The Pallbearers (Shane Scully) [Kindle Edition]

Stephen J. Cannell (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Shane Scully revisits his troubled past as a foster child in bestseller Cannell's slightly more plausible than usual ninth novel to feature the LAPD detective (after On the Grind). Scully and his attractive wife, Alexa, the acting commander of the LAPD's detective division, are looking forward to a two-week vacation in Hawaii. Then Scully hears the shocking news that Walter Dix, the head of Huntington House Group Home, where the policeman spent time in his youth, has blown his head off with a shotgun. Since Scully hadn't kept in touch with his former mentor, he's surprised to learn Dix left a note designating him a pallbearer. The other pallbearers at Dix's funeral, fellow alums of Huntington House, also doubt the official suicide verdict and join Scully in an effort to find the truth. Cannell telegraphs a lot of his plot developments and could've done a better job to make his hero distinctive, but series fans should be satisfied. 7-city author tour. (Mar.)
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From Booklist

Walter “Pop” Dix was the director of Huntington House, an orphanage and halfway house for children in between foster homes. He was a surrogate father to hundreds of troubled kids, among them Shane Scully of the LAPD. Dix was also a surfer, and among the few fond memories Scully has of his childhood are the early-morning surf sessions with Dix at Huntington Beach. Scully had lost touch with his mentor, though, until word arrives that Dix has committed suicide. In his papers, Dix names Scully, along with five other former residents of the home, as his preferred pallbearers. The six concur that Dix would never have committed suicide, and Scully reluctantly agrees to look into the already-closed investigation. The case drags Scully and his ragtag team into the brutal world of professional mixed martial arts fighting and into an elaborate embezzlement scheme involving Huntington House and several other child-care facilities. Cannell, a television producer (The A-Team and The Rockford Files, among others), has written 15 increasingly popular crime novels. The latest Scully caper is at times bogged down by a shaky plot, but it’s redeemed by the raw emotion of six adults—who will forever see themselves as orphans—coming to terms with their past and repaying the man who gave them the courage to face the world. --Wes Lukowsky

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Product Details

• Format: Kindle Edition
• File Size: 521 KB
• Print Length: 399 pages
• Page Numbers Source ISBN: 0312532458
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press; Reprint edition (April 1, 2010)
• Sold by: Macmillan
• Language: English
• ASIN: B003BQZ852
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #37,560 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good, but not great., April 2, 2010

By 

Reacher Creature (Rochester) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Pallbearers (Shane Scully Novels) (Hardcover)

I was pleased and surprised when I saw this book at the library, I didn't know that there was a new Shane Scully novel out. As I said, it was good, but not great. For me, it seemed to be missing something.

The Plot was really good. Scully found out that the one man who took care of him as a child had killed himself. The guy wanted Scully and 5 other people to be his pallbearers. As the six met, they understood that they were hand picked special. As the six of them looked in to Pop's death, and couldn't believe that he killed himself. The six of them decided that they'd look into Pop's death. If he was murdered, they'd have to figure out who did it and why, and that person would pay.

That's all I really want to say about the plot. I don't want to give to much of it away. I did like the fact that we were able to see Scully's past, and how he changed from an angry, bitter child to the man he is today. I also liked how the reader is able to get to know the other pallbearers, and see how they turned out. I really liked the character of Jack.

The writing was good as usual. Cannell is able to put us with Scully in that everything he does. Cannell is very good at that.

The downsides is that it just felt like The Pallbearers was missing something. It hard to say, but it just felt empty. I didn't like how it ended.

Don't get me wrong, it's not a bad read, but just not one of my favorites

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars fun investigative thriller, March 20, 2010

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Pallbearers (Shane Scully Novels) (Hardcover)

Huntington House Group Home director Walter Dix commits suicide; he apparently shot himself in the head with a shotgun. Those who were raised by Pop, as his wards called him, are stunned as he was considered a father by many of his kids.

His will selects six of his former boys to be the Pallbearers. This includes Police Detective Shane Scully, whose parents abandoned him three decades ago as an infant. Scully has issues with the suicide denouement as he cannot accept the charismatic surfing Pop killing himself although the cop recognizes his affection and adulation of Pop and his remorse for losing contact could distort his view. The other five pallbearers also have difficulty with the official verdict. Putting off his Hawaii vacation with his wife, LAPD Detective Division acting commander Alexa, Shane leads the other Pallbearers on a quest for the truth.

The latest Scully investigative thriller (see On the Grind and White Sister) is refreshed by taking the detective and readers back into his past as an "orphan"; thus enabling the audience to better understand the demons that eat at his soul. The investigation is fun to follow as the police officially close the case while Scully leads the other pallbearers on investigating what each assumes is a homicide. Although the clues to what happen is too obvious for readers which detracts from the investigation's primary issue as to whether Pop considered "to be or not to be" that is the first question of the inquiry. Still Stephen J. Cannell provides his fans with a deep look at the hero's childhood through his adult eyes looking back to the time that shaped the man he is.

Harriet Klausner

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Good not great, April 8, 2010

By 

Helaine K. Rosenfeld "karl rosenfeld" (philly) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Pallbearers (Shane Scully Novels) (Hardcover)

I've read all the Shane Scully novels. This was not one of the better ones. Slow, very predictable, and lacked the charm and cop to cop confrontations of previous novels. Cannell has to go back to the drawing board.