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.
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