Rating: 
Summary: Conspiracy 'A-Go-Go'
Review: Slow moving tale of "The Godfather" meets "The Fugitive" meets "Whitewater". Full of wooden female characters and odd side trips to Catalina Island and Tel Aviv.Good info for anarchists on how to steal broadcast television bandwidth. My mom loved this book; she loved the 'A Team', too
Rating: 
Summary: A TV Movie disguised as a Novel
Review: Stephen J. Cannell is famous as one of the last independant TV producers, though I think he's about done being independant now. As a result, he's apparently turned to writing novels, the present work being the first of them. The Plan chronicles the supposed plot by the Mafia to "buy" themselves a president.
The main bad guy is the son of a mobster named Mickey Alo. Back in the 70s, our villain and his father meet with another mobster, and all three plot to buy a TV network with the intention of eventually running a tame senator for president. The eventual goal is to emasculate the FBI and get the RICO legislation declared unconstitutional.
It's time for our villain to launch his tame candidate on the trail to the White House, and as part of his campaign, the mobster hires his old prep school roommate, Ryan Bolt, to make the campaign biography documentary. The room mate is improbably ethical and has survival instincts worthy of a deep-cover spy or something on that level. He allies himself with your typical assemblage of people in this sort of story: a broken-down investigative reporter, a washed-up FBI agent, and of course the traitorous sister of the mobster bad guy.
The result is what you might say is the typical TV-Movie plot, written as a Novel. It's alright, if a bit over-written, and it certainly moves along briskly. There's a sort of insubstantial quality to it, as if you know while you're reading it that you're not going to remember a bit of this in several weeks. That being said, if you're looking for something to read on the plane or while lounging on the beach, this may be just the ticket.
Rating:
Summary: Hollywood Movie
Review: The central idea and the plot were very interesting, however some of the characters (such as Ryan and Lucinda) were to perfect. While the book shows a lot of real politician life, the heroes' adventures are very unreal.
Rating: 
Summary: An action-packed thriller that keeps you up at night.
Review: The fact that what took place in this novel could happen in real life is mind-boggling. I enjoyed this action-packed thriller because it came so close to the truth as we know it. It causes one to stop and think about previous elections of officials and how the media paints them depending on how much clout and money they possess. The characters can almost be matched with some of those well-known to us that hold high office today. This book kept be awake because it was one that you could not put down in the middle of a chapter. I will be looking for Stephen Cannell's books when I am bored with the usual shootem-ups.
Rating:
Summary: An easy read
Review: This novel reads very much like a Hollywood movie. Not that that is a totally bad thing, sometimes all people want is a mindless book to read. The characters are interesting and there are enough plot twists to keep me reading. I'm currently pecking my way through Final Victim. 3.5 stars.
Rating:
Summary: Split Decision
Review: When Stephen J Cannell is good, he's very good. When he's bad, well.... When he's bad he gives every single, minor, one-page character a nickname. It gets rather distracting when it descends to the Joseph "Joe" Green level. When he's good, he writes action sequences that grab you immediately and pull you into the book. Most of them are written well enough that it's easy to suspend your disbelief and just go along for the ride. And what a ride it is. Very fast-paced all the way through. The last 1/3 was a bit on the convoluted side, but not enough to make me stop reading. Not for the faint of heart. If you have problems with graphic violence, best skip this one. A whole lot of people are deleted violently on both sides of The Plan. While I would not rate this book as a standout, it did hold my interest and keep me turning pages. This was his first novel. I'll be reading more Cannell in the near future.
Rating:
Summary: Split Decision
Review: When Stephen J Cannell is good, he's very good. When he's bad, well.... When he's bad he gives every single, minor, one-page character a nickname. It gets rather distracting when it descends to the Joseph "Joe" Green level. When he's good, he writes action sequences that grab you immediately and pull you into the book. Most of them are written well enough that it's easy to suspend your disbelief and just go along for the ride. And what a ride it is. Very fast-paced all the way through. The last 1/3 was a bit on the convoluted side, but not enough to make me stop reading. Not for the faint of heart. If you have problems with graphic violence, best skip this one. A whole lot of people are deleted violently on both sides of The Plan. While I would not rate this book as a standout, it did hold my interest and keep me turning pages. This was his first novel. I'll be reading more Cannell in the near future.
Rating:
Summary: Politics Meets the Mob
Review: `The Plan' is hatched by the Mafia to back a presidential candidate and get him elected in order to use him as a puppet once he's in power. They don't like the RICO Act which essentially says that anyone with prior knowledge of a crime is deemed to be as guilty of the crime as the person who perpetrated it. They're keen to find a way to get the act overturned and this is the solution they have come up with. The two main protagonists are a couple of friends who had met at prep-school. Mickey Alo from New Jersey is the son of a mafia boss who will take over from his father when he dies and Ryan Bolt who lives in California and is an award-winning writer / executive producer. Ryan becomes involved with Mickey after being asked to do a documentary on his candidate. Things turn sour between the two ex-friends which ultimately casts them as enemies in the story. From this point on we are treated to two storylines, a presidential campaign in full swing, and a deadly hunt where only violence is the sure outcome. The action is fast-paced and I felt compelled to keep reading long into the night. If you enjoy books about the supposed behind the scenes action of a presidential race mixed with a bit of mob involvement and can handle a bit of violence, I think you'll enjoy this book.
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