Most Popular Books by David Morrell

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.

John Rambo is recruited for a highly secret and dangerous mission in the jungles of Vietnam to locate missing American POW''s. Unbeknownst to Rambo, his mission has been compromised before it begins. Deserted by his own team, Rambo is left as a lone survivor in the hostile jungle with only his knife, bow and arrows. Rambo, with the help of a Vietnamese girl, struggles against deadly odds. Triumphant, yet betrayed, he vows to bring his own brand of revenge to all who have become his enemies.

"Black Evening" is the first collection of Morrell''s short stories ever assembled. These stories--many of them award winners--delve into the weird, uncanny terrors that lurk just beneath the comforting surfaces of daily life. "Morrell, an absolute master of the thriller, plays by his own rules and leaves you dazzled."--Dean Koontz.

RAMBO (FIRST BLOOD PART II) 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 imprisoned 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 special print edition contains a revealing, behind-the-scenes introduction as well as an equally revealing afterword-RAMBO AND ME: THE STORY BEHIND THE STORY.

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.

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

In this tense, timely thriller, an interrogator finds himself in a remote bunker and an even more remote region of the human soul as he confronts the most hardened enemy he has ever faced and the most difficult choice he has ever been forced to make. “The Interrogator” asks the question: Are there moral limits to the way information should be obtained to defend one’s country? From acclaimed thriller author David Morrell comes this tense, timely tale about counter-terrorism. An interrogator finds himself in a remote bunker and in an even more remote region of the human soul as he confronts the most hardened enemy he has ever faced and the most difficult choice he has ever been forced to make. This e-story includes an introduction in which David Morrell, author of the classic spy thriller, THE BROTHERHOOD OF THE ROSE, discusses his espionage training. “Fast-paced, intelligent, exciting and hard-hitting.” —Nelson DeMille, New York Times bestselling author of The Lion “Nobody does this better than David Morrell.” —Lee Child, New York Times bestselling author of The Affair “The father of the modern action novel.” —Vince Flynn, New York Times bestselling author of Kill Shot David Morrell is the author of First Blood, the award-winning novel in which Rambo was created. His numerous New York Times bestsellers include the classic spy trilogy The Brotherhood of the Rose (the basis for the only television mini-series to premier after a Super Bowl), The Fraternity of the Stone, and The League of Night and Fog. An Edgar, Anthony, and Macavity nominee, Morrell is the recipient of three Bram Stoker awards and the prestigious Thriller Master award from the International Thriller Writers organization.

In the bestselling novels of suspense master David Morrell, fear is the main subject. But Morrell himself had never known genuine terror until he watched his 15-year-old son wage a heroic but doomed struggle with cancer. This is one father''s powerful and unforgettable story of fierce love, impenetrable loss, and an unexpected, breathtaking encounter with the miraculous. Ultimately, Fireflies is a tribute to the undying human spirit that has already given new hope to enthralled and grateful readers around the world. David wrote this account for himself, but to his surprise, his candid portrait of grief turned out to help other people in grief or else the friends of those in grief. His discussions about panic attacks as well as the "could have, should have" syndrome and the stress within marriages after a child''s death are some of the reasons that David was asked to deliver several keynote speeches to national conferences of The Compassionate Friends, the world''s largest grief organization-for the parents, siblings, grandparents, and friends of children who have died. "I found myself almost speechless....It left me feeling shaken, uplifted, and terribly moved." -Stephen King, New York Times bestselling author of Doctor Sleep "A powerful experience I shall remember for a long, long time. Thank you, Mr. Morrell, for sharing so much love so electrifyingly." -Robert Ludlum, New York Times bestselling author of The Bourne Identity "I was enormously impressed....One of the most poignant and passionate religious quests you will ever read....Don''t miss this story of how good people respond to bad things." -Father Andrew M. Greeley, New York Times bestselling author of Angel Light "A story that should have meaning and truth for every parent." -Los Angeles Daily News "A heartbreaking and inspiring account of devotion in the face of death." -Detroit Free Press

By and large the kind of tales an author writes are metaphors for the scars in the nooks and crannies of his/her psyche. In David Morrell''s youth, thrillers and horror stories provided an escape from his nightmarish reality. Is it any wonder that, as an adult obsessed with being a writer, he has compulsively turned to the types of stories that provided escape when he was a child? In his own words, perhaps he is eager to provide an escape for others. Or perhaps he is still trying to escape from his past. In each of the stories in this collection there is a theme: obsession and determination. A character gets an idea in his head, a hook on his emotions, a need that has to be fulfilled, and he does everything possible to carry through, no matter how difficult. Written with the haunting emotional intensity and lightning pace that has made David Morrell the master of high-action suspense writing, this collection of stories will leave you dazzled.

From the author of The Covenant of the Flame and The Fifth Profession. Brendan Buchanan is an undercover intelligence operative who has impersonated more than 200 people in the last eight years. But now his multi-personality occupation threatens to destroy him.

The bestselling author of First Blood delivers his breakout novel, an international thriller in the tradition of Ludlum''s The Bourne Identity. The Fifth Profession deals with the timely subject of executive protection and corporate security, which Morrell researched at G. Gordon Liddy''s Academy of Corporate Security and Private Investigation. "Taut, tightly written . . . well-paced, ingenious".--The Washington Post.

David Morrell has been called "the father of the modern action novel.” In The Shimmer he shows us why.

Drew Maclane was a star agent - until the day the killing had to stop. He withdrew and for six years lived the life of a hermit in a monastery. But someone has tracked him down, leaving a trail of corpses. Someone who knows all about him, who knows how to draw him back into that electrifying world where no one is as he seems, and where life''s most horrifying and harrowing game is played....

Artist and ex-Marine Chase Malone decides to intervene when he discovers a notorious arms merchant plans to kill his wife Sienna. Sienna and Malone are on the run together, but Malone finds a woman as beautiful as Sienna is impossible to hide. From the author of DOUBLE IMAGE.