The Tin Collectors: A Novel (Shane Scully Novels) [Mass Market Paperback]

Stephen J. Cannell (Author)

Book Description

Series: Shane Scully Novels | Publication Date: January 7, 2002

The bestselling novelist and award-winning Hollywood producer weaves a high-tension novel of suspense around a chilling conspiracy of corruption within the LAPD, reminiscent of the classic movie "Chinatown."

Inside the department, they're called Tin Collectors: Internal Affairs Agents, the police of the police. If they catch you breaking the rules, they'll come after your badge. If they want you badly enough, they'll collect more than just your tin.

LAPD Detective Shane Scully is startled awake in the middle of the night by a call from his ex-partner's wife, who is being beaten by her abusive husband. Racing to their house to stop the fight, Scully ends up killing his ex-partner, a cop who is beloved within the department. Suddenly, Scully finds himself an outcast, shunned by his fellow cops who intend to exact vengeance no matter what the cost. Internal Affairs zeroes in on the "renegade" cop with their sharpest young prosecutor, the ice queen Alexa Hamilton, who has her own reasons for taking revenge on Scully.

Desperate to save his career, Scully starts kicking over rocks within the LAPD. What he uncovers is pure evil: a conspiracy going to the very top that ultimately threatens not just his own life but that of a young teenage boy, Chooch, entrusted to Scully's care by his mother - Sandy Sandoval. Known as the Black Widow, Sandy is a beautiful and courageous woman who also happens to be the LAPD's most important undercover informant, and Scully will do anything to keep her son safe. Stephen J. Cannell combines mystery and violence, loyalty and passion in a tale with an ending as unpredictable as LA itself.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Stephen J. Cannell has written and produced enough TV cop shows to give him plenty of inside know-how about the LAPD, and recent events in OJ-land make the plot of The Tin Collectors--conspiracy, corruption, and murder by the boys in blue--more than credible. The tin collectors are the internal affairs cops, and they're out to make police sergeant Shane Scully the fall guy after he kills his former partner, Ray Molnar, in the midst of a domestic dispute that was just a click away from ending in the murder of Ray's wife. Not so coincidentally, she was once Shane's lover, a fact the tin collectors seize upon as evidence that Scully wanted the highly regarded Molar dead. As the wrongfully accused but redoubtable cop fights to clear his name, he discovers Ray's secret life: his other wife, his luxurious Lake Arrowhead home, and the ladder of corruption that reaches all the way to the top in the City of Angels. It should come as no surprise that this has TV-treatment written all over it. Read it now before it comes to a small screen near you, as it surely will. And applaud Cannell's growing ability to flesh out his characters with enough subtext and complexity to make a prime-time series starring Shane a strong possibility. --Jane Adams --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

Author (King Con) and Emmy Award-winning TV writer Cannell (The Rockford Files) continues his string of commercially appealing suspense novels with an offbeat, action-driven police drama about high-level corruption in the LAPD. This time around, Cannell fans will discover a refreshingDand newly sprungDconcern for his characters' motivations. Sgt. Shane Scully, a well-decorated L.A. detective, receives a late-night phone call from Barbara Molar, a former girlfriend and current wife of Shane's ex-partner, Ray. Ray has a history of violence, and right now he is trying to kill Barbara. Without waiting for backup, Shane runs to the rescue and is forced to kill Ray in self-defense. Fully expecting to be vindicated after a routine debriefing, instead Shane finds himself persona non grata with fellow officers and the mayor. He's a murder suspect, and he's accused of stealing sensitive case files that Ray was working on at home. The case is referred to Shane's former nemesis Alexa Hamilton, a legendary "tin collector" at Internal Affairs. In a subplot, Shane helps out Sandy Sandoval, a call girl turned police informant, with her confused, angry son. Sandy is involved in a sting operation and enlists Shane's help as a role model for 15-year-old Chooch, who is on the verge of being expelled from private school. While helping Chooch mature and defending his own career, Shane suddenly discovers that Alexa is really a secret ally. The pair, now tentative lovers, follow a convoluted trail exposing political land graft. Exhibiting a new sensitivity to his characters' emotional depth, Cannell continues to improve as a novelist. (Jan. 13) Forecast: Recent revelations about corruption in the LAPD add credence to Cannell's story. An excerpt in the Avon paperback release of The Devil's Workshop (Nov.) should pique advance interest, while major ad/promo, including a national author tour, and a bold dust jacket will help when the book hits the shelves. Audio rights sold to Brilliance.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 370 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Paperbacks; 1st edition (January 7, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312979517
• ISBN-13: 978-0312979515
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #285,108 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good Cop Story, fast and fun to read., January 23, 2001

By 

Schtinky "Schtinky" (California) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Tin Collectors (Hardcover)

I have to admit that I love Stephen J. Cannell. The characters in this book all come alive, you meet them, some you like and some you don't. But they all develop and grow, some in a good way and some in a bad way. There are enough twists to keep you reading straight through. The "near misses" that Shane seems to encounter constantly kept me on the edge of my seat. This isn't the first cop story that exposes corruption in high places, but I think that the resolution that Mr. Cannell gives his story has a more realistic ring to it than most. And you can't help but like Shane and Alexa's approach to "information gathering". A fast, fun, engrossing book to read, one of Mr. Cannell's best!

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not The Ordinary Cop Story, January 12, 2001

By 

John W. Bates "jaydubyah" (Americus, Georgia USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Tin Collectors (Hardcover)

The Tin Collectors is Cannell's sixth novel. At first blush it seems to be just another basic, good, cop story; but it develops into something more, going beyond the action and plot into relationships. LAPD detective Shane Scully receives a call in the middle of the night from Barbara, his one-time girl friend who is married to his ex-partner, super cop Ray Molar. Ray has gone berserk and she needs help. Shane dashes the five miles to their house and finds Ray about to kill Barbara. When Shane intervenes, Ray tries to shoot him. Shane returns fire in self defense and kills Ray. This is a difficult situation, but Shane knows he is in the right and expects that all will work out. Ha! For reasons Shane cannot figure out, the top administration of the police department quickly elevates the situation to a major affair and turn it over to Internal Affairs. The Internal Affairs Division is informally known as "The Tin Collectors" because of their high rate of convicting cops and collecting their "tin" (badges). Shane's case is assigned to an IAD prosecutor brought back from another assignment. An earlier investigation of Shane in which he was exonerated was one of her few defeats. Several young cops for whom Ray was something of an idol are assigned minor roles in the investigation and make things difficult for Shane. Why are these cops even involved-their normal assignments are far from IAD business? In the end justice prevails, although it takes some skillful writing to resolve the situation without artificial solutions. Along with the standard cop story, Shane is involved with a fifteen year-old problem child. The boy's single mother has asked Shane to let her son, Chooch, stay with him for a month or so in order to have a good male role model. The relationship between the mother, the boy, and Shane is slow to develop, but adds significantly to the overall impact of the book. I thought the book was very slow in the beginning, and almost put it down. I am glad I didn't. It was not until I was nearly through that I realized that Cannell is best known for his screen writing (The Rockford Files, Hunter...). The early pages probably work better on screen than on paper. In retrospect, they visualize very well and do set the stage effectively.

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars CANNELL SCORES ANOTHER HIT!, December 23, 2000

By 

Nick G - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Tin Collectors (Hardcover)

LAPD Detective Shane Scully receives a phone call in the middle of the night from his ex-partner's wife, she is begging for help as her husband is beating her. Scully races to help her, only to be thrust in the middle of an argument that results in death.

The death of his ex-partner will put Scully at the hands of Internal Affairs, as they investigate what appears to be a renegade cop killing. Desperate to save his carreer, Scully begins to uncover a conspiracy that reaches the top of the force.

With nowhere else to turn, he begins looking into the dead officer's past, only to find more mystery of the man he thought he knew.

While trying clear his name and battling Internal Affairs prosecuter, Alexa Hamilton, he must also protect the teenage boy left in his custody by Sandy Sandoval, the LAPD's leading informant.

"The Tin Collectors" is a non-stop ride of action and mystery, with a dynamite plot, and lightning fast pacing.

Stephen J. Cannell is one of the leading writers of escapist fiction, and his new tale should rocket up the bestseller list's.

Readers looking for a novel they can't put down should try this one.

Nick Gonnella