Sniper Truck (novel)

Truck  (1979) is the first in a series of 17 novels about sniper Jack Truck, written by Brendan M. Leonard. The character of John Truck is spun off from Snipers of the Soul, Leonard's off-Off Broadway play about a corrupt trucker's union.

Synopsis
Loosely based on Leonard's play Snipers of the Soul, the first Jack Truck novel finds the ex-military sniper and part-time assassin dealing with corruption in a local trucker's union.

History
The character of Jack Truck plays an important part in Snipers of the Soul, but he is not the central character. After finishing the play, Leonard became interested in developing the character further, re-fashioning the play as a novel in which Jack could be the main character.

The novel marks the first appearance of David Mann and Barney Fate. Mann, a veteran like Truck, is a professor of American history and freelance journalist who tips Truck off to the corruption. Barney Fate is a put-upon union rep who makes increasingly corrupt deals with the local mafia to keep the union afloat. (It's rumored, but never been confirmed, that David Simon is a fan of the Truck novels, and borrowed Barney's character when creating Frank Sobotka for season two of The Wire.) The characters were changed significantly for the film.

Upon its release in 1978, the novel was a commercial disappointment, despite high praise from other authors. The novel earned fans within the thriller community, but failed to gain an audience outside of the genre.

Film adaptation
In 1985, Golan-Globus and Nu Image partnered to option Leonard's book. Leonard helped write the picture with producer Séance Simonsen. The film, Sniper Truck, was hugely profitable, spawning a franchise, and re-invigorating interest in the original novel series.