Fireflies: A Father's Tale of Love and Loss

David Morrell

Dec 2011 · David Morrell

About this ebook

In the bestselling novels of suspense master David Morrell, fear is the main subject. But Morrell himself had never known genuine terror until he watched his 15-year-old son wage a heroic but doomed struggle with cancer. This is one father’s powerful and unforgettable story of fierce love, impenetrable loss, and an unexpected, breathtaking encounter with the miraculous. Ultimately, Fireflies is a tribute to the undying human spirit that has already given new hope to enthralled and grateful readers around the world. 

David wrote this account for himself, but to his surprise,
his candid portrait of grief turned out to help other people in grief or else
the friends of those in grief. His discussions about panic attacks as well as
the “could have, should have” syndrome and the stress within marriages after a
child’s death are some of the reasons that David was asked to deliver several
keynote speeches to national conferences of The Compassionate Friends, the
world’s largest grief organization—for the parents, siblings, grandparents, and
friends of children who have died.

 

“I found myself almost speechless….It left me feeling shaken, uplifted, and terribly moved.”
—Stephen King, New York Times bestselling author of Doctor Sleep 

 “A powerful experience I shall remember for a long, long time. Thank you, Mr. Morrell, for sharing so much love so electrifyingly.”
—Robert Ludlum, New York Times bestselling author of The Bourne Identity 

“I was enormously impressed….One of the most poignant and passionate religious quests you will ever read….Don’t miss this story of how good people respond to bad things.”
—Father Andrew M. Greeley, New York Times bestselling author of Angel Light 

“A story that should have meaning and truth for every parent.”
—Los Angeles Daily News 

“A heartbreaking and inspiring account of devotion in the face of death.”
—Detroit Free Press 

 

About the author

David Morrell, an award-winning Canadian writer of horror fiction, was born in 1943 in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada. He was educated at the University of Waterloo and earned his Ph.D. from Pennsylvania State University. Morrell is best known as the creator of John Rambo, the hero of his first novel, First Blood. The novel was adapted for screen and starred Sylvester Stallone. Although Morrell was not happy with the depiction of the Rambo character in the movie, he did write several sequels to First Blood and two further scripts for the sequels to the original movie. He also wrote a number of other books including The Brotherhood of the Rose which became a best seller in 1984. David Morrell has written one scholarly work, John Barth: An Introduction, published by Pennsylvania State University in 1977 and has taught at the University of Iowa. He now lives in the United States with his wife and daughter (another child, a son, is deceased).