[.ca] Vertical Coffin: A Shane Scully Novel (ISBN 1559279850)

Humanity and humor in a chase thriller:
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)

Strong Partnership:
This is the 4th book in the Shane Scully series, a series that, I think, is getting stronger with each new book, particularly when it comes to the development of Scully, both as a policeman and as a family man. The preceding Shane Scully books are THE TIN COLLECTORS, THE VIKING FUNERAL and HOLLYWOOD TOUGH. The story opens with all-out action when Vincent Smiley, a cop-hater, decides to wreak his vengeance on the various law enforcement agencies by shooting a sheriff's deputy who tried to serve him with a warrant. The agency actually responsible for the origin of the warrant was the ATF. What the ATF failed to warn the sheriff's department about was that Smiley was suspected of hoarding a huge stockpile of weapons and explosives in his house. Sheriff's deputies, tactical response teams and the ATF descend on Smiley's house where he is firing indiscriminately from every window, daring the police to attack him. They finally do attack with the result seeing the house with Smiley inside, burning to the ground. In the aftermath of the incident blame is passed between the elite forces of the sheriff's department and the ATF over the handling of the incident with neither group convinced that the other is telling the truth as to their knowledge about how dangerous Smiley was. What follows would be the police force's worst nightmare when the bad feeling between the two agencies escalates to the brink of outright war when first, a member of the ATF's SRT (Situation Response Team) is shot by a sniper then a member of the sheriff's department's SEB (Special Enforcement Bureau) is shot and killed in exactly the same way. Shane Scully, as a homicide detective with the LAPD and consequently independent of the two agencies involved, is asked to investigate the original shooting and subsequent fire. The fact is that he is asked to investigate by his boss, who also happens to be his wife, Alexa because she can trust him over all other detectives to get the job done. Of course, how can he refuse, but what he is not prepared for is the assignation of a partner from the sheriff's department, an IAD officer no less, named Jo Brickhouse. This partnership quickly becomes the classic hate-hate relationship that is to gradually thaw out to respect, admiration and trust. Although it's been done many times before, I thought it was a particularly strong part of the book and helps define Scully both as a police officer and as a family man. The pressure that Scully comes under in this case is like no other he has experienced before. Firstly, Alexa continually questions his investigation techniques and second guesses him because results don't come quickly enough for her. Secondly, Brickhouse refuses to concede anything to him, particularly not that he might be carrying out a thorough investigation. All of this added pressure creates an atmosphere of desperation that had me hoping just a little harder than usual that Scully would make the right decisions. (Silly me). I must admit, I saw where this story was going from pretty early on and so, by the time Scully had uncovered the clues and made the earth-shattering revelation, my reaction was merely one of satisfaction that my own sleuthing was vindicated. However, I will pardon Scully for not getting there as quickly as I did, considering the personal pressure he was working under at the time. This is a highly charged thriller combining an interesting mystery to be solved with strong character interactions. It takes the usual antagonisms between different law enforcement agencies to a new level, turning heroes into villains, at times unjustly. The resolution of Scully's case provides a strong finale followed by a bittersweet ending suggesting the series won't end here.

One of Cannell's best!:
Cannell ads another winner to the Shane Scully series with this book.

Not Hollywood Tough, but good enough:
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.

Cannell Just Gets Better and Better:
You may never look at a doorway in the same manner after reading this novel. The title refers to the fact that SWAT teams refer to doors in this manner as they are most vulnerable to being shot when they are in one. As this story starts to unwind, a LA Sheriff's Deputy is gunned down as he tries to serve a warrant on a person suspected of harboring automatic weapons. The shooter then barracades himself inside his house and using an AK-47 takes on the Sheriff Department's SWAT along with an ATF SWAT team that arrives on the scene. During a ferocious gun battle, the ATF fires hot gas grenades into the house and it catches on fire which quickly turns into an inferno and then a bunch of massive explosions as weapons and other material in the garage are touched off. End of gun fight. LAPD officer Shane Scully finds himself in the middle of the matter as he has heard the transmissions about the officer being shot and believes it is a friend of his. He was right. Dead right. After the ashes cool the debris yeilds what is left of a burned body in an upstairs bathtub. DNA evidence makes it a perfect match with the shooter. With that aspect of the case closed, recriminations start to fly about what ATF was doing on the scene and why they fired hot gas into the house, endangering the entire neighborhood. It is then discovered that ATF had asked the Sherrif's Department to serve the warrant and didn't advise of the extent of their suspicions about the type of person that was being served. Things go from bad to badder after the funeral of the deputy when the two SWAT teams end up in the same bar with predictable results. Shortly thereafter, one of the ATF officers is shot by a sniper. The evidence begins to pile up indicating a SWAT Unit War and Scully as neither ATF or SD is asked to investigate the matter by the Mayor and get to the bottom of who is doing what. The answer will astound you and I'm not going to give it away. What I will tell you is that Cannell has once again written a real page turner that lacks nothing in the way of action, intrigue and human relationships. (He could stand to brush up on his bridge game terminology, but that's a small matter that I just couldn't resist mentioning.) I'm already looking forward to the next one.