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'House of Cards' novel comes to the US for the first time

'House of Cards' by Michael Dobbs is available electronically in America for the first time and will be available in print form this March. 'House of Cards' has been adapted for TV in the UK and the US.

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Nathaniel E. Bell/Netflix/AP
'House of Cards' stars Kevin Spacey (l.) and Robin Wright (r.).
  • By Molly Driscoll Staff Writer

Those in the US who enjoy the Machiavellian machinations of politician Frank Underwood (Kevin Spacey) on “House of Cards” can now find the character in literary form, too.

The novel “House of Cards” by Michael Dobbs, which was the basis for the original UK series and the US version, was originally published in 1989 and is now being released in America for the first time by the publisher Sourcebooks. It’s available in electronic form now and will be released in print on March 11 and the new version includes some sections rewritten by Dobbs as well as a new ending.

Dobbs was an advisor to former British prime ministers Margaret Thatcher, John Major, and David Cameron and was a chief of staff at the headquarters of the country’s conservative party.

“I’m incredibly excited to finally bring the series to the states,” the author said in a statement.

The two sequels to "Cards" that Dobbs wrote, "House of Cards: To Play the King" and "The Final Cut," will also be released by Sourcebooks sometime this year.

The UK TV adaptation ran in 1990. The first season of the American adaptation debuted on Netflix in 2013 and the second season was just made available online.

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