Roderick Thorp

Roderick Mayne Thorp, Jr. (September 1, 1936 – April 28, 1999) was an American novelist specializing mainly in police procedural/ crime novels.

His 1966 novel The Detective was made into a 1968 film of the same name, starring Frank Sinatra as Detective Joe Leland. He is however better known for its sequel, the bestselling novel Nothing Lasts Forever, which is the basis for the film Die Hard, starring Bruce Willis.

The Los Angeles Times called Nothing Lasts Forever, "A ferocious, bloody, raging book so single-mindedly brilliant in concept and execution it should be read at a single sitting."^[1]

Two other Thorp novels, Rainbow Drive and Devlin, were adapted into TV movies.

Thorp died of a heart attack in Oxnard, California.^[2][3][4]

Early life

Thorp was born in Bronx, New York City.^[4] 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)

References

External links

• Roderick Thorp at the Internet Movie Database
• Roderick Thorp (Author of Nothing Lasts Forever)
• Story on Thorp's Death