The Plan [Hardcover]

Stephen J. Cannell (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 18, 1995

In the aftermath of his son's death and a divorce, TV reporter Ryan Bolt agrees to film a documentary about a lesser-known presidential candidate and uncovers mafia connections. A first novel. 100,000 first printing. $190,000 ad/promo. Tour.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Veteran TV producer Cannell (The Rockford Files, The A-Team, The Commish, etc.) brings comic-book plotting and cellophane characterization to his first thriller, about the 1996 presidential election. The "plan" dates from the 1970s, when some farsighted mobsters decide gradually to buy controlling stakes in TV networks to give their favorite pols "face time" and eventually put their own man in the White House. It's a high-concept plot, worthy of a TV movie, but who'd want to play the hero? Ryan Bolt, an impossibly WASP-y and wimpy TV producer, is asked by short, fat and nasty Mickey Alo, his old prep-school pal, to film a documentary about a long-shot presidential hopeful. As Ryan susses out that Mickey is engaged in buying the presidency for the airhead governor of Rhode Island, he also falls hard for Lucinda Alo, Mickey's advanced degree-holding sister who, preposterously, doesn't know about the family business. The writing is by turns pretentious ("Dawn broke like a cheap wine cooler spreading an ugly red stain on the gray ocean"), silly ("Ryan knew where he was headed but had no inkling where he was going") and bafflingly vulgar ("A shot of adrenaline hit Ryan's heart like cold piss"). As Ryan is drawn deeper into the mobby machinations of Mickey, and as the fate of the Republic comes to rest on his modest shoulders, Cannell hits every lurid and gory button possible in this cartoonly tale.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

TV producer/writer Cannell has penned a thriller about the Mafia's plan to put one of their own in the White House.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 420 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow; 1st edition (June 18, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0688140467
• ISBN-13: 978-0688140465
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.5 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,713,084 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Split Decision, January 9, 2002

By 

D. Hern (CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Plan (Mass Market Paperback)

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.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Politics Meets the Mob, May 30, 2001

By 

Untouchable (Sydney, NSW Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Plan (Mass Market Paperback)

`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.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars FAST-PACED EXCITEMENT IN THIS DEBUT, April 18, 2004

By 

Gail Cooke (TX, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Plan (Mass Market Paperback)

Making his debut as a novelist, Emmy Award-winning writer/producer Stephen Cannell brings all the fast-paced excitement of his hit elevision shows to this political thriller. If you enjoyed "The Rockford Files," "The A-Team," and "Hunter," The Plan is your cup of suspense.

When TV writer/producer Ryan Holt finds his career on the skids, he's eager to help his former prep school roommate, stereotypical mob goon Mickey Alo, by coming up with a documentary about a little known presidential candidate.

Eventually, our hero discovers that Mickey is attempting to buy the presidency for the terminally ignorant governor of Rhode Island. The plot takes many twists and turns plus a few careenings as Holt eventually finds himself in a perilous mano a mano with the Mafia. The stakes are the highest office in our land.

Author Cannell has pulled out all the stops for his first page-turner.