In loving memory of a Hollywood legend and prolific writer.
Excerpts from the book: Read here.
Definition of 'Vertical Coffin': A term used by SWAT teams to describe any threshold. When clearing a house, police are most vulnerable to gunfire while passing through doorways.
Publisher's Description: A nightmarish series of events sweep LAPD's Sergeant Shane Scully and his wife (and boss), Alexa, into the vortex of an enormous, jurisdictional firestorm.
First, a sheriff's deputy, a friend of Shane's, is gunned down while serving a routine search warrant. His fellow deputies blame the incident on the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), whom they angrily accuse of having failed to warn them that the suspect had a huge arsenal of illegal weapons in his house.
Soon thereafter, a member of the ATF Situation Response Team, is shot to death followed by the sniper murder of the Sheriff's Special Enforcement Bureau. At the request of the Mayor, LAPD, as an uninvolved and unbiased agency, assigns Shane Scully to investigate.
He is given an impossible deadline to find a solution before these two elite and deadly SWAT Teams kill each other off amid a hurricane of horrible publicity. Shane pursues his investigation in a direction that neither his chief nor his wife agrees with, and succeeds in putting himself, his loved ones, and his career in terrible jeopardy before he finally discovers the shocking and deadly truth.
My thoughts: Vertical Coffin is the fourth book in the Shane Scully novels. A very guy's guy novel but truly unputdownable and packed with adrenaline and suspense! This writer is a word connoisseur and a great story teller to boot. Shane Scully, a cop/family guy from one of the most renowned police force in the world (the LAPD), is one of the well-developed and strong characters I know. I give you my word that you won't be disappointed you picked up this book.
Nelson DeMille said that "Stephen Cannell has the screenwriter's fine ear for dialogue and great sense of timing and pacing as well as the novelist's gift of substance and subtlety" and I could not agree more with him. He ticks all the boxes for me. I highly recommend his novels and cannot wait to devour the whole Shane Scully series starting from the first book, The Tin Collectors (January 2002), in time to come.
I am only sorry that I came across Cannell's books after his passing. That aside, he has left a wonderful legacy to readers and fans all over the world through his movies, television shows and books. May he rest in peace.
His website is a mass of information.
Rating: 5/5
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