The Viking Funeral: A Shane Scully Novel (Shane Scully Novels)

Shane Scully from Cannell's Tin Collectors is back in action, this time with beautiful girlfriend and fellow police officer Alexa Hamilton at his side, along with his son Chooch. `The Viking Funeral', while studded with as much action as The Tin Collectors, takes us into the darker side of Shane's loneliness as he questions his own humanity. Driving down the Los Angeles freeway, Sergeant Shane Scully sees the impossible, his dead friend Jody driving through the traffic. Unable to let the image go, Shane soon discovers that Jody is indeed alive when he is kidnapped by The Vikings, a group of renegade cops who have faked their own deaths and gone deep undercover. Shane must appear that he has gone south with The Vikings, and arranges to fake the shooting of the acting head of the Detective Services Group, his own finance Alexa Hamilton. Unknown to Shane, Jody has reloaded his weapon with real firepower, and when Shane sees Alexa go down in blood, his world begins to tremble. With The Vikings, Shane gets involved with a cash laundering scheme that stretches from Los Angeles to Aruba to the Columbian border, and with the image of Alexa haunting his dreams and waking nightmares, Shane searches for a thread that will still tie him not only to LAPD but also to his own humanity. The Viking Funeral is non-stop action, traveling far and wide with an on-the-edge group of psychopathic cops into the deep corruption of the drug markets. I had to re-read The Viking Funeral just to appreciate the depth of the emotionless tomb that Shane almost buries himself in. Cannell's books read like a movie in my head, his written words easily flowing into images that quickly imbed themselves into my spongy gray matter. It's a gift for an author to achieve this level of visual to his readers, and one that I thank him for having. Fans of Cannell like myself are going to be overwhelmed with the treat in store with the return of LAPD Sergeant Shane Scully, and if you are new into Cannell, you will need to read The Tin Collectors first to appreciate the full impact The Viking Funeral brings to our everyday hero, Shane. I liked Shane Scully because he is not always right, often has doubts, can be blindly impulsive, and in other words comes across as a real human being rather than a super-hero with a badge. Absolutely great read that will speed you through the pages! Enjoy!

I have to disagree with the other reviewers; I enjoyed every page of this nail-biter. Cannell's unique writing style really brings the reader into the action. Two thumbs up and five stars for this one.

All the time I was reading this book, I couldn't help but wonder who would win the starring roles? Cannell's story of cops gone bad is a wild ride that hooks you on the first page and doesn't turn you loose until the last word is read. I think the violence is a bit graphic, but I don't live in Los Angeles where the gangs really do run the universe. Although I never really absorbed all the details about the tobacco industry and their corrupt practices, I think I understood enough to hate them even more than I already did. Don't start this book if you have to go to work the next day. Bad planning, because you'll have very dark circles under your eyes for lack of sleep.Enjoy!

I really enjoyed reading The Tin Collectors, so I was happily awaiting The Viking Funeral. It didn't disappoint me! I loved the interaction between the characters (which you can appreciate even if you didn't read The Tin Collectors). I like the fact Shane Scully is put in tough guy situations but always comes through a gentleman. It was very exciting, and since reading the book and hearing Mr. Cannell speak at a book signing, I discovered that the vikings are based on a true "gang" formed in the L.A. Sheriff's dept. some years ago and that the money laundering is a problem which our government turns its back on. Once again Cannell is at the top of his game, weaving actual events or bizarre occurrances into a brilliant work of fiction. I was on the edge of my seat and read the book without putting it down even once!

After reading THE TIN COLLECTORS, I didn't think it would be possible for Stephen J. Cannell to top himself, but he truly outdid himself with THE VIKING FUNERAL! Shane Scully, Chooch and Alexa are back and from the looks of THE VIKING FUNERAL, they are here to stay. First of all, the best thing about THE VIKING FUNERAL is you don't have to read THE TIN COLLECTORS to know what's going on in this new action-packed thriller (Although, you'd be doing yourself an injustice if you don't read TTC). Cannell does a great job of letting you know the major points of TTC with a few brushstrokes of his pen (Or should I say his famous Selectric typewriter?) without hitting you over the head with a lot of exposition.From the very first page, you will be hooked, and I guarantee you will not be able to put it down. I have read all of Stephen J. Cannell's best sellers, and loved them, but this one is a true page-turner! There is not one lull in the entire book. You never get a chance to catch your breath. Each page is so exciting, you have no other choice but to turn the next page! This is one book you will never want to end. I can't want for the next Shane Scully novel!