52 in 25: #49 - Nothing Lasts Forever

Next was a book I have been wanting to read for a while.  I finally got it early this year, but was waiting to read it until December.  The book is titled Nothing Lasts Forever by Roderick Thorp, published in 1979.  Doesn’t sound familiar?  It does when you realize it was the “basis” for one of the greatest Christmas movies of all time.

This novel is told from the perspective of a retired police officer named Joseph Leland, and is the sequel to a novel called The Detective, which was made into a movie starring Frank Sinatra in 1968.  Leland flies to LA on Christmas Eve to be with his daughter Stephanie Gennaro and her children.  He meets up with her at her companies Christmas party, taking place in their 40-story skyscraper.  During the party, terrorist led by Anton Gruber take the building hostage in an attempt to steal $6 million dollars that the company, Klaxon, received in a deal with the corrupt government of Chile.  Leland then takes part in a one-man war to stop the terrorists and save his daughter.

 

Sound familiar?  Of course, this was the basis for Die Hard.  This is one case where the movie is significantly better than the source material.  The book isn’t bad.  It can be hard to follow at times.  There’s certainly some conveniences.  I didn’t really like the main character.  Or any of the characters.  In that way, it’s very 70s.  I guess in the end I would say, stick with the movie unless you really want to hunt down a decent action novel.

52 in 25: #48 - The Wingmen

I actually finished this a few days ago but haven’t had the time to write anything.  Next was a sort-of sequel to the previously read The Cloudbuster Nine.  I read Adam Lazarus’ The Wingmen: The Unlikely, Unusual, Unbreakable Friendship Between John Glenn and Ted Williams.

            Space.  Baseball.  Military History.  You would think that I had read this already (published 2023) or at least knew about their friendship.  Somehow, as far as I can remember, I had no idea about their connection until I heard about his book shortly after it was published.  I’m still kind of baffled by that.  I finally got around to reading it.

            The author does a great job of setting up the story, detailing the lives of Ted Williams and John Glenn, two of the most famous men of their time.  And, of course, he also goes into length about how the two of them got to be wingmen in the Korean War.  And then he has a number of chapters on their post-war lives, highlighting their interactions of the years.  Probably my biggest problem is how quickly the war goes by (in the book, not in real life).  There are some good chapters on the nature of the war and their role in it, and in particular about Ted’s crash, but it almost seems like an afterthought for their lives.  I do have some sympathy, however, if that is simply from lack of more information.  I know this problem from personal experience.

            Overall, it is an interesting, though not essential, read for anyone interested in baseball or military history.  One credit I will give to the author is that before I read this, I loved Ted Williams and didn’t care for John Glenn.  After reading, I have a better appreciation for Glenn and see more of the deficiencies of Teddy Ballgame (though I am still immensely intrigued by his life and personality).