Rating: 
Summary: Humanity and humor in a chase thriller
Review: 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)
Visit review site: http://variagate.com/revumain.htm?amazon
Rating:
Summary: Oooo, Shane. We never knew you were so sensitive.
Review: Actually I'm having some fun here. Mr. Cannell does two things different than in the earlier Shane Scully genre. One works and one . . . I'm not sure of.
First of all, having read some of the other "Hollywood" writers, Cannell is clearly the best at putting out the visual, articulate, Hollywood pulp detective novel. And Scully is a great Hollywood dick, tough on crime, loyal to his friends, anti-management and with a strong moral compass.
Here he addresses the assassination of his friend Sheriff Emo Rojas. It gives Cannell an opportunity to explore and enhance Shane's diverse circle of friends, especially his partnering and emotional liason with the lesbian sheriff assigned to work with him. This reminded me of Spenser's work with Rachel Wallace in "Searching for Rachel Wallace," an excellent novel in its own right well before its time. But Cannell does a very nice job here and it leads Scully to have some serious conversations with himself on the slippery topics of where is he going, with his wife, with his son, with the job, with himself. This, by the way, is extremely well presented.
The part I didn't necessarily support is his wife, heretofore presented as an equal, who comes off, well, whining and witchy.
Alexa has always been the ying to Scully's yang, and here she clearly can't handle the load. Up to this point Mr. Cannell has treated her with well deserved deference; here she comes off like an anonymous 'chick.'
All in all, excellent Shane Scully. Cannell is still the man. 5 Stars. Larry Scantlebury
Rating:
Summary: One of Cannell's best!
Review: Cannell ads another winner to the Shane Scully series with this book.
Rating:
Summary: Scully's at it again, better than ever
Review: Cannell manages to infuse wit and true intrigue into the often-tired good guy/bad guy genre. Shane Scully is back, a bit more sensitive than we remembered, but still full of sarcasm, and he has a great partner in Jo Brickhouse, a female cop ready to go against him toe to toe. Shane's wife Alexa is a bit of a shrew and self-absorbed in this book and son Chooch remains extremely annoying. I think Cannell thinks his stories through and takes his time writing dialogue and developing actual plots, infusing them with twists and turns that are plain fun to read. The tone of Vertical Coffin is decidedly darker than Hollywood Tough, and the story took a few chapters to get interesting, but once the basic Sheriff vs. ATF scenario was set, it was hard to put this book down.
Rating:
Summary: Another BESTSELLER to be sure!
Review: Fabulous storyteller Stephen J. Cannell, has another bestseller on his hands to be sure with his newest offering, "Vertical Coffin."The characters are exciting and the plot is a real crowd pleaser! Once I started this book I didn't want to put it down. Yes, it was that exciting! This book has everything the reader prays for in books of this genre. VERTICAL COFFIN is the book to top in this genre! I'd give this fabulous writer (10) stars if that were an option!
Rating:
Summary: Cannell's on top of his game
Review: Fast paced, easy two-night read. Cannell's character study of Det. Scully strikes just the right balance between interesting introspection, action and believable dialogue. Hard to figure out who the real villains are until close to the end, and then he brings it home in a rush. One of the best yet from Cannell.
Rating:
Summary: First Rate Action from the Master Storyteller!
Review: I would just like to say that for my money, the Shane Skully series by master storyteller Stephen Cannell shows us once more that this author is truly a genius. Nothing he produces is less than exciting, gripping, intelligent and highly entertaining. The Skully tales would rival James Bond for sheer excitement and drama if made into a motion picture series. In the "Vertical Coffin", I particularly enjoyed the passages which take place in the "Chocolate Mountains", since I live only minutes away in Palm Springs. Bravo Mr. Cannell....another winner here!
Rating: 
Summary: Confusing
Review: I'm sorry but this book is bad. The writing is terrible, the characters thin and unbelivable but mainly I could NOT keep the players straight! Who was that? FBI? LAPD? LASD? Who did what to whom? And why? WHO CARES! I forced myself to page 194 and then "Vertical Coffins" became a wall banger. The entire sub-plot with Cooch or whatever this kid's name is, made no sense and I can only think it was filler. Don't know - don't care. I read three to six books a week - mostly mysteries and this is one of the worst I've tried to plow through. I always think the hallmark of a poor writer is ... an alliterative character name. If the writer doesn't have the imagination to come up with good charater names, you can be pretty sure the rest of the book isn't good.
Rating: 
Summary: Not Hollywood Tough, but good enough
Review: I've read all four Scully novels, and this is a close second to "Hollywood Tough." As with the previous two, Cannell does a good job of making sure that you can enjoy this book without having read its predecessors, which is good news for those who aren't familiar with Mr. Cannell's books. Mr. Cannell does a great job showing Scully as an investigative talent whose bosses should just leave him alone, and it's great fun seeing Scully continue to prove his detractors wrong. The plot is as good of a cop mystery as you're likely to find. Where this book, which is otherwise perfect, loses its one star in my eyes is (spoilers following) in a.) not letting Scully come up with the idea that kills the bad guy, b.) not making the bad guy suffer enough, and c.) killing off the wrong one of the two injured cops at the end. One's career was clearly over after the loss of a limb, the other would have been a phenomenal recurring character. I honestly feel that "Hollywood Tough" was a little bit better than this one, but this was great. If not for the three aforementioned "strikes," this could have been the greatest cop novel ever written.
Rating:
Summary: powerful police procedural
Review: Los Angeles Deputy Sheriff Emo Rojas is handing out a routine warrant when Vincent Smiley kills him. Cops kill Vincent, but that is not the end of the story. The Sheriff's Department is outraged not because one of them was gunned down. With the amount of ammo stored inside Smiley's abode, they believe that the Bureau of Alcohol, Firearms, and Tobacco knew what their deceased comrade was walking into, but provided no warning. Not long afterward, AFT Special Reaction Team member Billy Greenridge lies in a coffin with his compatriots convinced that this was payback for Emo's death. The only major neutral law enforcement group in Southern California is LAPD. The brass assigns Sergeant Shane Scully to keep the peace between the hostile armies by solving the second homicide. Shane alienates not only both bellicose sides but his wife and other superiors as he defies everyone by investigating Smiley, but not as a "suicide by cop" victim as his superiors including his wife believe. The latest Scully tale is the best to date as the key players from both armed camps, several criminal elements, LAPD especially the hero's wife, his temporary Internal Affairs partner, and Shane seem so real. The tempers flaring make Shane's endeavor that much more difficult, but as a consequence that is more fun for the audience. Stephen J. Cannell is at the top of his game with this powerful police procedural that has the Blue Knights ready to war with one another unless Shane can prove in a rapid response that Greenridge's death was caused by a third party. Harriet Klausner
|
