ON THE GRIND: A Shane Scully Novel
Stephen J. Cannell
St. Martin’s Press
Thriller
ISBN: 9780312366285
Stephen J. Cannell has created or co-created over 40 television programs. My favorite is “Wiseguy,” which starred the wonderfully named Vinnie Terranova, an FBI agent with the Organized Crime Bureau (OCB). “Wiseguy” was a critical and commercial success --- a dark, edgy show that portrayed police work as anything but glamorous, and groundbreaking for its utilization of story arcs.
In recent years, Cannell has switched his artistic focus to writing novels; he is doing quite well with his Shane Scully series and stand-alone works, most notably 2008’s magnificent AT FIRST SIGHT. His latest, ON THE GRIND, is set comfortably in the Scully mythos while incorporating elements of “Wiseguy,” giving fans of both the book and television series much cause to rejoice.
ON THE GRIND opens with Scully in dire straits, rousted from bed --- literally --- and forced to resign from his job on the Los Angeles police force for conduct unbecoming an officer. Given the nature of the reason for his termination, the only law enforcement position for which Scully can apply with any reasonable hope for employment is with the Haven Park, California Police Department. Haven Park is a small city within the environs of Los Angeles. Self-designated as a sanctuary city for illegal immigrants, it is in actuality a machine for corruption, operating at every level --- from the police department on up --- to bleed money from as many entities as possible. Drawing on a pool of disgraced Southern California cops for employment, the Haven Park PD operates as a well-oiled milking machine, obtaining income from sources as disparate as towing cars (whether legally parked or not) to protecting the street gang securely ensconced within its municipal borders.
Scully, whose reputation as a good cop precedes him, is initially viewed with suspicion by his fellow officers, his fall from grace with the LAPD notwithstanding. After passing a couple of department initiations, however, he is given his major assignment: the assassination of a mayoral candidate who has pledged to engage in the Herculean task of cleaning up the corruption in Haven Park for good. Caught between the corrupt blue wall of Haven Park on one side and a major FBI investigation on the other, Scully finds himself in mortal danger to the extent that he can rely upon no one except himself for help.
Cannell has historically infused his dramatic endeavors with an inside-the-loop point of view, and he takes this practice to new levels with ON THE GRIND. Scully provides an over-the-shoulder look at police corruption, as well as street gang membership and arms smuggling. The book’s long climax is particularly fascinating. Cannell has a cinematic eye for detail that he brings to the printed page with as much care and craft as he did to film. The result is a story and a narrative that is exciting and entrancing in every way.
--- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub
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