Roderick Thorp

Roderick Mayne Thorp, Jr. (September 1, 1936 – April 28, 1999) was an American novelist specializing mainly in crime novels. He is best known for his bestselling novel Nothing Lasts Forever which is the basis for the film Die Hard starring Bruce Willis. His 1966 novel The Detective was made into a 1968 film of the same name, starring Frank Sinatra as Detective Joe Leland.

Die Hard follows its source material Nothing Lasts Forever closely; many of the film's memorable scenes, characters, and dialogue are taken directly from the bestselling novel. The Los Angeles Times called it, "A ferocious, bloody, raging book so single-mindedly brilliant in concept and execution it should be read at a single sitting." Two other Thorp novels, Rainbow Drive and Devlin, were adapted into TV movies.

Thorp died of a heart attack in Oxnard, California.

Early life

As a young college graduate, Thorp worked at a detective agency owned by his father. He would later teach literature and lecture on creative writing at schools and universities in New Jersey and California, and also wrote articles for newspapers and magazines.

Novels

• Into the Forest (1961)
• The Detective (1966)
• Dionysus (1969)
• The Music of Their Laughter: An American Album (1970)
• Wives: An Investigation (1971)
• Slaves (1973)
• The Circle of Love (1974)
• Westfield (1977)
• Nothing Lasts Forever (1979) (reissued as Die Hard)
• Jenny and Barnum: A Novel of Love (1981)
• Rainbow Drive (1986)
• Devlin (1988)
• River: A Novel of the Green River Killings (1995)

Filmography

• The Detective (1968) (Novel)
• Die Hard (1988) (Novel)
• Die Hard 2 (1990) (Certain Original Characters)
• Rainbow Drive (1990) (Book)
• Devlin (1992) (Book)
• Deep Down (1994) (Cast)
• Die Hard with a Vengeance (1995) (Certain Original Characters)
• Live Free or Die Hard (2007) (Certain Original Characters)
• A Good Day to Die Hard (2013) (Certain Original Characters)

External links

• Roderick Thorp (Author of Nothing Lasts Forever)
• Roderick Thorp at IMDb
• Story on Thorp's Death