Vigilante by Stephen J. Cannell; 2011; $26.95; 312 pages; St Martin’s Press, New York, NY; 978-0-312-64611-0; Checked out from Multnomah County Library, Hillsdale; 1/15-1/17

Why did I pick this up? Because I have read everything that Stephen J. Cannell has written as a novelist and enjoyed them and all of his TV shows.

What is the story? Reality TV star Nix Nash and his show Vigilante TV have focused on Los Angeles and the murder of a critic of the LAPD.  Scripted reality is what it turns out to be and the aim of Nash and his crew is to make fools of the department.  Shane and his crew have to fight all kinds of internal politics and rich friends of the reality host.  There are all kinds of red herrings and continuation of sub plots from previous Shane Scully novels.

Did I like it? Yes, Cannell can write suspense and police procedurals with the very best of them.  It was a bittersweet read because Cannell died in September of 2010 and had just finished the manuscript for  Vigilante.

Grade-A

What is with the title of the review? Stephen J. Cannell died in Spetember of 2010 just after he finished the manuscript for Vigilante, so I don’t think we will see anymore of Shane Scully and his supporting cast.  Cooch is Shane’s son who expressed an interest in police science in this installment of the Shane Scully story.  We won’t know where the story goes from here.