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Hot Pursuit

A Novel

Roderick Thorp

Dedication

For Gladys

With Love

For My Family

Foreword

FOREWORD

Roderick Thorp wrote the manuscript for his last book, Hot Pursuit, in 1995.

I was Thorp’s agent until his death in 1999. We had great success in getting three of his novels made into films—Rainbow Drive, Devlin, and the now-iconic Die Hard.

His New York literary agent at that time tried to get Hot Pursuit published, but to no avail. I took it to many Hollywood producers in November 1995, and there were no takers.

Recently, for whatever reason, I began thinking about the story again. There was never an electronic version, and I couldn’t locate the manuscript of the original, so I called Rod’s son, Rod, to see if he might have a copy.

A few weeks later, he sent me one, which I read immediately and realized why it had haunted me for all these years. What an exciting read—a real page-turner. When I finished it, I had the same feeling I had when I first read Nothing Lasts Forever, which became the film Die Hard. The Hot Pursuit manuscript wasn’t perfect, but it was still compelling and had the makings of a great action film.

I contacted Thomas Ellsworth, the CEO and chairman of Premier Digital Publishing, about publishing this lost treasure. Ellsworth’s response was yes. And now that Premier Digital has joined Open Road Media, the book has a new home.

If the manuscript had been published earlier, an editor would have worked with Thorp on revisions prior to publication, but that is not the case. What you will read is exactly what Roderick Thorp wrote. Enjoy.

Judy Coppage

One

ONE

Shifting his weight from one foot to the other in the swiftly-moving Zodiac, Coast Guard Lieutenant Commander Sam Merrill played his maglite over the hull of the big wooden ketch riding low on the gently swelling, glassy sea. An old timer in soiled white paint, the ketch was fifty-five or sixty feet long at the waterline. And dismasted – the main mast was now an eight-foot stump, with sails and sheets draped over the gunwale, floating on the water. Merrill cut the little outboard down to a burbling idle and told his four sailors to listen.