First Blood by David Morrell
Publisher: Ballentine
Copyright: 1972
Edition shown: 1st Ballentine edition paperback, November 1982
Tagline: “Nobody in the small Kentucky town knew his name was Rambo. All they knew was that he was a stranger… and that he looked like trouble. Rambo was trouble. The Army had trained him in the art of killing and now he did not know how to stop.”
Comments: The novel was written a decade before it was made into a movie. David Morrell is one of my favorite writers [and has been since I first read this book in 1973]. If you haven’t read First Blood, you should!
– Craig Zablo