Nothing Lasts Forever by Roderick Thorp

Nothing Lasts Forever by Roderick Thorp
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 1 day

Pages - 245

Publisher - Graymalkin Media

Blurb from Goodreads

High atop a Los Angeles skyscraper, an office Christmas party turns into a deadly cage-match between a lone New York City cop and a gang of international terrorists. Every action fan knows it could only be the explosive big-screen blockbuster Die Hard. But before Bruce Willis blew away audiences as unstoppable hero John McClane, author Roderick Thorp knocked out thriller readers with the bestseller that started it all.

A dozen heavily armed terrorists have taken hostages, issued demands, and promised bloodshed all according to plan. But they haven't counted on a death-defying, one-man cavalry with no shoes, no backup, and no intention of going down easily. As hot-headed cops swarm outside, and cold-blooded killers wield machine guns and rocket launchers inside, the stage is set for the ultimate showdown between anti-hero and uber-villains. Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good fight to the death. Ho ho ho!


My Review

A Christmas party in a LA skyscraper, terrorists armed & dangerous with a mission to be completed and no qualms about killing their hostages. One man, an ex cop now anti terrorist consultant, visiting one of his family at the party ends up taking on the killers by himself with no shoes and his quick wit and at times banter to get him through.

Sound familiar? Instead of John McClane in Die Hard we have Joe Leland, instead of visiting his wife he is visiting his grown daughter. Otherwise the story paved the way and became Die Hard, Leland is less gun-hoe than McClane we see a much softer side and some of his quips mirror one of our all time favourite characters Bruce Willis brought to life on the screen.

The book brings a more human side and lets us get inside the head of Joe, what he is thinking and how the killings of the terrorists affects him, something that is missing in the movie. The pace and tension is very much evident and draws the reader in quickly. Joe, whilst a force to be reckoned with is also very human, flawed and I think that may make the character real because he suffers so much but powers through. The movie took the heart of this book and enhanced and blew it up to a well loved film. It isn't very often I prefer the movie to the book and for its time this story packs a punch and keeps the reader engaged but if you have seen the movie I think the book does pale in comparison. If you haven't seen Die Hard read this book first as you will absolutely love it, then check out the movie. This is the second book in a series, I haven't read the first and don't feel I have missed anything out by reading this but I think I may go back and pick up the first. Murder, mayhem, survival, terrorism, family, love, a smart mouth and fast action is the best way to highlight the main topics of this story.

This has been my longest waiting review book, actually years on my tbr purely because it was my first approval Netgalley book. Back then I had no idea how it worked and by the time I got it the book had been archived and I couldn't access or download it. I bought it as I really wanted to read this, I ploughed through it in one day and had to watch the movie immediately after. I would put this as 3/5 stars, I liked it and I think for its time it has been fabulously done. However seeing the movie prior to reading it and actually loving the changes for the film I debated between a 3.5 and a 4 star rating. If you like action and a story with violence, survival whilst looking at the human aspect of it then you can't go far wrong with this. This was my first time reading this author, I will certainly be checking out his other work. Thanks to Netgalley for highlighting this author and initially providing me with a review copy, I wanted to read it so much I ended up buying it and can finally remove it from my NG shelve.

View all my reviews