Customer Reviews

Hollywood Tough: A Shane Scully Novel

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Stephen Cannell's latest Shane Scully novel returns the reader to Los Angeles one year after Shane and his beautiful wife/partner/boss Alexa barely survived The Viking Funeral (St. Martin's, January 2002 and December 2002 softcover). Shane is completing medical leave recuperation from injuries received in that story. He and Alexa, happily married, and Shane's son "Chooch" seemingly have adjusted well to all of their traumas, and Shane is wondering what kind of new duty he will draw, and if he will be working under his wife, who has progressed rapidly up the LAPD promotion ladder. Things cannot stay serene for long, however.
Shane and Alexa attend an engagement party for Alexa's best friend, who has been star-crossed for lovers. At the party, Shane meets Nicky Marcella, one of his former clients/snitch, a con man who has become a movie producer. He asks Shane to help him locate an old friend whom he wants to cast in his new movie, but he can't locate her. Also, Shane overhears the groom to be making an arch comment about never needing a divorce - his previous wives died after he tired of the! Shane is suspicious and over Alexa's objections starts to investigate. He also finds the missing actress, who is now a doped-up prostitute. He reports back to Nicky, and then forgets about it - until he is called out to a crime scene to identify her tortured body and explain why she had his business card. Now Shane is angry and pushes on to discover an East Cost mafia family trying to wedge into the Hollywood unions, a merging of street gangs to take over narcotics trafficking in LA, and ends up fronting a sting that before he knows it is really producing a megamillion dollar movie. And then the gang involvement reaches in and entangles his son.
It all works out in the end, and Shane doesn't really get to be a movie magnet. It is a suspense-filled story with lots of action. Cannell can be counted on for a good story, whether in one of his novels or one of his movies. This one is true to form.

Stephen Cannell has written his third book in his Shane Scully series. This tale involves the whole Scully family that has been created over the three books, and a deputy chief that allows his officers to do anything they wish. Gone is the hard-boiled edge Cannell has put into his previous books. Cannell has run out of ideas for this series and has failed in his attempt to keep it fun. "Tin Collectors" was by far the best work of this series. This tale drags on for 300 some pages, and is not worth the time or the money. The 3 stars is a gift. I hope he can do better in the next one.

Yes, it's true. Shane and Alexa are back in action, now married and living in Shane's small house in Venice CA with Shane's son Chooch. Alexa's long time friend Nora Bishop is getting married, and after a series of bad boyfriends she has finally landed Farrell Champion, big name movie producer.

When Alexa and Shane attend a party splattered with big name stars at Farrell's house, Shane runs into a no-name street grifter from the streets named Nicky Marcella. Nicky claims to be running a legitimate movie production company named Cine-Roma, and also claims to be partnered with Champion. He asks Shane for a favor in return for all the informing he had done in the past for LAPD, namely, find a girl named Carol White that Nicky wanted to star in his next movie.

Alexa is called away from the party for a big-time gang shooting, and as Shane is leaving separately, he overhears Farrell mentioning something about poisoning his two previous wives. Shane proceeds to find Carol, a used up junkie selling her body for fixes, and also discovers a strange plot to overtake the IATSE union by a mobster named Dennis Valentine from back east. When Carol is found brutally murdered, her death touches Shane deep inside, bring him face to face with the demons that keep him on the police force.

Shane realizes that somehow, Nicky, Dennis, Farrell, and the gang shootings are related, and vows to avenge Carol's useless death by discovering the truth behind the bizarre mob connections in the glamorous world of show business.

While Cannell's `The Viking Funeral' took a turn into the darker side of existence, `Hollywood Tough' makes up for it by skirting along an almost comedic edge of the seedier side of the movie industry. There's a script that makes no sense to be purchased from a Scientology-type religious fanatic, the movie star Michael Fallon who has so many phobias he has to track them on paper, a producer named Paul Lubick who's ego is only outsized by the massive redwood trees he imports for a ceiling shot, and Nicky Marcella's buzz-word wanna-be actions.

This time Shane may have bitten off more than he can chew, and as he slides into his own undercover world of glamour and glitz, he realizes the seductress's pull of the lifestyle and how close he finds himself submitting to its temptations. Also introduced in `Hollywood Tough' is Chooch's girlfriend Delfina, who to me turned out to be disappointingly shallow in comparison to the other brightly painted characters from the story.

Cannell again uses words to graphically sketch a rolling video in my head, the plot folding and twisting around one of my favorite book-cops of all. A fast and energetic read, don't miss out on the Shane Scully books, The Tin Collectors, The Viking Funeral, and now Hollywood Tough. Enjoy!

This is the third Shane Scully book and he seems to at least be trying to settle down to domestic bliss. Or at least he would, if only his job wouldn't keep intruding on his family.

Scully seeks revenge on the killer of a hooker, murdered after he had tracked her down for one of his information sources. He is driven by a sense of guilt and responsibility. His most likely is an East Coast mobster who is trying to move in on the Hollywood scene by controlling the movie industry's unions. His method of attack is to go undercover as, of all things, a movie producer. His eyes are well and truly opened and a lot of fun is poked at the Hollywood movie industry when production begins on his movie (which is never meant to get made) and expenses begin to rocket out of control.

A parallel story involves an escalating gang-war that his wife (and boss) Alexa, who is head of the Detective Services Group is trying to calm. It soon becomes apparent that the two stories are going to overlap, but how and to what effect remains the mystery.

This is another compelling mystery that takes you from the extravagance of the Hollywood movie scene, right down to the mean streets of LA and the gangs who inhabit them. Plenty of action and a grandstand finish helps to make it a very enjoyable read. It has also left plenty of scope for a future Shane Scully book.

Among my favorite books is King Con! I have bought many copies to give as gifts to friends. I buy Stephen Cannell always hoping to find another King Con.

The best character in this book is a marmalade cat named Franco. The plot goes off in many different directions! It never really hangs together. The shoot-out at the end is ridiculous. People who are supposed to be competent and intelligent make idiotic decisions. Scully's wife (groomed to be head of Dectives at LAPD) is so sweet and kind and thoughtful (and dumb)! Would LAPD groom such a woman to be head of detectives? Well, maybe in real life - but it just doesn't work in this story. Too many characters; too many subplots; racial stuff, gangs, Hollywood, the Mafia, family issues, movie making. I thought Cannell must have had a deadline for producing a book and looked through his file of old ideas and threw a bunch together and did his best to contrive a plot to connect disparate ideas. This book doesn't say anything, doesn't do anything. It's a dud. Don't bother.

Cannell manages in his Shane Scully novels to combine interesting and almost plausible plots with three-dimensional characters who talk and behave like real people. The dialogue is often brilliant, with terrific one liners and sarcasm to keep the reader's interest. My favorite characters with Cannell are the antagonists, in this case the contradictory Dennis Valentine and the squirmy, hilarious Nicky Marcela. The plot is entertaining enough, but I love the book for the interactions between the characters. Yes, everyone is uniformly handsome/gorgeous. Yes, there are shallow LA stereotypes on every page. The two main complaints I had were with the extraneous gang plot and the incredibly annoying character of Chooch, Shane's obnoxious and stupid son. I think Cannell writes the kind of books Stuart Woods attempts (but SW seems to lack the creativity and lively dialogue to be mentioned in the same breath).

Back for a third time, Shane Scully just can't just settle into his work at LAPD. Things keep getting in the way. He overhears the fiancee of a family friend joke about have poisoned his first two wives. He decides to check the guy out and not only is it not a joke, the guy is a protected government witness. Then his son, after being released from on of the LA gangs at a younger age, gets involved with the sister of one of the leaders of one of the gangs that is at war in LA. And, wouldn't you know it Shane's wife is head of the LAPD Task force trying to stop the gang warfare. She is not amused by this or several other things going on between Shane, his son and the gang leader. And then, just to further occupy his time, Shane gets involved in a sting operation which involves producing a movie. Doesn't leave much time for detective work, but it does keep things jumping throughout the book. Cannell is a good story teller and he does manage to weave the various threads of the story into an entertaining read.

Let me start off by saying I like Stephen Cannell. There's a certain type of writing he excels at. It's action packed, not hard to figure out. Good guys prevail, bad guys get the stuffing kicked out of them.

It's also predictable, superficial, anticipated and expected. It is, for the most part, like TV. It is in fact, TV.

It's difficult to feel nervous about Shane. We know at the end of the day he's going to have an Amstel Light, hug his son, and have life changing sex with his model-like wife. How bad can it get?

The problem with TV is of course, it's there to sell the sponsor and is never, never very believable. Ergo, the take-off on the reality shows. Who gives a hoot about greedy people with tattoos and abs, except that for the first time since the 70's, we're not really certain how it's going to end.

Not so with Shane, Chooch and Alexa. We know what's going to happen. Shane overhears one of his wife's friend's boyfriend say that he murdered his two ex-wives. Now that's a plausible beginning to a novel. So he follows up on that. And gets hooked up with the New Jersey mob. And Chooch's girlfriend gets kidnapped, and Shane starts a movie company.

Actually, it's a fun kind of story. And it has it's place. It won't be quoted like Dickens or mistaken for Leo Tolstoy.

But see, that's why we stopped watching TV and turned to reading, and that's why we implore our children to stop watching television. Because it's shallow, superficial and unchallenging.

So I can't disregard Stephen Cannell. In fact I like him and I will continue to read him. But he's not going to have me sweat like The Guards did, or Lehane does, or Elmore Leonard or James Lee Burke.

But boychik, don't be a goniff. Love 'ya. Loved your work. Keep it up babe. Ciao.

Stephen J. Cannell would have an impressive resume even if he had never decided to try his hand at writing novels. His tracks are all over television. Cannell has created more than forty television series and it is almost impossible to channel surf at night without running into one of his celluloid children, be it The Rockford Files, The Commish or The 'A' Team. I fully expect to turn on the television one night and find myself watching a new network called The Cannell Channel. Hmmm...wait a minute, while I trademark that. Anyway, Cannell has also been racking up an ever- and always-impressive list of novels. I was amazed to discover that HOLLYWOOD TOUGH, his latest, is also his eighth. It's hard to believe but he's working on his own shelf as well --- he certainly deserves one.

Cannell has carved his own niche in the adventure market with titles that include THE DEVIL'S WORKSHOP and RIDING THE SNAKE. THE TIN COLLECTORS and THE VIKING FUNERAL, his last two novels, however, have featured Shane Scully, an LAPD detective who has had his ups and downs. Scully returns once again in HOLLYWOOD TOUGH. Nora Bishop, the best friend of Scully's wife, Alexa, is engaged to Farrell Champion, an A-List movie director who appears ready to give Bishop the happiness she has so long sought. However, at an engagement party for the couple, Scully overhears Champion make an offhand, seemingly joking remark about the deaths of his two ex-wives. Scully's cop instincts are aroused and, against his wife's wishes, he begins investigating Champion. He soon finds that Champion appears to be a man without a past, someone who seemingly materialized out of nowhere.

At the same time, Scully discovers that a New Jersey mobster is attempting to infiltrate the Hollywood film industry's union. Scully, in order to draw the mobster into revealing his real reason for coming to Hollywood, sets up an elaborate sting operation that, in addition to being an extremely interesting plot vehicle, permits Cannell to educate his readers into the whys, hows and wherefores of film production. Cannell does an excellent job of concisely explaining the complex world of film deals, as well as the studio politics that go into the creation of the films that are coming to a Cineplex near you. These same studio politics have Scully's sting operation soon spiraling out of control, both creatively and financially.

Scully also is having difficulty with his son, Chooch, who seems to have secrets that involve an L.A. Gang leader. As Scully and Alexa are drawn deeper into the sting operation and Chooch's behavior draws him into danger, Cannell keeps the suspense level high and maintains for the reader a maximum interest level from beginning to end, making HOLLYWOOD TOUGH, as with Cannell's seven previous novels, impossible to put down.

Cannell, with HOLLYWOOD TOUGH, continues to demonstrate that he is a master of whatever media he should choose to partake. Certainly the world of suspense literature is richer for his participation. Perhaps his work will one day become a subgenre unto itself. Even if this does not occur, Cannell's loyal legion of fans will undoubtedly keep reading and growing.

--- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub

The newest entry into the series featuring Shane Scully, HOLLYWOOD TOUGH, has Scully & his beautiful wife, Alexa entangled in the world of Tinsel Town heavy hitters and wanna-bees as they set up a sting to trap a mobster. This highly entertaining book offers an insider's look at the film industry with well plotted cops and robbers sequences and action thrills for the most hard-boiled fans as well as subtle humor that hits the mark with the similarities between Hollywood and the mafia. Highly RECOMMEDED