Vertical Coffin

A Shane Scully Novel

By: Stephen J. Cannell

Narrated by: Scott Brick

The Edgar and Emmy Award-winning writer and producer delivers a high-concept thriller of inter-bureau conspiracy and betrayal

A nightmarish series of events sweeps 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, whom they angrily accuse of failing 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 a member of the Sheriff's Special Enforcement Bureau. At the request of the Mayor, the LAPD—an uninvolved and unbiased agency—assigns Shane 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. Stephen Cannell is one of television's most prolific and recognized producers. His Shane Scully series has been gaining a growing audience since the publication of The Tin Collectors, and Vertical Coffin is his best outing yet.

Critic reviews

“Scully has ample opportunity to prove how ‘Hollywood tough' he is...veteran writer/TV producer Cannell has concocted his special brand of reader candy.” —Kirkus Reviews

Action Packed

Cannell did it again with this fast-paced suspense. It is non-stop action from beginning to end. The characters are realistic and the storyline plausible as far as police stories are told. It is short but well worth hearing.

Worthwhile listening

Initially the narrator's monotone voice almost prompted me to quit, plot captured me, narrator improved