When police chief Nathan Slaughter settles in the tiny mountain community of Potter's Field, Wyoming, his most fervent prayer is that he has left behind him forever the nightmare he barely survived on a blizzardy night in Detroit. But nothing prepares him for the greater sanity-threatening nightmare he is about to confront. Beginning with the discovery of mutilated cattle on outlying ranches, Slaughter is drawn deeper and deeper into a vortex of terror as animals become savage and children go insane, trapping the entire town in a frenzy of violence. As Slaughter races against time to expose the horrifying secret behind the increasingly savage attacks, he also struggles to overcome his deepest fears.
"I found the acute observations and his narrative philosophy more valuable for the new writer than the contents of any 100 other texts." -Dean Koontz "For anyone interested in the craft of writing, from beginners to seasoned veterans, this is a must read." -Booklist "This is the best guidebook to both writing and the business of writing that I've ever read." -Peter Straub David Morrell, bestselling author of First Blood, The Brotherhood of the Rose and The Fifth Profession, distills four decades of writing and publishing experience into this single masterwork of advice and instruction for fiction writers looking to make it big in the publishing world. With advice proven to create successful novels, Morrell teaches you everything you need to know about: • Plot • Character • Research • Structure • Viewpoint • Description • Dialogue • The business of publishing • And much more "If this book had been available when I started writing, I could have saved myself some miles, some heartache and a lot of typewriter ribbons. The Successful Novelist is the vehicle you want if you plan to drive your way to successful fiction." -Joe R. Lansdale "David Morrell's not just a fine writer; he's also a great and generous teacher. This book's a keeper." -Lawrence Block "David Morrell's The Successful Novelist is that rare avis-a practical how-to book bedizened with priceless gems and nuggets culled from his triumphant decades of toil in the writing mines, all conducted at the unrelenting pace of one of his best-selling thrillers." -F. Paul Wilson
It's Christmas Eve in Santa Fe, but among the revelers on Canyon Road, a decidedly unholy scene is taking place. A desperate man, dressed all in black, feverishly seeks refuge for himself and the squirming bundle he holds tightly against his chest. Agent Paul Kagan's bundle is a baby who has the power to change the course of global events. His pursuers are his former colleagues -- members of the Russian mafia who will stop at nothing to accomplish their mission. Now Kagan is a spy on the run. He must ensure this baby's survival, even if it will cost him his own life. Just a short distance away, Kagan will find an unexpected pair of allies -- a mother and her young son, who huddle together after a horrible episode of domestic violence leaves them home alone, with no means of transportation. And so, with the exquisitely honed skills of his profession and the help and good faith of a weary woman and a disillusioned boy, Kagan must take on forces that will stop at nothing. In the course of a wild and violent night, the unlikely trio learns lessons of generosity, courage, and selflessness, discovering within themselves the luminous strength of the true Christmas spirit.
Creator of Rambo and co-founder of the Inter-national Thriller Writers organization, David Morrell has been called "the father of the modern action novel." Now this award-winning, New York Times bestselling author delivers The Shimmer, a novel of chilling impact. When police officer Dan Page's wife disappears, her trail leads to Rostov, a remote Texas town where unexplained phenomena attract hundreds of spectators each night. Not merely curious, these onlookers are compelled to reach this tiny community and gaze at the mysterious Rostov Lights. But more than the faithful are drawn there. A gunman begins shooting at the lights, screaming "Go back to hell where you came from!" then turns his rifle on the innocent bystanders. As more and more people are drawn to the scene of the massacre, the stage is set for even greater bloodshed. To save his wife, Page must solve the mystery of the Rostov Lights. In the process, he uncovers a deadly government secret dating back to the First World War. The lights are more dangerous than anyone ever imagined, but even more deadly are those who try to exploit forces beyond their control. With The Shimmer, David Morrell takes readers on a brilliant, terrifying journey. Suspenseful, yet thought-provoking, it is the master at his very best.
Cavanaugh, a former member of Delta Force who now works as a protector for those rich enough to afford him and his team, is hired by a brilliant scientist named Prescott who needs protection from a powerful drug lord seeking the highly addictive drug he has invented. At least, that is what Cavanaugh is led to believe. After Cavanaugh trains the scientist in escape and evasion, the unthinkable occurs: Cavanaugh's team is viscously attacked and entirely wiped out, and Prescott seems to be in collusion with the attackers. Now Cavanaugh must fight against his own tactics and anticipate his enemy's every move while suffering the consequences of the real secret Prescott is hiding: a unique weapon that induces fear.
'The story unfolds quickly, accelerates to warp speed, and hurtles on to a stunning climax. And amazingly, in the midst of all the mayhem, Morrell draws more than a few complex characters imbued with layered motives and capable of intelligent dialogue. A wonderfully entertaining action adventure.''Booklist
Once they were boyhood best friends, playing in the woods near their homes, pretending to be soldiers surviving behind enemy lines. Grownup, they belonged to Delta Force and later worked as protectors for the world''s best security company. Now their lives have taken drastically different paths, pitting them against one another, forcing them to play their boyhood game again, this time to learn who dies. The survival of a great city hangs in the balance as two friends-turned-enemies hunt one another and discover that there''s a line between predators and prey, a line that''s called The Naked Edge.
From the Vatican to the Swiss Alps, from Australia to the heartland of America, the two masterful operatives known as Saul and Drew are being drawn together to solve a violent riddle: Why have ten old men been abducted from around the world? When the agents, weary of their own covert wars, begin to investigate, they are pulled into a terrifying cycle of revenge that began in the heart of World War II - and is now forcing sons to pay for their fathers' darkest sins... "A crackling good action mystery." - UPI International "Morrell, an absolute master of the thriller, plays by his own rules and leaves you dazzled." - Dean Koontz, author of Sole Survivor
Drew Maclane was a star agent - until the day the killing had to stop. He withdrew and for six years lived the life of a hermit in a monastery. But someone has tracked him down, leaving a trail of corpses. Someone who knows all about him, who knows how to draw him back into that electrifying world where no one is as he seems, and where life's most horrifying and harrowing game is played....
Savage, a former Navy SEAL and American state-of-the-art security specialist. Akira, Japan's most brilliant executive protector and a master of the samurai arts. Their mission: the retrieval of Rachel Stone, a beautiful American woman whose ruthless billionaire husband is out to destroy her. But quickly Savage and Akira realize they are trapped in a mission more far-reaching than the protection of one person. For they are bound together in a common nightmare, a set of horrifying memories, a terrifying past that never happened, but is somehow inexplicably real. Only together can they confront the mystery. Yet when they do, an even more chilling scenario awaits them - one with the power to shatter not only their world but ours as well.
For two thousand years a hidden conflict has been waged. Now it is bursting into the open - in a pitched battle over the very future of the planet... In the Amazon and in Africa, from oil spills to animal slaughters, the earth is being defiled, and two covert armies are locked in mortal conflict - with a woman reporter caught in the middle. Drawn into the mysterious disappearance of a gray-eyed stranger and his horrific murder by fire, Tess Drake and a veteran New York City police officer follow the trail of blood from Manhattan to Washington to the ancient caverns of Europe. Hunted by both sides, fighting for her life, Tess races toward the dark heart of a secret that will rock the world...
They were orphans, Chris and Saul - raised in a Philadelphia school for boys, bonded by friendship, and devoted to a mysterious man called Eliot. He visited them and brought them candy. He treated them like sons. He trained them to be assassins. Now he is trying desperately to have them killed. Spanning the globe, here is an astonishing novel of fierce loyalty and violent betrayal, of murders planned and coolly executed, of revenge bitterly, urgently desired.
After creating Rambo in his debut novel, First Blood, David Morrell wrote his most intense novel, Testament. Its publisher called it "almost unbearably involving." Hunted by a powerful enemy, a man and his family flee their home and civilization. This thriller classic influenced many later thriller authors. It is not for the faint of heart.
