Roderick Thorp

Roderick Mayne Thorp Jr., born on 1 September 1936 in the Bronx, New York City, and died on 28 April 1999, was an American novelist who specialized mainly in police procedurals and crime novels. His 1966 novel The Detective was adapted into a film of the same name in 1968. Its sequel, the bestselling novel Nothing Lasts Forever, published in 1979, later served as the basis for the film Die Hard, which made Thorp a creator of the entire media franchise of that name. Two other Thorp novels, Rainbow Drive and Devlin, were adapted into television movies. He also taught literature and lectured on creative writing at schools and universities in New Jersey and California.