The Viking Funeral

Shane Scully #2

by Stephen J. Cannell

If Detective Shane Scully's best friend, Jody Dean, committed suicide three years ago, then who did Shane just see for one fleeting moment on the Ventura Freeway? He's convinced it was his former colleague. Or was his mind playing tricks? Shane's lover, Alexa Hamilton, herself a lauded LAPD officer, happens to think so. But Shane knows what he saw. And for a rogue cop with nothing left to lose, the search for Dean has become more than an investigation. It's become an obsession.

The first clue to Dean's secret life--and suspicious death--is murder. The victim is Dean's former commanding officer. The connection taps into a corrupt, high-level conspiracy among L.A.'s finest that will put Shane and everyone he loves in harm's way. It will cut deep into the heart of betrayal and the meaning of friendship. And it will dare one cop already on the brink of madness to take on step further into darkness...

Genres: Fiction, Thriller, Mystery, Crime, Suspense, Mystery Thriller, Police

366 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

Stephen J. Cannell was an American television producer, writer, novelist, and occasional actor, and the founder of Cannell Entertainment (formerly Stephen J. Cannell Productions) and the Cannell Studios.

Cannell created or co-created several successful TV series from the 1970s to the 1990s. Creations included The Rockford Files, The A-Team, The Greatest American Hero, 21 Jump Street, and The Commish. He was an Emmy winner and was awarded The Eye - Lifetime Achievement Award by the Private Eye Writers of America.

Reviews

[Louie the Mustache Matos · Rating 4 out of 5]

I never read the first of the Shane Scully novels, but the Viking Funeral book #2 of the Shane Scully novels by Stephen J. Cannell makes me think that I probably missed something special. If you are not familiar with his writing and producing of TV shows, then you will be delighted to know that this novelist writes cinematically. In the situations throughout, I could visualize much of what was on the page in The Viking Funeral. Detective Shane Scully is driving on the Ventura Freeway when he sees his long-time best friend pass him in another car, but that cannot be because Jody was killed three years ago. With such a beginning the reader is drawn into a conspiracy involving LAPD bureaucrats, heroes, martyrs, and an elite team of police officers that are somewhat less-than morally elite. Trigger-warning for those with sensitivity to overt violence and salty, expletive-laced language. This novel has much of both, hence why I liked it a great deal. Not perfect, but really good writing by the TV producer of Baretta, the Commish, the A-Team, 21 Jump Street and a host of other shows. I am wondering why I have never crossed paths with Cannell's novels before because I found it pretty damn special. I will certainly keep my eyes out for another novel.

[Brendon Lowe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another fantastic action packed, edge of your seat thriller that reads like you are watching a blockbuster movie. This one has old friends, corrupt ex cops, drug cartels, money laundering and fortune 500 companys. Shane Scully is one tough as nails cop with some much heart. I loved the ending and the last chapter in particular about the realisations about his own mother.

[Daniel Farkas (Inactive) · Rating 4 out of 5]

4, leaning into 4.5 stars.

Another action-packed, masterfully written thriller by the master himself- a thriller with a lot of heart and a lot of layers of complexity (and some great humor as well). Really loving this series so far!


The evening crawled by like a half-crushed bug dragging itself across a four-lane highway.

"Hey, Sarge, welcome. Another opening, another show," Miller caroled, switching momentarily to Cole Porter as Shane entered the room. "Was this poor guy a friend?"
"No, I found the body."
"Hard way to go," Miller grunted, and switched back to the Beatles, altering a lyric here and there as he continued his physical inspection of the lower extremities. "Hey, Jude, don't make it bad / Take a sad song and make it better / Just don't hide the reason you're gone, and this Doc will find the answer, answer, answer, answer." He broke into the "na, na, nas" as he went over Commander Shephard's legs and feet, inch by inch, looking for any exterior abnormalities before making his Y-cut at the sternum, then emptying and weighing the Good Shepherd's heart, liver, and kidneys.

"When you grow up with everything, you don't know what to wish for."

He remembered a saying from somewhere but couldn't recall where it came from… Perhaps a Sunday school lecture, or maybe just some barroom psychologist: When a man is severely tested, only then does he discover who he really is.
So who the fuck am I? Shane wondered.

What human beings were capable of doing to one another sometimes horrified him.

He closed his eyes and wondered if the gift Jody promised to him had been the bullet that took him to the edge but gave him a chance to meet his mother, to feel her warmth, to finally experience her love, if only for a few precious seconds. Seconds that had changed him and taken away his painful darkness.
Before he fell asleep, he decided that was it. That was Jody's gift.
From the very beginning, that must have been God's plan.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story was good and the cast is developing in a way I like. I will continue reading the series.

[Kristen · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great second book in this series. More of a mystery than the first novel. It is about Shane, the main character, who has a run-in with his past, in particular a friend whom he thought was dead. Again, no one believes him at first, and he has to risk his life to have the truth brought foward. A great story!

[Susan Grace · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am liking this series though this one was a bit dark and actually painful to read. People can be pretty ugly in their actions and this story is pretty ugly. I did stick with it though and I'm glad I did. The only reason for the 3 stars instead of 4 is because of the violence. I'm looking to the next one..

[markandshantel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had seen this author's books before, but never picked one up. I was reading "Echo Park" by Michael Connelly - and he specifically mentions Stephen Cannell as part of the plot. I thought that was pretty interesting - obviously Connelly was giving a literary shout out to Cannell.

So I picked up "Viking Funeral". Very good book - very brutal. The LAPD must cringe whenever a book comes out that paints them in such an unflattering light (see LA Rex). Cannell is a former screen writer for lots of famous detective tv shows and he's an excellent writer with a real gift for dialogue.
I was frustrated to find out that "Viking Funeral" is the second book in the series - "Tin Collectors" is the first and is referred to repeatedly in "Viking". Why can't publishers make it easier to determine what book comes where in the series?????? I had to check copyright dates to get the order straight. That was a major complaint of customers when I worked in a bookstore... just because other books by the author are listed in a particular order, doesn't mean they were written in that order. Help us out, ok????

Anywho - I will keep reading this Shane Scully series. Off to start "Tin Collectors" right now.....

[Zach · Rating 2 out of 5]

Similar to other Cannell novels.
Great beginning, grabs your attention. Lots of action. Some character development, which is never allowed to come to complete fruition (Shane Scully has to deal with the fact that he did something horrible, but it turns out okay).

The book loses steam near the end, as the plot becomes overly and (arguably) unnecessarily complicated with an abruupt resolution. Characters are decent but could have been developed more (ie character described by single phrase/identity-steroid user, we were close because we played little league together--repeated over and over). Also the plot requires accepting Shane's close relationship with a character who has no redeeming qualities, you keep asking yourself--he only realized this guy was evil now??

Overall okay, but not great.

[Debby · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the second book in the Stephen Cannell's Shane Scully series and I'm hooked. This book is full of everything that makes for a great adventure: suspense, drama, romance, humor, and great characters! If you like books by Stuart Woods, Ed McBain, Michael Connelly or Harlan Coben, I think you will like Stephen Cannell's Shane Scully series.

[Sheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really like Cannell's books. The characters are good and the stories are good.

[Space · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reading this many books in a row by a single author has advantages and disadvantages. The good is that I really get in touch with (and stay close to) the continuing characters. The downside is that you also get really in touch with the author's little hitches. His overuse of the same clichés and tired, worn out descriptions. It gets pretty old. And I feel like I'm writing the same report for every Cannell book now: good read, kept me entertained, but nothing spectacular.

So why do I continue to read them? Is it because I like the guy? Because I've met him? Surely there are better things I could be reading out there. I don't know. All I can say is that they are indeed enjoyable. They're certainly not a waste of time. I wouldn't play that game. Just good, slightly-above-average novels with huge storylines and pretty good characters. So on to the book report:

This one is about Shane Scully's insertion into a secret deep-cover op known as The Vikings - a small, secret, deep-cover op within the LAPD. He sees his old best friend driving down the highway one day - two years after he attended the guy's funeral. So he starts looking into how and why he's still alive. It leads him into some dangerous and wild adventures - of course. It's pretty good, and gets into a lot of second-level storyline that you can learn a lot from. I'd never heard of the parallel market until this book. It's a huge global, tax-evading scandal by a bunch of large corporations who have giant political pull.

I'm getting the stories confused in my head now, so I can't remember which ones I liked better than others. This wasn't my favorite though, I know that. It was just kind of average. So unless you're a Cannell fan like me, or you want to read all the Shane Scully books, you can probably skip this one.

[Marleen · Rating 2 out of 5]

This second book in the Shane Scully series presents us with a darker plot, revolving around corrupt police officers who have gone way off the reservation. One of those vicious undercover cops is LAPD Sergeant Shane Scully’s best friend since childhood that everyone presumed dead since his suicide two years ago. Now it seems all that was staged so he could go undercover. When Shane unexpectedly recognizes Jody driving on the freeway, Shane can’t let it go. He wants to know what happened to Jody and what he’s up to.
The only way to infiltrate this band of murdering ex-cops, is to become a murderer himself. This path will take Shane spiraling down and he feels like there’s no way back.
Personally, I didn’t care about the drug-money laundering scheme, and I wasn’t interested in the activities of that so-called parallel market. All these South-American places they went to, didn’t appeal to me, nor did any of the characters – especially not the many criminals in South-America, which is known to be one of the most violent continents on earth.
I was glad the book ended well and that Shane could pick up his life and repair his reputation after these 2 first books. I'll look forward to the next book; hopefully more compelling. **2,5**

[Glen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Shane Scully is driving around when he sees his former best friend drive by in a sports car. The problem is, the best friend is supposed to be dead.

Scully starts investigating, and finds his friend is heading up a unit of rogue undercover cops trying to muscle in on a money laundering scheme for drug dealers with a tobacco company.

Really seems more like a Rockford Files plot than a Shane Scully plot, but it isn't bad.

[Ed Schmidt · Rating 5 out of 5]

While driving along the freeway, Shane sees his best friend, Jody Dean, in the car next to him. But that can't be possible, Jody committed suicide 3 years earlier. While Alexa thinks Shane's mind is playing tricks on him, Shane is determined to pursue the matter. His investigation leads him to faked deaths and rouge cops that he an Alexa must stop, at all costs. A surprise ending caps the story.

[Cecelia/Ceil · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Second of the Shane Scully series. Cannell writes interesting characters and this storyline had several unexpected twists. I listened to this as an unabridged audiobook read by Dick Hill, who was great at giving different personalities to each character.

[Tracie Hall · Rating 3 out of 5]

BIBLIOGRAPHIC DETAILS:
Print: 1/11/2002; St. Martin's Press; 1st edition; 978-0312269609; 400 pages.
Audio: 7/15/2008; Brilliance Audio; B001D066EA; Duration 9:50:00
Feature Film: No.

SERIES:
Shane Scully book 2

CHARECTERS:
Shane Scully--LAPD
Alexandra (Alexa) Scully—LAPD
Chooch—Shane’s son, Alexa’s step-son
Jody Dean—Old boyhood friend

SUMMARY/ EVALUATION:
Selecting this book was due to an earlier happy accident when I’d stumbled upon the third book of this series, “Hollywood Tough”. I’d been looking for other books by the author of Incendiary on Overdrive and forgot that when there isn’t anything Overdrive tosses in the closest match. There are other books by Michael Cannell but not in the LAPL Overdrive collection, so it gave me Stephen Cannell.
So, now that we have listened to everything “Connelly”, and after having listened to the first book of Robert B. Parker, and needing a break from that author, I decided to return to this one, and pick up the first two books that I hadn’t realized existed when I picked up that 3rd book of the series. This is the second in the series. I enjoyed the first, “Tin Collectors”, as much as that third. This one was my least favorite. I did like that the author chose to write about a crime he felt strongly about, including a forward and a postscript explaining the existence of the crime that few people know exists. But I wondered if there was too much detail in the effort to join fact with fiction, and an over-compensation for those dry bits with long sequences of diabolical behaviors.
Also, in case, like me, you’re not fond of this, I’ll warn you that, I guess to be true to the reality of the situations, Cannell wasn’t one to hold back with the racial slurs or foul language.

AUTHOR:
Stephen Cannell (February 5, 1941 – September 30, 2010). According to Wikipedia, Stephen “was an American television producer, writer, novelist, and occasional actor, and the founder of Cannell Entertainment (formerly Stephen J. Cannell Productions) and the Cannell Studios.

After starting his career as a television screenwriter, Cannell created or co-created several dozen successful TV series from the 1970s to the 1990s, often with his creative partner Frank Lupo. Cannell's creations included The Rockford Files, The A-Team, The Greatest American Hero, 21 Jump Street, and The Commish. He also wrote novels, notably the Shane Scully mystery series.”
This book merits my reading the entire series. 😊

NARRATOR:
Dick Hill. According to Wikipedia: “Dick Hill has narrated over 1000 audiobooks, and has won three Audie Awards.[1] He is the recipient of a Golden Voices award from AudioFile magazine.[2] He has worked with his wife, Susie Breck, who is also an audiobook narrator and director.[3]”
Dick has read some Michael Connelly books, so I’m sure I’ve heard his narration before but just don’t recall what I’d thought of it. He’s quite animated—he really gets into the roles. I struggled, at times, to catch what was being articulated due to this enthusiasm to stick close to the author’s hints of mood and character.

GENRE:
Mystery, thriller, crime, police procedure

LOCATIONS:
Los Angeles, Aruba, Columbia

TIME FRAME:
Current-2008

SUBJECTS:
Under Cover policing, crime, money laundering, police procedure, tax evasion, parallel market, white-collar crime, corporate crime.

SAMPLE QUOTATION:
From Chapter 1, “Jody”
“Alexa was looking into his eyes and must have seen his gaze gutter and dim, because she suddenly asked him what he was thinking, and that was how his best friend’s name came up the day before Shane’s whole world changed.
‘I was thinking about Jody,’ Shane said, not explaining how Jody entered his mind during postcoital sex, when his thoughts should have been on her. She lay in his arms and nodded, maybe frowning slightly, but it was hard to tell because they were so close together. He could see only her eyes and they had not changed, still soft with love.
‘Oh’ was all she had said, but she shifted slightly and Shane came out of her.
‘I was thinking how he would have been happy for us,’ Shane had tried to explain, still not confessing his real train of thought.
Alexa hadn’t known Jody, not really . . . station-house war stories, mostly, and opinions; there was certainly no shortage of either where Jody was concerned. Jody had been assigned to the Special Investigations Section—SIS—when he . . . well . . . when he did the unthinkable.
Alexa had been running the Southwest Patrol Day Watch back then. Of course, she knew how the event had busted Shane up, how it still deeply affected him. After all, Jody had been like a brother. Jody’s family had been like Shane’s family. The Deans, with their wealth and position, never once made Shane feel like what he knew he was—a socially inept, unclaimed orphan from the Huntington House Group Home. They had cared about him when Shane had nobody who cared. Jody had been like a brother all through elementary school, high school, and the Marines. Actually, if you wanted to be absolutely accurate, all the way from Little League through the Police Academy.”

RATING:
I gave this book 3 stars 😊.

STARTED READING – FINISHED READING
5/15/2021 – 5/29/21

[JackieJ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Implausible plot.

[Katie Sunsdahl · Rating 4 out of 5]

That Shane Scully is one tough guy. Good book.

[D. George · Rating 5 out of 5]

As always: I loathe anything even resembling a spoiler, so I'll simply say that if you liked the first Scully book, I can't see any reason why you wouldn't like this one too.

[Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

this was outstanding book.could not put this down.just kept reading until it was done.

[Saudia · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good book- lots of unseen twists. I felt it was a bit of a struggle at time to keep people/ plots straight. An interesting book about the “parallel market”, supported by previous Dept of Justice arrests and public comments. The premise, while at times wild, is possible, and the action is intense.
A good read, but won’t need to read it again-

[SONIA · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great compulsive page-turning romp through an undercover cop story that mingles high tension with introspection, drama, and the occasional dollop of wry humour. Didn’t quite make it to 5 stars for me because I felt there was a bit too much of a credibility stretch. But a really good read, and I’d certainly read the next in the series.

[Wancket Enterprises · Rating 5 out of 5]

Soulfull

This book was the best book I have ever read. This is the second time I have read it and it just grabs my soul. I have read many, many books that were 5 star but for some reason I don't understand this book affected me deeply. It's just powerful!

[Mark Smith · Rating 2 out of 5]

The writing is technically sound and there's really nothing wrong with it. It had an ok plot that started out pretty intriguing. The character development was good too however a little unbelievable. But the story line just became silly at the end. Just...terrible

[john heidewald · Rating 1 out of 5]

I love this auther's work! Every book I've read so far, has been in one sitting- even if I'm up until, well, let's just say that going few nights w/out sleep is a small sacrifice. I
Love Demille's books!

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I the Shane Scully character, but I didn't like this book as much as the last one. It has a great premise, but there were some plot points that didn't ring true. Also, the gratuitous, graphic violence was a turn off.

[BBAnn · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book got a little "wordy" at times, but i loved the twists and turns!

[Kaye Bleek · Rating 5 out of 5]

Better than the first book, it’s a must read. I’m addicted to this series of books now

[Marita · Rating 3 out of 5]

Started with a sex scene, so just about stopped before I even got really started . Luckily it improved quickly. Crime novel based loosely on a real case, that made it interesting.

[Donn Lorber · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cops, bad cops, drugs, and corporate corruption make a good plot. Our hero almost dies too often, otherwise it’s well written and compelling reading