We recently received an email from Reader Leigh-Ann, asking for some help finding heroic Conrads! Here’s what she said:
My friend Conrad is going into the Marines this December. One day, we were talking about this and the fact that I read nine or ten books a week, and he said that every time he sees a character with his name in a book, that character is a villain.
Conrad does not read romance, however! I am convinced that there must be many heroes and awesome support characters named Conrad. I want to buy him a few books with Conrad-heroes for when bootcamp is over. Especially if there are any characters named Conrad who are also Marines.
Can we think of some non-villainous Conrads out there? Let’s help Leigh-Ann (and Conrad) out!
If no one finds one, I say we group collaborate and write one!
There’s Dark Needs at Night’s Edge, although the hero Conrad starts out as an evil Vampire. Is that help or just confirmation that Conrad’s are evil?
There’s the Conrad Stargard books by Leo Frankowski. An entire series with a hero named Conrad! It’s SF, not Romance, and the books really aren’t that good, but hey, the hero’s got the right name! And there’s even military stuff in the books!
Not romance, but there’s Diana Wynne Jones’s “Conrad’s Fate”, one of her Chrestomanci books.
I’ve definitely read a few Intrigues with Conrads in them, but that doesn’t mean I remember which ones they were. Here’s one, though not one I’ve read: http://www.harlequin.com/storeitem.html;jsessionid=77F0B2E13C4DE25E25B49B8552255F02?cid=225&iid=29954
Googling “Harlequin Intrigue Conrad” is somewhat difficult just because of Linda Conrad and how often she is in the results.
These already sound good. Thanks, all! I’ve read Conrad’s Fate, I should have thought of that one… I’m going to pick up all/most of these. I’m sure Conrad Stargard will go over well, and Covert Cowboy is pretty close to exactly what I was thinking of.
Dark Needs at Night’s Edge by Kresley Cole. Conrad is a vampire who falls in love with a female ghost. They have a happy ending.
Operation Sheba by Misty Evans. Conrad is a CIA agent. He has a happy ending – in love.
@Jane Stewart Completely agree with both stories! I especially loved Cole’s Conrad.
There’s a “Con” in JoBev’s Company of Rogues series. Give me a minute to see if he’s Conrad….
Con Somerford, The Dragon’s Bride. I can’t see from the excerpts and such if he’s a Conrad, though!
Conrad Richter in Suzanne Brockmann’s Seals series – Hot Target?
@Faellie actually the hero of Hot Target is Cosmo Richter not Conrad.
Definitely not a romance, but an excellent book: Conrad in Ordinary People by Judith Guest.
All or Nothing by Catherine Mann
Who is Conrad Hirst? by Kevin Wignall (Edgar Allen Poe finalist but the protag is a hitman so…)
I like this website for finding a particular romance hero’s or heroine’s name: http://historicalromancewriters.com/hero.cfm According to the list, the hero of Victoria Holt’s THE JUDAS KISS is a Conrad.
Thanks to your friend Conrad for his service!
According to librarything.com, Con Somerford is not a Conrad. He’s a George Connaught “Con” Somerford, Viscount Amleigh, Earl of Wyvern.
What about telling him about the American writer Conrad Richter? I adored several of his books as a young woman – The Light in the Forest, his trilogy The Awakening Land. Really good writer, although I don’t think he named any of his heroes after himself…
The hero of the famous ballet ‘Le Corsair’ is a handsome, swashbuckling pirate called Conrad. It’s based on a famous poem by Lord Byron.
oops.
If he is willing to accept a surname, there is Joseph Conrad who wrote Heart of Darkness, among a number of other books. His life was also adventurous, in itself.
Not really a romance hero, but a real hero for motivation.
Ace mountaineer. 🙂
https://www.facebook.com/ConradAnkerOfficial
Barbara Cartland’s Journey to Paradise. I’m not suggesting he’d enjoy it or anything, but the hero’s name is Conrad and you should be able to find a copy with a truly amazing cover for very little.
I also found The Captain’s Frozen Dream by Georgie Lee, in which our hero Conrad is an arctic explorer. Or perhaps The Woman for Dusty Conrad by Toni Carrington? Dusty is a first name, not a descriptor, alas. I haven’t read these, I’ve just been poking around on google.
The first book I read with a heroine who shared my name was Wuthering Heights and it was fairly traumatizing, so I feel his pain.
from Librarything.com
http://www.librarything.com/search.php?search=conrad&searchtype=14&searchtype=14&sortchoice=0
a search for characters with Conrad in their name!! and links to the books!!
Have Fun!!
(I “heart” LT)
I second the Joseph Conrad recommendation. You can download his complete works from Amazon for 99 cents. I’m reading his non-fiction essays right now and loving them. His fiction doesn’t speak to me. IMHO he’s the consummate man’s writer, so your friend might enjoy them as well as his memories of life at sea making the transition from sail to steam in the merchant marine.
I thought there was a Conrad who was a young hero of comic novels (and actually a bit of a rascal) from the 1920s but I was misremembering Penrod by Booth Tarkington. Oh well!
Sorry, I can’t think of any books with Conrads, but the name makes me think of the song from the musical Bye Bye Birdie:
We love you, Conrad
Oh yes we do
We love you, Conrad
And will be true
When you’re not with us
We’re blue
Oh, Conrad, we love you
Norwegian crime author Karin Fossum writes about Inspector Konrad Sejer. I haven’t read them but I’ve heard she’s good. Konrad is “a smart and enigmatic hero, tough but fair”, says the description.
I have a serialized story with a relatively heroic Conrad: http://addergoole.com/ Addergoole, a dark fantasy story set in an underground boarding school.
And the Conrad Birdie from “Bye, Bye Birdie” in the song posted above is even going into the service, so your friend should definitely see the film. (Conrad Birdie is a blatant copy of Elvis Presley.)
@Andrea D, @tealadytoo: I confess that Conrad Birdie was the first (and only) one that came to mind when I read the request. A viewing of the movie would be very appropriate for Leigh-Ann’s friend!
Since the seeker of Conrad as hero said her friend did not read romances, I did some checking with my mystery sources. I came up with two series that star heroic Conrads.
Ethan Black is the author of the Conrad Voort series which is five novels starring a New York City detective.
Thomas Greanias writes about Conrad Yeats who is an archeaologist involved in international intrigue in the Atlantis trilogy.
I have not read either series (yet), but both have good reviews. I hope this helps.
Virginia