David Morrell Books

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David Morrell is a Canadian author that writes science fiction, horror, historical mysteries, and thrillers. Morrell is best known for writing ‘First Blood,’ the novel Hollywood adapted when they made the Rambo movies.

The author was born in 1943 in Kitchener, Ontario, to a Royal Navy flier (George Morrell) and an upholsterer (Beatrice Morrell). Morrell was not the best student. His high school principal told him he would never amount to anything.

Morrell, who almost dropped out of high school, was inclined to believe him. But then he watched ‘Route 66’ on TV, and the show changed everything. The author couldn’t get enough of the two heroes at the heart of the series as they traversed the United States.

He wrote a letter to the show’s head writer. Morrell wanted to follow in Stirling Silliphant’s footsteps and said as much. Stirling replied with a long letter encouraging the young man to pursue his dreams. The two became good friends later, with Stirling executive producing an adaptation of Morrell’s novel.

Philip Young was equally influential to the author. The pair met through ‘Ernest Hemingway,’ Young’s book, which Morrell discovered and loved because of his passion for all things Hemingway.

The author was in awe of Young’s engaging style. When he learned that Young was teaching at Penn State, the author packed everything he owned and drove to the United States with his wife and child.

Morrell’s wife was gracious enough to abandon her teaching position to follow her husband to a new country. The author studied under Young for a time before becoming his graduate assistant. Their lives became intimately intertwined when Young’s wife died.

Morrell and his wife took it upon themselves to care for Young’s home, not to mention his son. This kind gesture gave Young the freedom to pursue his research. The author was still at Penn State when he met Philip Klass. The professional writer changed Morrell’s life in ways he couldn’t have imagined when they first came across one another.

Klass invited his contemporaries to a party after buying a house near Penn State. The guests included Donald E. Westlake, a legendary crime writer, and Henry Morrison, Klass’s agent. Klass was kind enough to tell everyone that Morrell was writing a novel.

The author can’t remember what he said when Klass asked him to describe ‘First Blood’ to the other guests. But it clearly pushed all the right buttons because Henry asked Morrell to send him the manuscript once it was finished.

It took him longer than he would have liked to write the book. Various distractions got in the way, including his doctoral dissertation and the riots emerging from the assassinations of Bobby Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr.

But he kept Henry abreast of his progress. Once he submitted the manuscript, it took Henry six weeks to secure a publisher for ‘First Blood.’

David Morrell Awards

Morrell has won Bram Stoker awards.

David Morrell Books Into Movies

‘First Blood’ provided the template for Sylvester Stallone’s Rambo series of movies. ‘The Brotherhood of the Rose’ became a two-part TV movie.

Best David Morrell Books

The tragic loss of his teenage son and granddaughter, both of whom died from Ewing’s Sarcoma, has shaped the author’s stories. Morell’s best books include:

First Blood: Rambo entered the small Kentucky town on a warm fall day. The young man stood out because of his long hair and unkempt state. To the Sheriff, Rambo was just another vagrant looking to make trouble. Wilfred Teasle had no intention of letting him be.

So he drove Rambo to the edge of town and told him to stay out. But Rambo was a decorated vet. He survived the Vietnam War. He had no intention of letting Teasle push him around.

Murder As A Fine Art: Thomas De Quincey is a killer, or so they say. A psychopath is on the loose perpetrating ferocious murders. A similar spate of killings terrorized London decades ago. This time, the police think Thomas is at fault because the killer is using Thomas’ essay as a blueprint.

Thomas knows he’s innocent, but proving it won’t be easy. Fortunately, he has a devoted daughter fighting to clear his name, as well as a trustworthy pair of detectives.

When Does The Next David Morrell book come out?

David Morrell doesn't seem to have an upcoming book. Their newest book is Before I Wake and was released on June, 30th 2019. It is the newest book in the David Morrell Short Story Collections.

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