This is a much more interesting version of the "First Blood" story than you get with the Sly Stallone movie. The characters are all flawed in some way and driven by their own inner demons and it makes for a much more compelling story. Highly recommended.

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From New York Times bestselling author David Morrell comes the novel upon which the box office superhit Rambo was based. First came the man: a young wanderer in a fatigue coat and long hair. Then came the legend, as John Rambo sprang up from the pages of First Blood to take his place in the American cultural landscape. This remarkable novel pits a young Vietnam veteran against a small town cop who doesn't know whom he's dealing with -- or how far Rambo will take him into a life-and-death struggle through the woods, hills, and caves of rural Kentucky.
1973 Fawcett 256pgs

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Good adventure.

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This of course is the novel that First Blood, the movie starring Sylvester Stallone, was based on. The book was published in 1972, at the height of the Vietnam War. It tells the story of a Vietnam vet named Rambo who had served as a Green Beret and was hitchhiking through Kentucky. His hair is long, he has a long beard, and is unkempt and unwashed. As he arrives in Madison, Kentucky, the local sheriff, Teasle, sees him and promptly gives him a ride to the other side of town and tells him to keep moving. Rambo doesn't appreciate being told what to do so he returns to town and is again escorted back to the town line. He returns again and Teasle arrests him for vagrancy and resisting arrest. He is strip searched, showered, and Teasle wants his hair and beard cut. But as the deputies try to shave him, Rambo rebels and escapes naked into the streets, steals a motorcycle and heads into the surrounding mountains. Thus starts the conflict between Teasle and Rambo which doesn't bode well for either of them.

After reading this, I decided to rewatch the movie version which I hadn't seen since it came out in the 1980s.

Although I had always considered it a really good action yarn, the book was much better in my opinion. There were quite a few differences between the two. First the movie takes place in Washington State rather than Kentucky. I felt that although Rambo was violent in the movie, in the book he was a much deadlier person who killed with little compunction. The book also gave a much better insight into the minds of both Rambo and Teasle alternating chapters describing their thought processes. Neither was very likable but overall the book was a really terrific thriller. And the ending to the story was different from the movie. I have read several other Morrell novels and I'm glad I finally got around to this one which has been on my shelves for several years.

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I have read this. I'm waiting a while to read the others in this series, others where Rambo, who does not live to the end of this one, comes back alive to make more stories & money.

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