “highly recommended” (Publishers Weekly, starred review) collection edited by New York Times bestselling author Lee Child pairs the beloved characters of twenty-two internationally bestselling writers in “a must-read for fans of the thriller genre” (The Real Book Spy). The incredible follow-up to FaceOff features twenty-two of the world’s bestselling and critically acclaimed thriller writers pairing their series characters in an eleven-story anthology curated by the International Thriller Writers (ITW). MatchUp takes the never-before-seen bestseller pairings of FaceOff and adds a delicious new twist: gender. “Think Dancing With the Stars, but with mysteries” (Booklist) as eleven of the world’s best female thriller writers from Diana Gabaldon to Kathy Reichs to Charlaine Harris are paired with eleven of the world’s best male thriller writers, including John Sandford, C.J. Box, and Nelson DeMille, among others. “This box holds a chocolate or two that will be to everyone’s liking” (Kirkus Reviews). In these innovative stories, their beloved protagonists, Lee Coburn, Joe Pickett, and Jack Reacher—just to name a few—team up to unnerve and satisfy thriller fans worldwide. All of the contributors are ITW members, and the project is edited by ITW member and #1 New York Times bestselling author Lee Child. The lineup includes: Sandra Brown’s Lee Coburn vs. C. J. Box’s Joe Pickett Val McDermid’s Tony Hill vs. Peter James’s Roy Grace Kathy Reichs’s Temperance Brennan vs. Lee Child’s Jack Reacher Diana Gabaldon’s Jamie Fraser vs. Steve Berry’s Cotton Malone Gayle Lynds’s Liz Sansborough vs. David Morrell’s Rambo Karin Slaughter’s Jeffrey Tolliver vs. Michael Koryta’s Joe Pritchard Charlaine Harris’s Harper Connelly vs. Andrew Gross’s Ty Hauck Lisa Jackson’s Regan Pescoli vs. John Sandford’s Virgil Flower Lara Adrian’s Lucan Thorne vs. Christopher Rice’s Lilliane Lisa Scottoline’s Bennie Rosato vs. Nelson DeMille’s John Corey J.A. Jance’s Ali Reynolds vs. Eric Van Lustbader’s Bravo Shaw

The notorious Opium-Eater returns in the sensational climax to David Morrell''s acclaimed Victorian mystery trilogy. 1855. The railway has irrevocably altered English society, effectively changing geography and fueling the industrial revolution by shortening distances between cities: a whole day''s journey can now be covered in a matter of hours. People marvel at their new freedom. But train travel brings new dangers as well, with England''s first death by train recorded on the very first day of railway operations in 1830. Twenty-five years later, England''s first train murder occurs, paralyzing London with the unthinkable when a gentleman is stabbed to death in a safely locked first-class passenger compartment. In the next compartment, the brilliant opium-eater Thomas De Quincey and his quick-witted daughter, Emily, discover the homicide in a most gruesome manner. Key witnesses and also resourceful sleuths, they join forces with their allies in Scotland Yard, Detective Ryan and his partner-in-training, Becker, to pursue the killer back into the fogbound streets of London, where other baffling murders occur. Ultimately, De Quincey must confront two ruthless adversaries: this terrifying enemy, and his own opium addiction which endangers his life and his tormented soul. Ruler of the Night is a riveting blend of fact and fiction which, like master storyteller David Morrell''s previous De Quincey novels, "evokes Victorian London with such finesse that you''ll hear the hooves clattering on cobblestones, the racket of dustmen, and the shrill calls of vendors" (Entertainment Weekly).

In 1969, while David Morrell was writing First Blood, the novel in which Rambo was created, he also wrote his doctoral dissertation about acclaimed author, John Barth. In it, Morrell analyses Barth’s early fiction, using interviews with Barth, his agent, and his editors as well as several of Barth’s unpublished essays and letters to tell what Morrell calls “the story behind the stories, a biography of Barth’s fiction.” Over the years, scholars have found John Barth: An Introduction invaluable for its lengthy biographical sections, which Barth himself approved. Fans of Morrell’s fiction will find this book enlightening in terms of what Barth taught him about writing. CRITICAL REACTION “David Morrell’s not just a fine writer; he’s also a great and generous teacher.” —New York Times bestselling author Lawrence Block “Morrell has written an interesting and informative book which reads occasionally like a biography. His prose is eminently clear and straightforward. His book has something for everyone. There is no doubt that it will become a necessity for serious students of Barth, and that, coincidentally, it is a genuinely interesting book.” —Journal of Modern Literature “Morrell’s study tells the story of Barth’s storytelling, how he got his ideas, and then how the publishers and reviewers dealt with them. He includes detailed biographical information [and] writes with great economy and clarity.” —Modern Fiction Studies “Morrell gives the reader the benefit of his familiarity with Barth and his manuscripts to plot the career of each work, from plans and, in some cases, research through revision, publisher-agent reactions, sales, and post-publication revisions. The whole enterprise is carried off with appealing confidence and informality that add up to an eminently readable book.” —World Literature Today

This special edition of the novel includes essays by David Morrell and by New York Times bestselling author Steve Berry as well as the never-before-published outline for the novel and the original first chapter.

Every now and then your favorite author takes a detour while writing a new novel: a chapter gets chopped, a connected short story is dreamed up, an essay about the book''s origins is composed, or an oddity is created on a day off. Collected here together for the first time are detours by Stephen King, William Peter Blatty, Dean Koontz, Clive Barker, Peter Straub, Kelley Armstrong, Michael Koryta, David Morrell, Michael Marshall and Michael Marshall Smith, Chet Williamson, Poppy Z. Brite, Stewart O''Nan, and Owen King. Join these bestselling authors as they share the other works they wrote while they were writing the books you already know and love.

Legendary thriller writer David Morrell transports readers to the fogbound streets of London, where a killer plots to assisinate Queen Victoria. The year is 1855. The Crimean War is raging. The incompetence of British commanders causes the fall of the English government. The Empire teeters. Amid this crisis comes opium-eater Thomas De Quincey, one of the most notorious and brilliant personalities of Victorian England. Along with his irrepressible daughter, Emily, and their Scotland Yard companions, Ryan and Becker, De Quincey finds himself confronted by an adversary who threatens the heart of the nation. This killer targets members of the upper echelons of British society, leaving with each corpse the name of someone who previously attempted to kill Queen Victoria. The evidence indicates that the ultimate victim will be Victoria herself.

From bestselling thriller author David Morrell comes a brooding Thomas De Quincey short story about the coldest of deaths and their heartbreaking aftermath. Thomas De Quincey -- the central character of Morrell''s acclaimed Victorian mysteries, Murder as a Fine Art and Inspector of the Dead -- was one of the most notorious and brilliant literary personalities of the 1800s. His infamous Confessions of an English Opium-Eater made history as the first book about drug dependency. He invented the word \"subconscious\" and anticipated Freud''s psychoanalytic theories by more than a half century. His blood-soaked essays and stories influenced Edgar Allan Poe, who in turn inspired Sir Arthur Conan Doyle to create Sherlock Holmes. But at the core of his literary success lies a terrible tragedy. In this special-edition novella, based on real-life events, Morrell shares De Quincey''s story of a horrific snowstorm in which a mother and father died and their six children were trapped in the mountains of England''s Lake District. Even more gripping is what happened after. This is the true tale of how Thomas De Quincey became the Opium-Eater, brought to life by award-winning storyteller David Morrell. An afterword contains numerous photographs of the dramatic locations in the story.

The exciting final installment in THE BROTHERHOOD OF THE ROSE trilogy David Morrell’s international thrillers have no equal. Among his classic novels, THE LEAGUE OF NIGHT AND FOG stands as one of his most exciting, ambitious, and brilliant works. Here is a novel that literally spans the globe, bringing together two generations of men and women bound by one murderous legacy. From the Vatican to the Swiss Alps, from Australia to the heartland of America, the master operatives of the Brotherhood of the Rose and the Fraternity of the Stone join forces to solve a violent mystery. Why have ten old men been abducted from around the world? As Saul and Drew investigate, they encounter a terrifying cycle of revenge that began in World War II and now forces sons to pay for their fathers’ darkest sins. This special edition e-book contains a Brotherhood of the Rose short story, “The Abelard Sanction,” that completes the saga. “Splendid, state-of-the-art . . . action/adventure . . . Morrell’s forte is action, and there is plenty of that here.” —Washington Post Book World “A wildly Ludlumesque thriller . . . an exciting and entertaining adventure.” —Publishers Weekly “An ambitious, violent, and enthralling novel that has everything. . . . Recommended.” —Library Journal “Terrific action scenes” —Cleveland Plain Dealer “A master of suspense" —Michael Connelly “Morrell, an absolute master of the thriller, plays by his own rules and leaves you dazzled.” —Dean Koontz

The acclaimed, bestselling author of The Fifth Profession returns with his most ambitious international thriller yet--already optioned for a major motion picture. An intelligence operative''s multi-personality occupation threatens to destroy him . . . because he no longer knows who he really is.

A once-famous New York reporter is forced to take desperate measures to escape a deadly international conspiracy. The bestselling author of Assumed Identity and The Fifth Profession (both future films) is back with a high-action, high-speed thriller. This new hardcover release comes simultaneously with the Warner paperback release of Assumed Identity.

From the American heartland to the edge of Hell, David Morrell (bestselling author of such classics as First Blood and The Brotherhood of the Rose) has consistently redefined the modern thriller. Now he turns to a darker side of suspense in a powerful collection of tales, many of them award winners. Prefaced by revealing autobiographical introductions, they delve into the weird, uncanny terrors that lurk just beneath the comforting surfaces of daily life. Fear of loss, fear of pain, fear of madness, fear of being trapped, fear of the unspeakable horrors that fester deep within the soul. . . . No matter who or where you are, fear is always with you, always ready to attack from behind the masks of thoughts and dreams. In this career-spanning examination of his life and the fears we all share, let David Morrell tell you a story . . . “For These and All My Sins” —a motorist in need of help finds himself in a town where everyone is disfigured . . . and discovers too late the terrifying reason they became that way . . . “The Beautiful Uncut Hair of Graves”—Both your parents die suddenly. Going through their legal papers, you find adoption records, dated at your birthday . . . but every official document has vanished, along with your biological mother . . . “Orange Is for Anguish, Blue for Insanity”—Beneath the placid, beautiful landscapes of a master artist’s paintings are levels of meaning that hide deep layers of pain . . . and unearthly nightmares . . . “Dead Image”—You know that that Hollywood stars think fame is more important than life itself . . . but you don’t realize the half of it . . . (There’s a lot of James Dean in this story.) “The Shrine”—Parents grieving for their dead children find a hidden place that offers lost hope . . . or eternal madness . . .

Forgotten Horror and SciFi TV ABC Movies of the Week Darkroom & William F. Nolan \"The Group\" & TV Dark Shadows Kathryn Leigh Scott Interview, Dark Shadows Overview, Movie Review And More Frank De Felitta, Jeffrey Reddick, Jonathan Maberry, David Morrell, Gene O''Neill, Eric Red Table of Contents Wayne Miller COVER ART F i c t i o n They - by David Morrell Coyote Gambit - by Gene O''Neil Do Not Disturb - by Eric Red The Partnership - by William F. Nolan Masks - by Brian Sammons I n t e r v i e w s Katherine Leigh Scott Interview - James R. Beach David Morrell Interview - Joel Kirkpatrick Gene O''Neill Interview - Joel Kirkpatrick Jeffrey Reddick Interview - Cyrus Wraith Walker Eric Red interview - Aaron French Bob Morrish column (Frank De Felitta Interview) F e a t u r e s Dark Shadows article (overview) - Stephen Mark Rainey ABC Movie of the Week article - Mark Seiber and James R. Beach The Group and Television article - Trever Nordgren Darkroom article - Trever Nordgren Column - by Dr. Michael Collings Double X Chromosome: Why I hate Women in Horror - Yvonne Navarro YA and YA reviews - by Amy Shane Things that Bite - Jonathan Maberry and David F. Kramer NONFICTION WHC/HWA wrapup/winners Ray Harryhausen Tribute - Aaron French Hellnotes Reviews Book reviews

A brilliant historical mystery series begins: in gaslit Victorian London, writer Thomas De Quincey must become a detective to clear his own name. Thomas De Quincey, infamous for his memoir Confessions of an English Opium-Eater, is the major suspect in a series of ferocious mass murders identical to ones that terrorized London forty-three years earlier. The blueprint for the killings seems to be De Quincey''s essay On Murder Considered as One of the Fine Arts. Desperate to clear his name but crippled by opium addiction, De Quincey is aided by his devoted daughter Emily and a pair of determined Scotland Yard detectives. In Murder as a Fine Art, David Morrell plucks De Quincey, Victorian London, and the Ratcliffe Highway murders from history. Fogbound streets become a battleground between a literary star and a brilliant murderer, whose lives are linked by secrets long buried but never forgotten.

David Morrell’s Creepers was a publishing event in 2005, a powerful, edgy, dark thriller by a master of the genre. A New York Times best-seller, it won the prestigious Bram Stoker Award and earned numerous critical raves. Scavenger takes us in a harrowing new direction: a desperate high-tech scavenger hunt for a 100-year-old time capsule. Frank Balenger, the resolute but damaged hero of Creepers, now finds himself trapped in a nightmarish game of fear and death. To save himself and the woman he loves, he must play by the rules of a god-like Game Master with an obsession for unearthing the past. But sometimes the past is buried for a reason. Scavenger is a brilliant, frightening hunter-hunted tale that layers modern technology over the dusty artifacts of earlier times. The result is a surreal palimpsest, one that contains the secret of survival for Balenger and a handful of unwilling players who race against the game’s clock to solve the puzzle of the time capsule, only to discover that time is the true scavenger. Morrell’s trademark action sequences are embedded with fascinating historical clues that make Scavenger a thrill-a-minute page-turner as well as a mesmerizing literary experience.

David Morrell isn’t only an acclaimed thriller author and the creator of Rambo in his novel First Blood. He’s also a former professor of American Studies who writes in-depth profiles about film and music legends. Frank Sinatra’s dramatic life sometimes upstaged his genius. Although he was the greatest interpretive singer of the recording era, some commentators emphasize his boozing, brawling, and womanizing rather than his brilliance as a performer, or else they take his brilliance for granted rather than attempt to explain it. In FRANK SINATRA: THE ARTIST AND HIS MUSIC, award-winning author David Morrell discusses the talent and determination that led Sinatra to progress from being a singing waiter to becoming the Chairman of the Board. Many Sinatra fans might be surprised to learn that this intensely autobiographical singer had a face that was permanently scarred from birth. They might also be surprised that, despite the legend that he was a “natural” singer, Sinatra took vocal lessons from a Metropolitan Opera singer. In his formative years, he invented a new way for singers to breathe and used this amazing technique to channel his self-described manic-depression into interpreting songs as they had never been done before. These are only some of the topics that David Morrell analyzes in his rare approach to this powerful singer’s craft. Based on more than forty years of listening and reading, Morrell provides an in-depth analysis of Sinatra’s musical career. After you read it, you might never listen to Sinatra or any other singer the same way again.

David Morrell isn’t only an acclaimed thriller author. He’s also a former professor of American Studies who writes in-depth profiles about music and film legends. Frank Sinatra. Nat “King” Cole. Ella Fitzgerald. Judy Garland. Peggy Lee. Rosemary Cloony. Linda Ronstadt. No matter their various styles, these and other iconic popular singers had one thing in common—much of their best work was arranged by Nelson Riddle, whose renown within the world of arrangers rivaled that of the legends for whom he wrote. Indeed, some critics maintain that, if not for Riddle, Sinatra might not have overcome his mid-career failure and climbed to the superstar status that he eventually attained. In Nelson Riddle: The Man Behind the Music, bestselling author David Morrell discusses the career of a musical genius, who changed popular music and proved that a great arranger is as important as a great song and a great singer. This groundbreaking study describes Riddle’s remarkable achievements, analyzing the musical principles that made his arrangements so unmistakable and influential. At its core is the irony that a man whose music is described as “light” and “bright” should have been so bitter and disappointed in his life.

The most dangerous man in the world is back. David Morrell’s First Blood introduced Rambo, who joined the ranks of Sherlock Holmes, Tarzan, James Bond, and Harry Potter as an international thriller icon. In this sequel, Rambo is in prison for his one-man war against a small-town police chief. His former commanding officer, Colonel Trautman, arrives with a promise to release him, with two conditions. First, Rambo must return to the Vietnamese prison camp from which he escaped and find the missing Americans rumored to be prisoners there. The second condition? Don’t rescue the prisoners. Only bring back photographs. Under no circumstances engage the enemy. For Rambo, the first part is difficult. But the second is impossible. This novelization and the film have many differences. Read the story that the film could have had, along with David Morrell’s in-depth introduction about Rambo and the book’s background. David Morrell is the award-winning author of First Blood, the novel in which Rambo was created. His numerous other bestsellers include the classic spy trilogy: The Brotherhood of the Rose, the Fraternity of the Stone, and The League of Night and Fog. An Edgar, Anthony, and Macavity nominee, Morrell is a recipient of three prestigious Bram Stoker awards as well as the lifetime-achievement Thriller Master Award from the International Thriller Writers organization. “David Morrell is, to me, the finest thriller writer living today, bar none.” —Steve Berry, New York Times bestselling author of The Columbus Affair “Morrell, an absolute master of the thriller, plays by his own rules and leaves you dazzled.” —Dean Koontz, New York Times bestselling author of 77 Shadow Street “The father of the modern action novel.” —Vince Flynn, New York Times bestselling author of Kill Shot

The most dangerous man in the world is back. David Morrell’s First Blood introduced Rambo, who joined the ranks of Sherlock Holmes, Tarzan, James Bond, and Harry Potter as an international thriller icon. In this further adventure, Rambo is in exile far from home in Thailand, vowing to renounce violence and war. When his country calls him once again, he refuses to accept. But then he learns that his former commanding officer, Colonel Trautman, the only man he trusts, has been captured by the Soviets on the Afghan border during a mission that Rambo rejected. For Rambo, it’s a call to arms—and a mission back into hell. This novelization and the film have many differences. Read the story that the film could have had, along with David Morrell’s in-depth introduction about Rambo and the book’s background. David Morrell is the award-winning author of First Blood, the novel in which Rambo was created His numerous other bestsellers include the classic spy trilogy: The Brotherhood of the Rose, the Fraternity of the Stone, and The League of Night and Fog. An Edgar, Anthony, and Macavity nominee, he is a recipient of three prestigious Stoker awards as well as the lifetime-achievement Thriller Master Award from the International Thriller Writers organization. “David Morrell is, to me, the finest thriller writer living today, bar none.” —Steve Berry, New York Times bestselling author of The Columbus Affair “Morrell, an absolute master of the thriller, plays by his own rules and leaves you dazzled.” —Dean Koontz, New York Times bestselling author of 77 Shadow Street “The father of the modern action novel.” —Vince Flynn, New York Times bestselling author of Kill Shot

Award-winning author David Morrell created the character of Rambo in his 1972 novel, First Blood, which has been called “the father of the modern action novel.” Rambo went on to become one of the five most recognized thriller icons, along with Sherlock Holmes, Tarzan, James Bond, and Harry Potter. In this in-depth essay, for the first time Morrell tells the full story about how the novel and Rambo were created. Among his new revelations, Morrell discusses how Audie Murphy, America’s most-decorated soldier of WWII, was the model for Rambo. Morrrell also describes how the riots and anti-war demonstrations of the late 1960s had a considerable impact on his novel. In addition to write First Blood, David Morrell is the acclaimed author of numerous New York Times bestsellers that include the classic spy trilogy The Brotherhood of the Rose, The Fraternity of the Stone, and The League of Night and Fog. An Edgar, Anthony, and Macavity nominee, Morrell is a recipient of three Bram Stoker awards as well as the International Thriller Writers’ prestigious lifetime Thriller Master award. “David Morrell is, to me, the finest thriller writer living today, bar none.” —Steve Berry, New York Times bestselling author of The Columbus Affair “David Morrell is a master of suspense.” —Michael Connelly, New York Times bestselling author of The Lincoln Lawyer “Morrell, an absolute master of the thriller, plays by his on rules and leaves you dazzled.” —Dean Koontz, New York Times bestselling author of 77 Shadow Street

David Morrell isn’t only an acclaimed thriller author. He’s also a former professor of American Studies who writes in-depth profiles about film and music legends. Few movie stars made as great an impact as Marilyn Monroe. Although she died in 1962, a half century later she remains vivid in popular culture, even to those who have never seen her films. Two of the men she married—Joe DiMaggio and Arthur Miller—themselves made a powerful cultural impact. In this moving essay, bestselling author David Morrell analyses Monroe’s poignant life, which had more significance than any movie in which she appeared. Even her most knowledgeable fans will find something new in this in-depth homage to a star whose luster outshone her films.

David Morrell isn’t only an acclaimed thriller author and the creator of Rambo. He’s also a former professor of American Studies who writes in-depth profiles about film and music legends who changed our culture. Few film actors had the lasting popularity of John Wayne, especially in westerns. During his lifetime, Wayne was a top-ten box office star for twenty-four years. Three decades after his death, a 2012 Harris poll continued to place him among the top 5 most-liked film actors. In this comprehensive essay, award-winner David Morrell analyzes Wayne’s career in westerns and explores his fascinating personality, including his Latin studies in high school and his skills as a chess player. Even Wayne’s most knowledgeable fans will be surprised by this insightful study. Morrell’s fascination with Wayne motivated him to use this iconic actor as the inspiration for the main character of a historical novel LAST REVEILLE, which dramatizes America’s 1916 invasion of Mexico, supposedly to pursue the Mexican bandit, Pancho Villa, but actually to practice military exercises for America’s entry into World War I. Critical reaction: “John Wayne: the name still conjures political reaction and cinematic fascination. In this excellent e-essay, author David Morrell (First Blood) presents a thorough and evenhanded consideration of Wayne and his Westerns, from THE BIG TRAIL (1930) to THE SHOOTIST (1976). He’s precise about the narrative problems in THE SEARCHERS, insightful regarding the remarkable emotional range Wayne demonstrates in THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE, and mystified at the meaning critics find in RIO BRAVO. While also examining Wayne’s drinking (16 martinis before a Thanksgiving dinner), smoking (five packs a day on THE ALAMO) and expertise as a chess player, Morrell allows us to appreciate and understand how Wayne, ‘an undeniable phenomenon,’ helped create that unique film category: John Wayne Westerns.” —Tom Clagett, ROUNDUP MAGAZINE (WESTERN WRITERS OF AMERICA) David Morrell is the award-winning author of First Blood, the novel in which Rambo was created. A former professor of American literature at the University of Iowa, he has written numerous New York Times bestsellers, including the classic Brotherhood of the Rose spy trilogy. The main character in Morrell’s western novel, Last Reveille, was inspired by Wayne’s career. “David Morrell is, to me, the finest thriller writer living today, bar none.” —Steve Berry, New York Times bestselling author of The Columbus Affair “Morrell, an absolute master of the thriller, plays by his on rules and leaves you dazzled.” —Dean Koontz, New York Times bestselling author of 77 Shadow Street

"Something is on the prowl in the forests and foothills outside the small Wyoming town of Potter''s Field, something that mutilates but does not feed, that kills indiscriminately and without reason, at night, by moonlight. As the body count mounts, police chief Nathan Slaughter and the town''s medical examiner try to find out who or what is doing the killing....Morrell embeds compelling human drama in a taut, hell-for-leather plot consisting of equal parts police procedural, medical detective story, biological horror story, disaster novel and Gothic thriller. Beneath its multi-genre surface, The Totem engages broader sociological issues....A thriller of rare ambition and achievement, as thought-provoking as it is exciting and scary." Washington Post Book World

From acclaimed action author David Morrell comes a short thriller based on bizarre actual events. On a blistering desert landscape in World War II, two armies face each other. One belongs to the legendary French Foreign Legion, but the other belongs to the French Foreign Legion also, one side working for the Allies, the other for the Germans. In this vivid historical recreation of one of the strangest battles in modern warfare, a terrible twist of Fate compels comrades-in-arms, who trained together, ate together, and slept in the same barracks, to become mortal enemies. David Morrell is the prize-winning author of First Blood, the novel in which Rambo was created. His numerous New York Times bestsellers include the classic espionage novel, The Brotherhood of the Rose, the basis for the only television miniseries to be broadcast after a Super Bowl. An Edgar, Anthony, and Macavity nominee, Morrell is a recipient of the International Thriller Writers’ prestigious Thriller Master award. “Nobody does this kind of thing better than David Morrell.” —Lee Child, New York Times bestselling author of The Affair “A titan among thriller writers.” —Joseph Finder, New York Times bestselling author of Buried Secrets

Reporter Tess Drake discovers a mysterious altar in the apartment of a friend whose charred body was discovered in a nearby park. The meaning of that altar propels Tess on a furious hunt for the truth about what happened to her friend, a labyrinth of intrigue and danger that leads to the highest levels of power as well as to the depths of a secret cave in Spain. Less From the master of high action comes a novel of deception and intrigue that paved the way for the history-based religious thrillers of Dan Brown, Steve Berry, and James Rollins. In 1244, at the infamous fortress of Montségur in southwestern France, Christian Inquisitors massacred the last vestige of a heresy known as Mithraism, once the dominant religion of the Roman Empire. But was the heresy in fact destroyed? In today’s New York City, reporter Tess Drake discovers a mysterious altar in the apartment of a friend whose charred body was discovered in a nearby park. The altar (a version of it exists in the British Museum) depicts a man astride a bull, plunging a knife into its neck while a dog, a scorpion, and a snake drink the blood. The meaning of that altar propels Tess on a furious hunt for the truth about what happened to her friend, a labyrinth of intrigue and danger that leads to the highest levels of power as well as to the depths of a secret cave in Spain. This special e-version of THE COVENANT OF THE FLAME has a revised text and an introduction in which David Morrell describes the unusual personal events that prompted him to write this novel. “A mega-thriller by any standard” —Associated Press “David Morrell is, to me, the finest thriller writer living today, bar none.” —Steve Berry, New York Times bestselling author of The Jefferson Key “A master storyteller” —James Rollins, New York Times bestselling author of The Devil Colony

They were orphans, Chris and Saul -- raised in a Philadelphia school for boys, bonded by friendship, and devoted to a mysterious man called Eliot. He visited them and brought them candy. He treated them like sons. He trained them to be assassins. Now he is trying desperately to have them killed. From the master of high action comes a classic espionage thriller that changed the way spy novels were written, the first to combine the British tradition of authentic espionage tradecraft with the American tradition of non-stop action. He visited them in the orphanage. He brought them candy and taught them to love him as a father. He trained them to be assassins. Now he is trying desperately to have them killed. Spanning the globe and decades of CIA history, THE BROTHERHOOD OF THE ROSE is a thriller of fierce loyalty and violent betrayal, of murders planned and coolly executed, of revenge bitterly, urgently desired. “David Morrell is a master of suspense. He wields it like a stiletto—know just where to stick it and how to turn it. If you’re reading Morrell, you’re sitting on the edge of your seat.” —Michael Connelly “Imagine a suspense thriller as riveting as The Thirty-Nine Steps or Rogue Male, featuring heroes the equal of Adam Hall’s Quiller, and crackling with more action than The Road Warrior, Dirty Harry, and The Seven Samurai. Sounds too good to be true? Then just read David Morrell’s THE BROTHERHOOD OF THE ROSE.”—Washington Post Book World “Fast-paced, intelligent, exciting and hard-hitting.” —Nelson DeMille, New York Times bestselling author of The Panther “David Morrell is, to me, the finest thriller writer living today.” —Steve Berry, New York Times bestselling author of The Columbus Affair