Murder For Revenge

David Morrell

David Morrell is the award-winning author of ‘First Blood’, the 1972 novel in which Rambo first appeared. A former professor of American literature, he has written numerous best-selling thrillers including ‘The Brotherhood of the Rose’ (the basis for a highly rated NBC miniseries), ‘The Fifth Profession,’ ‘Desperate Measures’, and ‘Extreme Denial’. His books have been translated into twenty-two languages.

The story that follows is based on a real-life situation. Morrell’s inspiration to become a writer was Stirling Silliphant, whose work for ‘Route 66’ and ‘Naked City’ made him one of the most acclaimed television writers of all time. Over the years, Morrell and Silliphant became friends, and one evening Silliphant confided that the TV networks were less interested in his work now that he was in his late sixties. His abilities hadn’t diminished and his work ethic remained in place, but the young executives who run the television industry decided that he couldn’t speak to the demographically desirable younger audience. Fed up with Hollywood, Silliphant had a Beverly Hills garage sale and moved to Bangkok, where he wrote what he wanted to and died of prostate cancer at the age of seventy-eight. Morrell dedicated this story to him.