Roderick Thorp

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

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.

Two of his best known novels were adapted into popular films: his 1966 novel "The Detective" was made into a 1968 film of the same name, starring Frank Sinatra as Detective Joe Leland, and his 1979 sequel to "The Detective", "Nothing Lasts Forever", was filmed in 1988 as "Die Hard", starring Bruce Willis. Though "Die Hard" was relatively faithful to "Nothing Lasts Forever", it was not made as a sequel to the film version of "The Detective". Two other Thorp novels, "Rainbow Drive" and "Devlin", were adapted into TV movies.

Thorp died of a heart attack in Oxnard, California.

Novels by Roderick Thorp

*"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)

External links

* [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0861636/maindetails Roderick Thorp] at IMDb
* [http://slick.org/deathwatch/mailarchive/msg00439.html Story on Thorp's Death]