A fantastic anti-war novel full of both thrills and emotion. It's the kind of novel that makes you feel for both sides ("good guy" and "bad guy").

This is the novel that inspired the Rambo film franchise.

Highly recommended.

Rambo is trying to hitchhike and he’s minding his own business, when Teasle, the chief of the local police, picks him up and tries to get him out of his town.Rambo doesn’t care about Teasle’s attempts to get him out of town. He’s not doing anything wrong, so he ignores Teasle’s warnings.I like that Teasle is a point of view character, he is a complex and interesting person. He’s not a bad person per se. He abuses his power, but he does it for what he considers a good reason. And at first, he doe...

Why read a book when they've already made a movie?I came into this read with a little trepidation since I loved the movie so much. Would this be a pile of dogmeat, or would it somehow be better than the movie? The movie captured all the great scenes of the book, but also added a few and even changed the ending. The book, however, gave all the characters a little more depth, a little more three-dimensionality, with backgrounds and histories fleshed out for the police, as well.When I initially wat...

First Blood by David Morrell is an urban, action, adventure, war thriller from 1972 involving a Vietnam veteran named John Rambo and a local small-town Sheriff Teasle whose wife has left him and is looking for a reason to stay away from his empty home. The novel takes a bold look at military veterans of the time period returning from Vietnam (of whom Teasle is a member). The long hair and the unwashed homeless lifestyle is considered a choice as opposed to a necessity and the lack of compassion ...

David Morrell published his novel First Blood in 1972, as a response to the Vietnam War and was inspired by some of his students returning from the war. The author’s work began in 1968.While most folks will recognize the Rambo character from the Stallone films, this began as an allegory about war experiences and about martial training, as well as an exploration of the connection between generations of fighting men.Most noteworthy is that the character of Sherriff Teasle, portrayed in the film by...

"I don't kill for a living.""Of course not. You tolerate a system that lets others do it for you. And when they come back from the war, you can't stand the smell of death on them." 68%“Don't start nothin', won't be nothin'.” - Will Smith MIB, not the originator of this quote. “Did not know who he was fucking with.” - Richard B. Riddick, escaped convict, murderer. Actually, books and movies who follow the did-not-know-who-he-was-fucking-with trope are some of my absolute favorites. However, I'm ...

David Morrell leads a writing workshop in delivering stomach-churning on-the-body sensation. So good I stole the bat cave sequence for We Sold Our Souls.

Most people will come to First Blood having seen the film first, as well as the three sequels. While the book does contain the thriller aspect and some of the action of the film, it is also a kind of dark character study into how a person can be affected by military training and the traumas of war.In terms of the influence of this novel on me as an author, I would say that the protagonist, J. Rambo, has a number of similarities to my own John Kennedy character. These will become even more appare...

His name was Rambo, and he was just some nothing kid for all anybody knew, standing by the pump of a gas station at the outskirts of Madison, Kentucky. He had a long heavy beard, and his hair was hanging down over his ears to his neck, and he had his hand out trying to thumb a ride from a car that was stopped at the pump. To see him there, leaning on one hip, a Coke bottle in his hand and a rolled-up sleeping bag near his boots on the tar pavement, you could never have guessed that on Tuesday, ...

I'm ashamed to admit that I didn't know that the movie "First Blood" was based on this book. So when my friend 11811 (Eleven) reviewed this book I put in a request for it immediately.Rambo shows up in a small town in Kentucky. The local sheriff doesn't like "his kind" being in his town so he takes him and dumps him out at the end of town. Rambo comes back. Then sheriff Teasle does it again. A couple of times. Rambo takes offense to being told that he can't be in town. He also takes offense to Sh...