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Title: Vertical Coffin : A Shane Scully Novel (Shane Scully Novels) by Stephen J. Cannell, Scott Brick ISBN: 1-55927-985-0 Publisher: Audio Renaissance Pub. Date: 23 January, 2004 Format: Audio CD Volumes: 3 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.81 (16 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Another well crafted thriller
Comment: Stephen J. Cannell continues to crank out story after story and never seems to tire or become stale. In his latest Shane Scully story two law enforcement agencies apparently declare war on each other. The LAPD loses a man while serving an all but unimportant warrent to Vincent Smiley, a cop wanna-be with a violent temper. Only later does it become apparent that the ATF knew that Smiley was likely to become violent and likely had a stash of weapons at his disposal. Later, officers and agents from both agencies are found dead. Shane Scully and his wife Alexa battle to get to the bottom of the case and save other lives that might be lost in a turf war.
Fast paced with characters that leap off the page at you, Vertical Coffin is a worthwhile read by an author that has more than proved himself. You won't regret the time you spend reading this book.
Rating: 5
Summary: Possibly Cannell's Best Novel to Date
Comment: Stephen J. Cannell recently celebrated his thirty-fifth year in what is commonly referred to as "show business." He has racked up some impressive statistics during that period. Cannell has been directly responsible for the creation of forty --- forty --- television series, many of which are still in syndication. He has also been the guiding creative hand behind a number of major motion pictures, and has recently become a spokesman for individuals affected with dyslexia.
During the past several years Cannell has also been writing novels that have achieved not only the commercial success one would expect but also much-deserved critical acclaim. At this point Cannell could probably phone in the plot and dialogue and still do well --- the man seems to be incapable of writing badly --- but he instead continues to demonstrate the craftsmanship and professionalism that have caused his work to be held in good stead during the past four decades.
VERTICAL COFFIN, Cannell's latest novel, is noteworthy on several levels. He has found a winning character in Los Angeles Police Officer Shane Scully, previously featured in the novels THE TIN COLLECTORS, THE VIKING FUNERAL and HOLLYWOOD TOUGH. Cannell continues to flesh out and develop Scully as he grows beyond the dimensions of the literary media. VERTICAL COFFIN finds Scully involved in a shootout, the result of a routine warrant service that goes horribly wrong. The carnage leaves an L.A. Sheriff's deputy --- Emo Rojas, a close friend of Scully's --- dead, a home destroyed, and a number of people asking why.
It appears that things went terribly wrong due to the negligence of the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, which gave the warrant to the Sheriff's Department but apparently neglected to mention that the subject of the warrant was thought to possess an arsenal of illegal weapons and explosives. This error results in Rojas's death, and the Sheriff's Department blames ATF for his death. The two agencies soon appear to be involved in a clandestine war, with first an ATF member and then an L.A. Sheriff being murdered in their homes. The mayor of Los Angeles, hoping to keep the violence from escalating, directs the LAPD to investigate. The investigation is handed to Scully, who in turn soon finds himself isolated between the two agencies, and he and his family are at risk.
Cannell's work throughout VERTICAL COFFIN, meanwhile, is absolutely first rate. His research into the hows and wherefores of SWAT team procedure and weaponry put the reader right in the strike vans; if you don't feel like you're choking on the gun smoke you're not reading closely enough. Cannell's plotting is meticulously detailed, complex yet simply told, so that it is impossible to lose the plot threads as they slowly but surely come together. He also pulls off a major coup by introducing a fascinating and unforgettable character within the last thirty-five pages of VERTICAL COFFIN, smoothly and plausibly integrating him into the storyline.
VERTICAL COFFIN is arguably Cannell's best novel to date. If you are not familiar with his other work, particularly the Shane Scully novels, this is the perfect place to begin what is sure to be a new literary addiction. If he continues on his present trajectory, Cannell may ultimately become better known for his novels than for his film work.
--- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub
Rating: 5
Summary: Humanity and humor in a chase thriller
Comment: TV writer-producer and novelist Stephen J. Cannell, who has been involved in the production of some 40 TV series, knows the politics and defense mechanisms of law enforcement agencies like few others. Through his central character, Shane Scully, an LAPD investigator with a steady and steely approach, he gets us deeply embroiled in a jusrisdictional hurricane when SWAT units from the L.A. Sheriff's Departent and another from the ATF botch up a raid.
Scully himself, can be a bit of a bad boy, prone to bar brawls followed by face-saving denials and apologies to cool his wife Alexa's anger, not only from a matrimonial viewpoint but that of a superior officer on the force. Preserving both parts of this relationship is a balancing act weighted with humor and love. When our misbehaving hero, in an attempt to mollify Alexa's understandable rage with an offer of lunch, she responds with, "I don't break bread with lawless brawlers." "I was not brawling," he insists, "I barely hit anybody." "Noon at the Peking Duck," she snaps back. An example of Cannell's fine, good humor.
The story gets into action mode when homeowner, cop-wannabe Vincent Smiley shoots popular deputy Emo Rojas through the door (a "vertical coffin") as he was attempting to serve what he thought was a routine misdemeanor weapons warrant. He had no idea how unroutine this warrant service was going to be since the issuing agency, the ATF, forgot to mention Smiley'd been showing off his arsenal of heavy weapons and C-4 explosive to neighbors. The death sets off a battle with SWAT teams from different agencies who barricade the house while under fire from the renegade resident. Scully pulls his friend Emo's body from the porch even as Smiley is shooting his AK-47 from an upstairs window. The battle ends in a WACO-style burndown and a charred body. Two long-range assassinations of SWAT officers follow, adding to a twisting set of mysteries about what actually happened and to whom. Nothing is as it appears.
As political pressures force administrators (even Alexa!) to make wrong decisions, Scully, assigned to the investigation, fights their desire for a quick close to the case based on assumptions. He has his own tested methods which don't support the conclusions everyone is jumping to.
This is a powerfully written action thriller with a gut-punch here and there, tempered by human sensibility and model marital compatibility. Cannell places high value on hard action and private passions illuminated by an impressive inside knowledge of law enforcement. His twists are models of plot plausibility and he may just get a movie offer.
(Review originally in NoHo>LA, a Los Angeles newspaper)
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Title: The Narrows: A Novel by Michael Connelly ISBN: 0316155306 Publisher: Little, Brown Pub. Date: 03 May, 2004 List Price(USD): $25.95 |
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Title: Runaway Heart: A Novel by Stephen J. Cannell, Stephen Cannell ISBN: 0312304269 Publisher: St. Martin's Press Pub. Date: 11 July, 2003 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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Title: Hidden Prey by John Sandford ISBN: 039915180X Publisher: Putnam Publishing Group Pub. Date: 11 May, 2004 List Price(USD): $26.95 |
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Title: The Enemy (Child, Lee) by Lee Child ISBN: 0385336675 Publisher: Delacorte Press Pub. Date: 11 May, 2004 |
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Title: The Hanged Man's Song by John Sandford ISBN: 0399151397 Publisher: G. P. Putnam's Sons Pub. Date: 10 November, 2003 List Price(USD): $25.95 |
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