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Stephen J. Cannell recently celebrated his thirty-fifth year in what is commonly referred to as "show business." He has racked up some impressive statistics during that period. Cannell has been directly responsible for the creation of forty --- forty --- television series, many of which are still in syndication. He has also been the guiding creative hand behind a number of major motion pictures, and has recently become a spokesman for individuals affected with dyslexia.
During the past several years Cannell has also been writing novels that have achieved not only the commercial success one would expect but also much-deserved critical acclaim. At this point Cannell could probably phone in the plot and dialogue and still do well --- the man seems to be incapable of writing badly --- but he instead continues to demonstrate the craftsmanship and professionalism that have caused his work to be held in good stead during the past four decades.
VERTICAL COFFIN, Cannell's latest novel, is noteworthy on several levels. He has found a winning character in Los Angeles Police Officer Shane Scully, previously featured in the novels THE TIN COLLECTORS, THE VIKING FUNERAL and HOLLYWOOD TOUGH. Cannell continues to flesh out and develop Scully as he grows beyond the dimensions of the literary media. VERTICAL COFFIN finds Scully involved in a shootout, the result of a routine warrant service that goes horribly wrong. The carnage leaves an L.A. Sheriff's deputy --- Emo Rojas, a close friend of Scully's --- dead, a home destroyed, and a number of people asking why.
It appears that things went terribly wrong due to the negligence of the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, which gave the warrant to the Sheriff's Department but apparently neglected to mention that the subject of the warrant was thought to possess an arsenal of illegal weapons and explosives. This error results in Rojas's death, and the Sheriff's Department blames ATF for his death. The two agencies soon appear to be involved in a clandestine war, with first an ATF member and then an L.A. Sheriff being murdered in their homes. The mayor of Los Angeles, hoping to keep the violence from escalating, directs the LAPD to investigate. The investigation is handed to Scully, who in turn soon finds himself isolated between the two agencies, and he and his family are at risk.
Cannell's work throughout VERTICAL COFFIN, meanwhile, is absolutely first rate. His research into the hows and wherefores of SWAT team procedure and weaponry put the reader right in the strike vans; if you don't feel like you're choking on the gun smoke you're not reading closely enough. Cannell's plotting is meticulously detailed, complex yet simply told, so that it is impossible to lose the plot threads as they slowly but surely come together. He also pulls off a major coup by introducing a fascinating and unforgettable character within the last thirty-five pages of VERTICAL COFFIN, smoothly and plausibly integrating him into the storyline.
VERTICAL COFFIN is arguably Cannell's best novel to date. If you are not familiar with his other work, particularly the Shane Scully novels, this is the perfect place to begin what is sure to be a new literary addiction. If he continues on his present trajectory, Cannell may ultimately become better known for his novels than for his film work.
--- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub
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