I picked up a copy of
First Blood yesterday and am about halfway through it. You can tell it was his first novel. The writing skills and descriptions are a little fuzzy and his knowledge of weapons and tactics is laughable. I'm thinking the reason this novel was such a smash hit was because of the political climate of the time of publication (1972). If it were published today it would probably crap out.
Much different from the movie. The book has a huge bodycount so far. All of Teasle's men have been killed, leaving only him and Rambo in the woods. I'm fixin' to start Part III. The state police will be showing up in the next few pages.