Cold Hit: A Shane Scully Novel (Shane Scully Novels) (Hardcover)

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

After a successful career as a television writer-producer (The Rockford Files; Wiseguy), Cannell is carving a strong second, thanks mainly to the series featuring LAPD homicide sleuth Shane Scully. In this outing, Scully's partner has slipped into an angry, alcoholic funk and their high-priority case—the search for a serial slayer who snips the digits of his homeless victims—is usurped by a task force headed by an arrogant FBI profiler. Cannell's strong suit has always been unique characters, and Scully's world-weary cop and family man is no exception. Add to that an intriguing mystery, authentic cop jargon (smoothly translated), snapshot descriptions of Southern California locales and a couple of tense and amusing LAPD–Homeland Security face-offs. Brick's rendition is clear, precise and effective in adding accent touches. While he knows how to build tension when a buzz saw is pressed to Scully's hand, his voice is too youthful and newsreader perfect to stand in for a disillusioned veteran cop. Scully narrates the novel, and a deeper, darker timbre would have turned this entertaining audio into an exceptional one.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

From Booklist

In his new outing, L.A. homicide detective Shane Scully has too many things to deal with. There's the latest in a string of serial murders, although Shane has serious doubts that this victim fits the pattern. There's his captain, who keeps pressing him to get the murder solved before the chief of detectives forms a task force. There's his wife, the aforementioned chief of detectives. There's his partner, an old friend who is in serious danger of letting booze take away his badge. And there's the surprising link between Shane's current murder victim and a decade-old unsolved murder of an L.A. cop. Despite having several novels under his belt, Cannell may still be better known as a television producer (The A-Team, The Commish, The Rockford Files), but that will soon change. In Scully, he has created one of the genre's most interestingly conflicted characters, a veteran cop who's seen it all and who (like Michael Connelly's Harry Bosch) is getting just a little tired of all the crap. Cannell's writing keeps improving, too; fans of the Scully series will note both an added depth and a new stylistic panache in this installment. With every book, Cannell moves closer to joining crime fiction's A-Team. David Pitt
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press; 1 edition (July 28, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312347308
• ISBN-13: 978-0312347307
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #348,934 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another gripping Shane Scully adventure, July 31, 2005

By	Colin P. Lindsey (Manchester, NH) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

I really, really like this book! Moreover there's a LOT to like about this new Shane Scully outing from Mr. Cannell, and at the top of the list is that these novels keep getting better both in art, depth, complexity, and subject matter. It is worth noting that Mr. Cannell is continually improving his already noteworthy writing abilities, particularly when it seems that, sadly, many writers seem content to let past successes prop up less than worthy current releases. Mr. Cannell rises above formulaic repetition and simple rehashing of his past novels by writing with an intelligence and fierce electricity that is refreshing, but also by working in new and relevant ideas and then following these ideas to their natural conclusions. No easy task, but Cannell transcends past efforts with an easy panache and grace.

Scully, a LAPD detective, is maturing into a very interesting and realistic character doing his best in a constantly evolving world of red tape, personal conflicts, bureacratic indifference and short-sightedness, and now, really scary federal powers of investigation that can neutralize local law enforcement and even persecute such local representation. This novel works on all levels; it is gritty and tough, with writing that paints setting and ambiance using words just as a master artist would lovingly brush details on canvas in oil, adds in a big dash of action, moral and ethical dilemmas, plenty of dead bodies, and helps us realize, map, and confront the dark side of the sweeping new federal powers enacted after 9/11. The misuse of these powers can be truly frightening as illustrated in this book, calling to mind harrowing recollections of the Gestapo or Orwell's 1984. This book, far more than most of the genre, will make you sit back and think, then pause, then think even harder. Go grab this one as soon as you can; this novel deserves some buzz, both own it's own merits and for the scary and thought-provoking abuse of power that it details. Then (sigh) we'll all just have to sit around and wait for the next installment in the Scully series.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars You've Read This Book Before, September 27, 2005

By	CoalMiner'sSon - See all my reviews

We have Shane Scully, Detective with the LAPD, former alcoholic, saved by his partner, Zack, a big over-weight Irishman who is depressed, suicidal, and, you guessed it, now himself alcoholic.

We have Alexa, the drop-dead beautiful wife of Detective Scully who just happens to be head of Detectives and his boss.

We have Rico from Pico, the drop-dead (did I just say that ?) good looking, intelligent up-from-the-slums chicano with a pencil mustache and slicked back, black hair.

We have Captain Calloway, 5 ft 8, 255 lb, all of it muscle, with a bald, torpedo shaped head and coal-black skin.

We have police chief Tony Filosiani, also know as Day-Glo Dago, a kinetic fire-plug from Brooklyn.

We have Scully's son Chooch, who is a 6 ft, 3 1/2 inch quarterback being heavily recruited by major colleges, including Pete Carroll at USC. We have Delfina, Chooch's girl friend who lives in Scully's 2 car garage converted to a bedroom after Delfina lost her family.

We have the humorless, moronic FBI agent (how original), Jud Underwood, who is pale, narrow-shouldered with a peculiar orangish shade of blonde-red hair; also know as Agent Orange.

And so it goes for the whole of the book.

The bad guys are really, really bad. The good guys are really, really good.

At the beginning of the book, the author quotes Ben Franklin - "They that give up essential safety to obtain a little temporary liberty deserve neither liberty and safety."

No, wait...well, it was something like that.

If, while you are reading this book you get the feeling that you've read it before, you are right. You have. Maybe many times.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars This has been done . . . and done . . . and done and done..., April 2, 2006

By	Terry Mathews (a small town in east Texas) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Cold Hit: A Shane Scully Novel (Shane Scully Novels) (Audio CD)

I'm going against the tide here to say I couldn't finish the book. It covered all-too-familiar territory. Jaded LA cop. Covering for his alcoholic partner. Uncovering government cover-ups. Balancing career and marriage. Fighting the system. Losing some battles. Winning the last one.

Cannell is better than this.

I think.