"Rambo" author has new novel based on Marfa lights

The author whose first book sparked the "Rambo" phenomenon is releasing his 30th novel today. David Morrell, a former University of Iowa English professor, says his new work of fiction, "The Shimmer," is based on the real-life mystery of bright colorful lights that are seen near the tiny town of Marfa, Texas. Morrell says there are reports of the unexplained lights dating back to 1889 when a rancher first spotted them darting in the darkness. "He saw the lights and he thought they were campfires from marauders from Mexico," Morrell says. "The problem is, campfires don't move around and don't go up and down, go sideways and change colors. He was terrified enough that he and the ranch hands got out their rifles and guarded the cattle and then the next morning, they went out to look but they found nothing." The basis for the original Rambo movie was Morrell's first book, "First Blood," which was published in 1972, when Morrell was in his second of 18 years of teaching English at the U-of-I. Morrell is now 66 and lives in New Mexico. He has more than 18-million copies of his books in print in 26 languages...RadioIowaNews