Customer Reviews

Runaway Heart

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Cannell is best when he sticks to high-octane, energetic pacing and stronger characters. What we get in RUNAWAY HEARTS is a story that takes forever to kick into high octane gear, and we get as secondary characters, both seen and unseen, of Donald Trump, Barbra Streisand, James Brolin, Jim Carrey, Mary Steenburgen and Ted Danson. It's like Cannell is showing how he panders with the upper crust celebrities. Cute, but rather unbelievable.
The plot is straightforward, although Cannell doesn't have to let the reader know on every other page, how "ugly and fat" Herman Strockmire is, or how "beautiful" his daughter Susan is. Judge Melissa King is too much of a villain to be believable, and the chimera aren't used enough to generate the suspense. There are some witty scenarios, and some black humor; and the ending picks up the pace considerably, but this is not Cannell at his best, as evidenced in his Shane Scully series.

If you are a person who wants to believe in conspiracy theories or believe that anything is possible, this is the novel for you. There are government biologically enhanced animals;bad guys; a group of soldiers who do only what they are told; a brief showing of Donald Trump; mention of Barbara Streisand; a pain-ridden ex-cop who is falling for a beautiful attorney, who is the daughter of the main character; a main character who is a zealot for environmental and conspiracy issues. It is a delightful, fast moving story that is extremely enjoyable.

Rather than summarize the book, as other reviewers have so skillfully done I recommend this book as an exciting page turner. Difficult to put down. SJC writes primarily about the LAPD beat and adds a bit of the x files. I really wanted to know more about "Pan" and his training, development and breeding. A better twist might have been if the DNA was alien or such. The Donald Trump addition was priceless. What ever happened to Pan after he wounded and ran away and disappeared, I've looked back several times and can't seem to find out what happened to him. If anyone knows please post. All in all it is a good quick read, possible made for TV movie.

Stephen Cannell has the gift of writing good old fiction that will keep you reading until you finish the book. The star of this novel is his unlikely protagonist, Herman Strockmeyer. An older, unattractive, overweight attorney for "lost cause" clients against Government agencies, he is the David that takes on Goliath for the good of humanity.

With a serious heart condition threatening his life, he refuses to take time out from his cases because he is the only one who will fight for those who cannot fight for themselves. His lovely daughter Susan works with him, and during his investigation for his case against Gen-a-Tec and their biologically engineered corn, his assistant is savagely murdered. Susan and Herman hire unlikely detective Jack Wirta, an ex-LA cop with a prescription drug habit, to find out why Roland was murdered.

This unusual trio of heros is what makes this book tick so loudly, Mr. Cannell's talent for bringing these people to life is the heart of the novel. Our trio discovers much more than biologically engineered corn when their investigation of Gen-a-Tec pulls them into danger with DARPA, a black-op government agency that will do anything to hide their illegal and unethical genetics project. As they run from one danger straight into the next, barely escaping time after time, you won't be able to let go until the conclusion.

Fast paced as all of Mr. Cannell's books are, this is a good story and a quick read with a truly likeable protagonist, and a highly recommended break from your stack of self-help and text books. Enjoy! :-)

This is a great novel from Cannell. The story is smart, well thought out and at the same time is a fast paced action adventure. I found it hard to put down ! Cannell is a master story teller. Runaway Heart ranks up there with his other great novels and leaves you reflecting on the points he raises about our world. Go get this book !!!! Enjoy!

This is a book that is a little bit of John Grisham and Michael Crichton, but mostly it is Stephen Cannell. It holds your attention, challenges your ideas of what is credible, makes you laugh, makes you think and always entertains you. I looked forward to picking it up and continuing along with the story of the Don Quixote of the legal community in California as he tilted at windmills and the judiciary that thought him unworthy. However, one of his windmills turned out to be real and also deadly and how that all gets exposed and dealt with is a most entertaining story and a tale worth reading and thinking about. Let's hope that the technology which is in the book is not available today. The fly leaf says it is. If so, we all have something to think about.

I immensely enjoyed this work of Cannell's. I think it's my favorite of his so far. It's exciting, fast-paced, and the characters are unique and interesting - incredibly so.

The fact that the technology in the novel exists is quite frightening and Stephen Cannell paints a realistic and believable picture of what could actually be in our future.

Since I am an activist, I really loved (and could identify with) the Quixotic Herman Strockmire. I hope to see more of him in future novels!

Herman Strockmire is a plaintiff's lawyer, litigating on behalf of all of the clients who can't protect themselves. Ludicrous at first but really, isn't that what we were supposed to believe lawyers would do as in Harper Lee's Atticus Finch? So I'm not sure that Herman is the anomoly. I have come to believe the rest of the profession took the fork in the road, not Herman.

In any event, he is now prosecuting a case on behalf of the Monarch Butterfly, soon to be exiled to the same dusty books as the dinosaur because of the government's genetic alteration of food. They're killing the butterflys, man!

But that's not all. As Herman and his lovely daughter Susan probe deeper, bodies start turning up. Not with a simple K-bar wound to the thoracic cavity or a Glock shot to the head, but ripped up bodies. Super human strength MOs. Could it be that the evil doers in the monarch butterfly case are into slightly more than genetically altering just food?

Enter Jack Wirta, sullen, despondent, wise-cracking, friend of Shane Scully, wounded and left on the hill like a malnourished Spartan child in 350 B.C., who has started his own detective agency. And guess who is his first client?

This is great Stephen Cannell! It's part Michael Crichton, part Robert Crais. But most of all it's part Rockford Files, the A-Team and Wiseguy. And why not? Mr. Cannell wrote those scripts.

We see references to Barbra and Jim, and of course Ted and Mary. I have to be honest. I don't know these people. But when he's finished, Mr. Cannell has convinced me that I ought to. And, as Jack struggles with his percocet and percodan habit, there's a cool intervention scene that I don't think I've ever seen in a book.

So strap this one on. Slip on your black jeans, black turtleneck and a throwaway ankle gun. There's no commercials. Enjoy, boychick! 5 stars. Larry Scantlebury

Stephen J. Cannell's writing is very authentic. This is the first book I've read of his and thoroughly enjoyed it. It reminded me somewhat of Dean Koontz's "Watchers" with its goverment conspiracy and the scientifically engineered perfect soldier primate. This was a treat especially growing up watching Cannell TV shows like The A-Team, 21 Jump Street, and Rockford Files to name a few. At first I wasn't sure where Cannell got his title but then learned later it was one of the character's ailing heart.

Jack Wirta, an ex-cop, starts a detective agency (next door to a gay dating service.) His first client is Susan Strockmeyer,
whose father is a lawyer weak of heart...no really he has heart problems. Herman Strockmeyer, the father, is an advocate of left-wing causes. Ah, the monarch butterfly! However, now we
are submersed in a government plot that utilizes DNA apes who become soldiers. Extreme killing machines that can rip your arm or leg off! Jack has qualms because of non-payment of his bills. But he kind of has a thing for Susan.
Although the theme seems rather absurd, the whole government secret plot is believable. I totally enjoyed this book and had a runaway read.