David Morrell

The creator of Rambo (in his book First Blood) is less well known as the “father of the modern action novel,” and Morrell can probably be blamed at least in part for the ascendancy in pop culture of the damnable movement called “high concept” that has infected Hollywood output for the last couple of decades. But even if the best-selling author of Creepers and Scavenger unwittingly helped birth the empty-calorie action flick, his kick-butt books transcend such labels. Morrell’s latest is the techno-thriller The Shimmer, about the Marfa ghost lights of West Texas. The book has earned high praise from no less an authority than the great James Rollins.

Wed., July 15, 7 p.m., 2009