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Heat 2: A Novel
Michael Mann, four-time Oscar-nominated filmmaker and writer-director of Heat, Collateral, Thief, Manhunter, and Miami Vice, teams up with Edgar Award-winning author Meg Gardiner to deliver Mann’s first crime novel—an explosive return to the world and characters of his classic film Heat—an all-new story that illuminates what happened before and after the iconic film.
Described by Michael Mann as both a prequel and sequel to the renowned, critically acclaimed film of the same name, Heat 2 covers the formative years of homicide detective Vincent Hanna (Oscar winner Al Pacino) and elite criminals Neil McCauley (Oscar winner Robert De Niro), Chris Shiherlis (Val Kilmer), and Nate (Oscar winner Jon Voight), and features the same extraordinary ambition, scope, rich characterizations, and attention to detail as the epic film.
This new story leads up to the events of the film and then moves beyond it, featuring new characters on both sides of the law, new high-line heists, and breathtakingly cinematic action sequences. Ranging from the streets of L.A. to the inner sancta of rival Taiwanese crime syndicates in Paraguay to a massive drug cartel money-laundering operation just over the border in Mexico, Heat 2 illuminates the dangerous workings of international crime organizations and the agents who pursue them as it provides a full-blooded portrait of the men and women who inhabit both worlds. Operatic in scope, Heat 2 is engrossing, moving, and tragic—a masterpiece of crime fiction from one of the most innovative and influential filmmakers in American cinema.
Described by Michael Mann as both a prequel and sequel to the renowned, critically acclaimed film of the same name, Heat 2 covers the formative years of homicide detective Vincent Hanna (Oscar winner Al Pacino) and elite criminals Neil McCauley (Oscar winner Robert De Niro), Chris Shiherlis (Val Kilmer), and Nate (Oscar winner Jon Voight), and features the same extraordinary ambition, scope, rich characterizations, and attention to detail as the epic film.
This new story leads up to the events of the film and then moves beyond it, featuring new characters on both sides of the law, new high-line heists, and breathtakingly cinematic action sequences. Ranging from the streets of L.A. to the inner sancta of rival Taiwanese crime syndicates in Paraguay to a massive drug cartel money-laundering operation just over the border in Mexico, Heat 2 illuminates the dangerous workings of international crime organizations and the agents who pursue them as it provides a full-blooded portrait of the men and women who inhabit both worlds. Operatic in scope, Heat 2 is engrossing, moving, and tragic—a masterpiece of crime fiction from one of the most innovative and influential filmmakers in American cinema.
605 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 9, 2022
2217 people are currently reading
14871 people want to read
About the author
Michael Mann
1 book191 followersMichael Kenneth Mann is an American director, screenwriter, and producer of film and television who is best known for his distinctive style of crime drama. His most acclaimed works include the films Thief (1981), Manhunter (1986), The Last of the Mohicans (1992), Heat (1995), The Insider (1999), Collateral (2004), and Public Enemies (2009). He is also known for his role as executive producer on the popular TV series Miami Vice (1984–89), which he adapted into a 2006 feature film.
For his work, he has received nominations from international organizations and juries, including the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, Cannes, and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. As a producer, Mann has twice received nominations for the Academy Award for Best Picture, first for The Insider and then The Aviator (2004), which Mann had been hired to direct before the project was transferred to Martin Scorsese. Total Film ranked Mann No. 28 on its 2007 list of the 100 Greatest Directors Ever, and Sight and Sound ranked him No. 5 on their list of the 10 Best Directors of the Last 25 Years (for the years 1977–2002).
For his work, he has received nominations from international organizations and juries, including the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, Cannes, and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. As a producer, Mann has twice received nominations for the Academy Award for Best Picture, first for The Insider and then The Aviator (2004), which Mann had been hired to direct before the project was transferred to Martin Scorsese. Total Film ranked Mann No. 28 on its 2007 list of the 100 Greatest Directors Ever, and Sight and Sound ranked him No. 5 on their list of the 10 Best Directors of the Last 25 Years (for the years 1977–2002).
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,740 reviews
August 13, 2022
Making my first ever Goodreads review because Heat 2 fucking rocks.
September 29, 2022
The 1995 film Heat is one of my favorite movies of all time so I was both excited and scared to check this book out. Sequels to things you loved decades ago can go either way. For every totally awesome Top Gun: Maverick there’s an abomination like Ghostbusters: Afterlife.
So how did Heat 2 do? Much better than Afterlife, but not as well as Maverick.
Writer/director Michael Mann teamed up with veteran crime novelist Meg Gardiner to give us a story that is equal parts prequel and sequel. The story bounces between the '80s when professional thief Neil McCauley and his crew were pulling jobs while cop Vincent Hanna is desperately trying to stop another group of criminals conducting brutal home invasions that include rape and murder. The sequel thread that starts in 1995 involves one of the survivors of the original film trying to escape the cops and what happens in the subsequent years. An old loose end that ties the whole Heat story together eventually draws characters back into the same orbit, but none of them realize this at first.
As just a crime novel, this works pretty well. Mann knows how to do stories about heists, and there’s a couple of great ones in this. There’s interesting background information we learn about the characters that adds some depth to them. The dialogue hits as it did in the film so that when a character speaks, you can hear the actor who portrayed them in 1995 saying the lines. This is particularly true of Vincent Hanna where it's very easy to imagine a younger Al Pacino belting some of these out with his own brand of gusto.
The thing I thought didn’t work as well is what happens in the sequel portion when we jump forward to 2000. At this point the crime aspect isn’t about heists, it’s more about high tech black market computer gear with international organized crime.. That feels like it's borrowing elements from more recent Mann movies such as Blackhat or Miami Vice. There's interesting stuff here, but it felt like the book turned into something else then.
Also, there’s no getting around the fact that Mann is a filmmaker so a lot of his appeal is visual in nature. Yes, he can create great characters who speak snappy dialogue filled with a lot of cool lingo, and he and Gardiner set the scene well. But I felt myself longing to see the action play out on a big screen with amazing locations, a killer soundtrack, and Mann’s distinctive screen style rather than just reading it. It also leaves a lot left hanging so it’s not entirely satisfying to wait almost three decades for a follow up that still has more to come.
Still, more of this works than doesn’t, and I enjoyed it. It was a real treat to revisit this fictional world again. It’s 3.5 stars rounded up to 4.
So how did Heat 2 do? Much better than Afterlife, but not as well as Maverick.
Writer/director Michael Mann teamed up with veteran crime novelist Meg Gardiner to give us a story that is equal parts prequel and sequel. The story bounces between the '80s when professional thief Neil McCauley and his crew were pulling jobs while cop Vincent Hanna is desperately trying to stop another group of criminals conducting brutal home invasions that include rape and murder. The sequel thread that starts in 1995 involves one of the survivors of the original film trying to escape the cops and what happens in the subsequent years. An old loose end that ties the whole Heat story together eventually draws characters back into the same orbit, but none of them realize this at first.
As just a crime novel, this works pretty well. Mann knows how to do stories about heists, and there’s a couple of great ones in this. There’s interesting background information we learn about the characters that adds some depth to them. The dialogue hits as it did in the film so that when a character speaks, you can hear the actor who portrayed them in 1995 saying the lines. This is particularly true of Vincent Hanna where it's very easy to imagine a younger Al Pacino belting some of these out with his own brand of gusto.
The thing I thought didn’t work as well is what happens in the sequel portion when we jump forward to 2000. At this point the crime aspect isn’t about heists, it’s more about high tech black market computer gear with international organized crime.. That feels like it's borrowing elements from more recent Mann movies such as Blackhat or Miami Vice. There's interesting stuff here, but it felt like the book turned into something else then.
Also, there’s no getting around the fact that Mann is a filmmaker so a lot of his appeal is visual in nature. Yes, he can create great characters who speak snappy dialogue filled with a lot of cool lingo, and he and Gardiner set the scene well. But I felt myself longing to see the action play out on a big screen with amazing locations, a killer soundtrack, and Mann’s distinctive screen style rather than just reading it. It also leaves a lot left hanging so it’s not entirely satisfying to wait almost three decades for a follow up that still has more to come.
Still, more of this works than doesn’t, and I enjoyed it. It was a real treat to revisit this fictional world again. It’s 3.5 stars rounded up to 4.
June 22, 2022
First things first: if you haven’t seen Michael Mann’s 1995 unhinged, 3h long heist movie, you probably won't get much out of the book (although I’d love to be proven wrong!). It’s a solid crime novel with great plot and pacing, but relies on readers being familiar with the actors’ (superb) portrayal of the main characters.
If, however, you have seen the film, then the book is GREAT. The writing does a spectacular job of capturing Vincent Hanna (Al Pacino), Neil McCauley (DeNiro) and Chris Shiherlis (Val Kilmer) - both before and after the movie events. In particular I LOVED Hanna’s early story set in 80s Chicago: the chapters where he visits a victim in the hospital were absolutely beautiful, provide great insight into the character and drop little clues that make his evolution into movie-Hanna believable. I challenge you to read his lines and not hear Al Pacino’s memorably unhinged delivery, every single time.
Shiherlis, who becomes the focus of the book, also gets a great background story and I hugely enjoyed how prequel-he and Charlene were portrayed. Similarly I found his early conflict between his old life and his ambition really well written. I’m not sure how much I believe his later development , but it does make for a good storyline.
What made me knock a star off the rating is the uneven writing: sometimes it’s spectacular and beautiful, nails down to the actors’ exact voice and mannerism, and perfectly captures the very urban, metallic and cold atmosphere that makes the movie such a visual masterpiece. Being able to render that aesthetics into words is no small feat, and I’m amazed that came across so well. But at other times chapters are just dry and cheesy descriptions with super choppy sentences, or even just chunks of sentences, which I didn’t particularly enjoy.
And while the characters are mostly super well written, there were specific moments that didn't meet my movie-expectations. Look, Heat might be famous for the real life robberies it inspired and for *that* shooting scene that’s apparently shown to Marines as part of their training - but what always stands out to me is how the movie succeeds in humanizing fairly violent ‘bad guys’ without ever glamorising or romanticising them. Unfortunatley that approach is not always there in Shiherlis’s sequel story (a bit too much heroism for my taste) - and especially not in McCauley’s origin story, which I found unconvincing and overly romanticised (it reads more like run-of-the-mill fan fiction than anything).
But those points aside, Heat 2 is a great, entertaining novel, with well-woven, intricate storylines and action-packed scenes. And if you enjoyed the movie characters, it’s definitely a super satisfying prequel/sequel hybrid.
Huge thanks to Netgalley for the advanced copy - I couldn't have been more excited at the chance to read this one early!
If, however, you have seen the film, then the book is GREAT. The writing does a spectacular job of capturing Vincent Hanna (Al Pacino), Neil McCauley (DeNiro) and Chris Shiherlis (Val Kilmer) - both before and after the movie events. In particular I LOVED Hanna’s early story set in 80s Chicago: the chapters where he visits a victim in the hospital were absolutely beautiful, provide great insight into the character and drop little clues that make his evolution into movie-Hanna believable. I challenge you to read his lines and not hear Al Pacino’s memorably unhinged delivery, every single time.
Shiherlis, who becomes the focus of the book, also gets a great background story and I hugely enjoyed how prequel-he and Charlene were portrayed. Similarly I found his early conflict between his old life and his ambition really well written. I’m not sure how much I believe his later development , but it does make for a good storyline.
What made me knock a star off the rating is the uneven writing: sometimes it’s spectacular and beautiful, nails down to the actors’ exact voice and mannerism, and perfectly captures the very urban, metallic and cold atmosphere that makes the movie such a visual masterpiece. Being able to render that aesthetics into words is no small feat, and I’m amazed that came across so well. But at other times chapters are just dry and cheesy descriptions with super choppy sentences, or even just chunks of sentences, which I didn’t particularly enjoy.
And while the characters are mostly super well written, there were specific moments that didn't meet my movie-expectations. Look, Heat might be famous for the real life robberies it inspired and for *that* shooting scene that’s apparently shown to Marines as part of their training - but what always stands out to me is how the movie succeeds in humanizing fairly violent ‘bad guys’ without ever glamorising or romanticising them. Unfortunatley that approach is not always there in Shiherlis’s sequel story (a bit too much heroism for my taste) - and especially not in McCauley’s origin story, which I found unconvincing and overly romanticised (it reads more like run-of-the-mill fan fiction than anything).
But those points aside, Heat 2 is a great, entertaining novel, with well-woven, intricate storylines and action-packed scenes. And if you enjoyed the movie characters, it’s definitely a super satisfying prequel/sequel hybrid.
Huge thanks to Netgalley for the advanced copy - I couldn't have been more excited at the chance to read this one early!
August 27, 2023
1995: The bank is worth the risk.
2022: The sequel was worth the risk.
2022: The sequel was worth the risk.
August 26, 2022
Superb!
TLDR: Does It live up to the hype? Yes!
This is how you write a pre-sequel to one of the best heist movies ever made.
It's a very long book - with two more in the works. Michael Mann and Meg Gardiner absolutely nail the tone and atmosphere of the original movie - expand on It, and deliver one of the best crime dramas that I've read in a long time.
If you love Neo-noir -like I do- It doesn't get any better than this. If you don't, then I'd give it a hard pass. No one in this book walks, they all glide or cruise. No one gets in and out of cars, they all "slide in" and "roll out", etc. If dude-lit was a thing - this would be the definition of It.
There's a hell of a lot going on in this book- and just like the movie - It's heavily character-driven.
We get three time periods - Before, during, and after the movie. All of the character arcs are solid. There's a surprising amount of depth to all of them, and some scenes are particularly moving. If you haven't seen the movie, then you're going to struggle with this one.
It's the best heist movie ever made! I highly recommend watching It before reading.
The Audiobook - Peter Giles's narration is fantastic considering the extremely difficult set of roles he has to play. Yes, he sounds like 'the trailer guy - Don LaFontaine' a lot of the time, but his Pacino accent is phenomenal! All the scenes with Vincent Hanna shine. Tom Sizemore and Val Kilmer get the same treatment. It's extremely well done, albeit a little over the top at times.
This is my favourite release of 2022, and I can't wait for the next two.
If you love the movie as much as I do, then It's a no-brainer - Read It!
TLDR: Does It live up to the hype? Yes!
This is how you write a pre-sequel to one of the best heist movies ever made.
It's a very long book - with two more in the works. Michael Mann and Meg Gardiner absolutely nail the tone and atmosphere of the original movie - expand on It, and deliver one of the best crime dramas that I've read in a long time.
If you love Neo-noir -like I do- It doesn't get any better than this. If you don't, then I'd give it a hard pass. No one in this book walks, they all glide or cruise. No one gets in and out of cars, they all "slide in" and "roll out", etc. If dude-lit was a thing - this would be the definition of It.
There's a hell of a lot going on in this book- and just like the movie - It's heavily character-driven.
We get three time periods - Before, during, and after the movie. All of the character arcs are solid. There's a surprising amount of depth to all of them, and some scenes are particularly moving. If you haven't seen the movie, then you're going to struggle with this one.
It's the best heist movie ever made! I highly recommend watching It before reading.
The Audiobook - Peter Giles's narration is fantastic considering the extremely difficult set of roles he has to play. Yes, he sounds like 'the trailer guy - Don LaFontaine' a lot of the time, but his Pacino accent is phenomenal! All the scenes with Vincent Hanna shine. Tom Sizemore and Val Kilmer get the same treatment. It's extremely well done, albeit a little over the top at times.
This is my favourite release of 2022, and I can't wait for the next two.
If you love the movie as much as I do, then It's a no-brainer - Read It!
November 17, 2024
“A guy told me one time… don't let yourself get attached to anything you are not willing to walk out on in 30 seconds flat if you feel the heat around the corner." -Neil McCauley
The 1995 Heat movie starring Al Pacino and Robert De Niro will always be one of my top favorites. Legendary performances. If you haven’t seen it, you should before reading this book. The movie Heat 2, is due for release at the end of 2025 into 2026. SO FREAKIN’ EXCITED. If it’s a well-made reflection of this book, the film should be a killer. Good lawd, just don’t let them over Hollywoodize the damn thing. I hope they keep it raw and classic.
Heat 2 serves as a prequel and sequel to the movie Heat. The book jumps between two time periods; 1988 to 1995 where it continues the original story. As a fan, I was satisfied with the execution of this book but felt it lacked a little polish. The craftsmanship could have been a tad shinier, more radiant. It needed a bit more pop and “Girl… lemme see THAT THANG on your finger.”
"She has a GREAT ASS, and you've got your head ALL THE WAY UP IT!" Al Pacino as LAPD Detective Vincent Hanna belts this line in a way only he can. His whole face COMES ALIVE and wants to eat you. His voice, like a feral growl from a deranged wolf. LOL And the line was improvised, he’s a tremendous actor.
The 1995 Heat movie starring Al Pacino and Robert De Niro will always be one of my top favorites. Legendary performances. If you haven’t seen it, you should before reading this book. The movie Heat 2, is due for release at the end of 2025 into 2026. SO FREAKIN’ EXCITED. If it’s a well-made reflection of this book, the film should be a killer. Good lawd, just don’t let them over Hollywoodize the damn thing. I hope they keep it raw and classic.
Heat 2 serves as a prequel and sequel to the movie Heat. The book jumps between two time periods; 1988 to 1995 where it continues the original story. As a fan, I was satisfied with the execution of this book but felt it lacked a little polish. The craftsmanship could have been a tad shinier, more radiant. It needed a bit more pop and “Girl… lemme see THAT THANG on your finger.”
"She has a GREAT ASS, and you've got your head ALL THE WAY UP IT!" Al Pacino as LAPD Detective Vincent Hanna belts this line in a way only he can. His whole face COMES ALIVE and wants to eat you. His voice, like a feral growl from a deranged wolf. LOL And the line was improvised, he’s a tremendous actor.
September 12, 2022
Let me say starting this review were this released as a movie I’d pay money and go see it in a cinema.
This book is an unexpected bonus to one of my favorite movies of all time, and it is both a prequel and a sequel to the original movie HEAT, starring Al Pacino and Robert De Niro. One of the spectacular heistmovies that cinema gave us in which its director Michael Mann gave us the perfect balance between all characters involved.
Now in this new book the story of the surviving bankrobber Chris tells his tale post HEAT and also about the life before the movie about two other heists one which went wrong because of a sadistic outsider who wanted to rip of the crew after one of its jobs.
It is also about Vincent Hanna who has become a captain of police in LAPD who is driven as always. He has a past in Chicago in which he could have met MacCauleys crew but most definitely has run into the sadistic killer and rapist that will play a role in several lives.
It is a very well plotted story that is both exciting as well executed by both writers Mann & Gardiner. It is a book that completes the original movies and gives you more insight in the characters from the original movie. It is a big surprise that it has been managed to create a story that really is of the same quality as its source.
Have not seen the movie, ga and watch that first and then read the book, otherwise you’ll shortchange yourself in the total experience.
A very pleasant experience for a reader and movie fan.
This book is an unexpected bonus to one of my favorite movies of all time, and it is both a prequel and a sequel to the original movie HEAT, starring Al Pacino and Robert De Niro. One of the spectacular heistmovies that cinema gave us in which its director Michael Mann gave us the perfect balance between all characters involved.
Now in this new book the story of the surviving bankrobber Chris tells his tale post HEAT and also about the life before the movie about two other heists one which went wrong because of a sadistic outsider who wanted to rip of the crew after one of its jobs.
It is also about Vincent Hanna who has become a captain of police in LAPD who is driven as always. He has a past in Chicago in which he could have met MacCauleys crew but most definitely has run into the sadistic killer and rapist that will play a role in several lives.
It is a very well plotted story that is both exciting as well executed by both writers Mann & Gardiner. It is a book that completes the original movies and gives you more insight in the characters from the original movie. It is a big surprise that it has been managed to create a story that really is of the same quality as its source.
Have not seen the movie, ga and watch that first and then read the book, otherwise you’ll shortchange yourself in the total experience.
A very pleasant experience for a reader and movie fan.
July 16, 2022
So good. Just amazing. Fans of Heat will not be disappointed at all. Part prequel, part sequel, this novel absolutely delivers.
You know that famed bank shootout scene from the movie? There’s multiple sequences equal to if not surpassing that in these pages.
And the villain here? Whew, makes Waingro look like a petty thief.
You know that famed bank shootout scene from the movie? There’s multiple sequences equal to if not surpassing that in these pages.
And the villain here? Whew, makes Waingro look like a petty thief.
August 10, 2022
Fast-paced noir writing centered on two of the characters from the original movie. Neither adds nor takes away anything from the source material. Solid summer read
August 18, 2022
This is a perfectly adequate crime novel that adds little to and subtracts little from the film it follows. To reviewers claiming this is the best crime novel ever, I implore you: please read more.
There are definitely bits of it that feel like leftovers from 'Heat' rewarmed: one deleted scene from the film is recycled whole-cloth; quotable lines from the original script get refigured here, in case you have a deep emotional investment in hearing Vincent Hanna bellow "WHADDAYAGOT?!" Some of the dialogue is hackneyed in a way that could be no one else but Michael Mann. Giving Neil McCauley, whose entire arc in the film is that he's struggling between the discipline needed to be a good thief and the need for human connection, a tragic backstory that involves him losing a loved one feels like step backward.
And yet, the novel manages to capture some of what the film so gripping. There's something compelling about watching intelligent, driven people make plans, methodically prepare, and execute them against odds. The characters live in a brutal world in which only their cleverness and their willingness to use violence keep them alive, and if you like crime stories it's hard not to be engaged by this. Worth a read if you loved the film, but probably not otherwise.
There are definitely bits of it that feel like leftovers from 'Heat' rewarmed: one deleted scene from the film is recycled whole-cloth; quotable lines from the original script get refigured here, in case you have a deep emotional investment in hearing Vincent Hanna bellow "WHADDAYAGOT?!" Some of the dialogue is hackneyed in a way that could be no one else but Michael Mann. Giving Neil McCauley, whose entire arc in the film is that he's struggling between the discipline needed to be a good thief and the need for human connection, a tragic backstory that involves him losing a loved one feels like step backward.
And yet, the novel manages to capture some of what the film so gripping. There's something compelling about watching intelligent, driven people make plans, methodically prepare, and execute them against odds. The characters live in a brutal world in which only their cleverness and their willingness to use violence keep them alive, and if you like crime stories it's hard not to be engaged by this. Worth a read if you loved the film, but probably not otherwise.
November 24, 2022
A must for fans of the original film, and a those who love a good LA crime story. As a big fan of both, I loved this from the opening page. Perhaps a little bogged down in the middle, but nonetheless a cracking story and a great way to revisit the characters from the film. Recommended.
August 25, 2022
Ive seen the film Heat a few times but not for a long time, so, the night before I decided to start this book I re-watched this fantastic film just to familiarize myself with the characters again.
So a book that is a sequel/prequel to a movie and is co-written by its director. I have to say I was intrigued but slightly skeptical.
I neednt have worried. This is everything the film was an so much more.
Set in the present, following Chris, the only survivor of the crew from the film and a few years in the past, where we get the back story of the crew members and their heists and especially Robert De Niros character and what moulded him to the calculated character we see in the film.
The pace is relentless, the plot intricate and involving and we are also introduced to one of the most memorable and deranged "baddies" that has ever graced a page.
The book works beautifully with the both time lines. The new characters are as memorable as those from the film, the book really is a tour de force and a fantastic addition to the movie.
Five easy stars for me. Real life got in the way of this one a bit and I took longer to read it than normal but its a testament to the book that I was right back in the story again when I did manages to pick it up.
Many thanks to the publisher for the ARC though Netgalley.
So a book that is a sequel/prequel to a movie and is co-written by its director. I have to say I was intrigued but slightly skeptical.
I neednt have worried. This is everything the film was an so much more.
Set in the present, following Chris, the only survivor of the crew from the film and a few years in the past, where we get the back story of the crew members and their heists and especially Robert De Niros character and what moulded him to the calculated character we see in the film.
The pace is relentless, the plot intricate and involving and we are also introduced to one of the most memorable and deranged "baddies" that has ever graced a page.
The book works beautifully with the both time lines. The new characters are as memorable as those from the film, the book really is a tour de force and a fantastic addition to the movie.
Five easy stars for me. Real life got in the way of this one a bit and I took longer to read it than normal but its a testament to the book that I was right back in the story again when I did manages to pick it up.
Many thanks to the publisher for the ARC though Netgalley.
Read
February 16, 2024Could not finish
November 23, 2022
First of all, hats off to Peter Giles and his narration of the Audible. I rarely, if ever, give a 5 star rating for narration, but Giles' Al Pacino impression was spot-on, and it made a tremendous value to the Audible. Before starting the Audible, I was concerned about the narration. Since the characters had already been created in the original movie, I was worried that having a new narrator would throw off the sequel. Peter Giles does a phenomenal job recreating Al Pacino's voice. I cannot adequately explain how great it was to hear Al Pacino speaking in this novel. Every time the character spoke, you hear Al Pacino and it felt like Al Pacino was narrating the book. Giles does a passable Robert DeNiro, but it was nowhere near as good as his Al Pacino. Val Kilmer doesn't have a very recognizable voice, so I don't even know if Giles was doing a Val Kilmer impression; regardless, it didn't matter or affect the novel.
This is one of the rare instances where, in my head, I had given this book a 3 star, a 4 star, and 5 star rating at various times throughout this novel. The novel dragged a little bit here and there throughout, but then the story would pick up again. When the story dragged, I thought it was a 3 star novel, but then the all of the different threads of the story would start intertwining, and I'd consider it a four star book. The ending of the novel was great and all of the different threads tied together nicely, pretty much as I would have liked the story to go, and the novel was fully satisfying, so I bumped it up to a 5 star rating. It may only be a 4 star novel, but the ending was so satisfying, that I had to give kudos to Michael Mann (and Meg Gardiner) for weaving a story that predated the movie Heat, was current with Heat, and went years beyond the movie. The usage of a new character that interlocked everyone together worked really well.
If you didn't watch the original movie, then you'd never rate this a 5 star novel, and you may not even give it 4 stars. But for those of us who really liked the movie, and have seen it several times, I gave an extra star for the sheer accomplishment of writing a novel as a sequel to a very popular movie (and performing a great Audible along with it).
This is one of the rare instances where, in my head, I had given this book a 3 star, a 4 star, and 5 star rating at various times throughout this novel. The novel dragged a little bit here and there throughout, but then the story would pick up again. When the story dragged, I thought it was a 3 star novel, but then the all of the different threads of the story would start intertwining, and I'd consider it a four star book. The ending of the novel was great and all of the different threads tied together nicely, pretty much as I would have liked the story to go, and the novel was fully satisfying, so I bumped it up to a 5 star rating. It may only be a 4 star novel, but the ending was so satisfying, that I had to give kudos to Michael Mann (and Meg Gardiner) for weaving a story that predated the movie Heat, was current with Heat, and went years beyond the movie. The usage of a new character that interlocked everyone together worked really well.
If you didn't watch the original movie, then you'd never rate this a 5 star novel, and you may not even give it 4 stars. But for those of us who really liked the movie, and have seen it several times, I gave an extra star for the sheer accomplishment of writing a novel as a sequel to a very popular movie (and performing a great Audible along with it).
August 11, 2022
I read this in one bite. The book moves at a feverish pace, and there are three set pieces -- a fight between cops and crooks in a Chicago home, a robbery at a Mexican count house, and a shootout on the streets of Los Angeles -- that I can't wait to see on screen. I also will give the authors credit for creating a villain that comes as close to being as hissable as anything in recent crime fiction.
But...
The sections of the book that feature Chris Sheherlis simply are not as interesting as those that focus on Vincent Hanna and Neil McCauley. I just did not care about Sheherlis as much as the authors do, and there is a lot that focuses on what happens to him in South America after the events shown in the movie. Much of it is technical, and reminded me of Mann's movie Blackhat. Like that movie, things get a little too far into the weeds at times and you desperately root for more action pieces to revive you.
I'll see the movie that's going to come from this book. Will it be as good as Heat? We shall see...
But...
The sections of the book that feature Chris Sheherlis simply are not as interesting as those that focus on Vincent Hanna and Neil McCauley. I just did not care about Sheherlis as much as the authors do, and there is a lot that focuses on what happens to him in South America after the events shown in the movie. Much of it is technical, and reminded me of Mann's movie Blackhat. Like that movie, things get a little too far into the weeds at times and you desperately root for more action pieces to revive you.
I'll see the movie that's going to come from this book. Will it be as good as Heat? We shall see...
December 28, 2022
Guys will literally watch Heat instead of going to therapy. Trust me on this, I'm guys. Heat is a fantastic movie, Mann an incredible director of crime and action, and the movie is gorgeously shot and full of top-tier performances, from Pacino's deranged detective Vincent Hanna, to De Niro's professional and tactical criminal mastermind Neil McCauley, and Val Kilmer's icy gunman Chris Shiherlis. The movie is perfect and self contained, and doesn't really need a sequel.
But we have one anyone, because Mann is not done with these characters. And you know, this story is parasitic, but perfectly fine, advancing on three parallel timelines. In 1988, we meet McCauley and Hanna much as they are, with Hanna chasing a psychopathic home invader in Chicago, and McCauley planning a heist against a Mexican cartel. Immediately after the events of the movie in 1996, Shiherlis is recovering from his wounds and working as a security contractor for a Taiwanese-Paraguayian crime family. And in 2000, lose ends are being tied up, with Hanna, the psychopathic home invader, and Shiherlis helping the daughter of the crime family move to the next level.
If you like Heat, you're going to enjoy this book, which is much like the movie, but more. But I think without the movie, and without Pacino and Kilmer in my head, this wouldn't have been nearly as good. The writing is a lot like a screenplay, terse and telegraphic, stating images and moods rather than making them. The novel is not Mann's form, and while co-author Gardiner does her best to flesh it out, you can see where the dialog crackles, and when this book needs light, sound, and actors to make it live.
But hey, you're not going to go to therapy are you?
But we have one anyone, because Mann is not done with these characters. And you know, this story is parasitic, but perfectly fine, advancing on three parallel timelines. In 1988, we meet McCauley and Hanna much as they are, with Hanna chasing a psychopathic home invader in Chicago, and McCauley planning a heist against a Mexican cartel. Immediately after the events of the movie in 1996, Shiherlis is recovering from his wounds and working as a security contractor for a Taiwanese-Paraguayian crime family. And in 2000, lose ends are being tied up, with Hanna, the psychopathic home invader, and Shiherlis helping the daughter of the crime family move to the next level.
If you like Heat, you're going to enjoy this book, which is much like the movie, but more. But I think without the movie, and without Pacino and Kilmer in my head, this wouldn't have been nearly as good. The writing is a lot like a screenplay, terse and telegraphic, stating images and moods rather than making them. The novel is not Mann's form, and while co-author Gardiner does her best to flesh it out, you can see where the dialog crackles, and when this book needs light, sound, and actors to make it live.
But hey, you're not going to go to therapy are you?
October 29, 2022
3.5.
I did not see the movie but my wife gave me a recap of it. This book itself was fast paced with lots of action. At times I thought I was reading A Don Winslow book but every time the novel returned to the Chris Cheherlis’ Paraguay story I found it slow, unnecessary and uninteresting. The action involving Hanna and Neal are quite good. The characterization of the bad guy, Otis Wardell is outstanding.
I did not see the movie but my wife gave me a recap of it. This book itself was fast paced with lots of action. At times I thought I was reading A Don Winslow book but every time the novel returned to the Chris Cheherlis’ Paraguay story I found it slow, unnecessary and uninteresting. The action involving Hanna and Neal are quite good. The characterization of the bad guy, Otis Wardell is outstanding.
November 28, 2022
Magnifico.
August 12, 2022
This is a great read, with the beat and detail of the Original Movie, to which it is both prequel and sequel, interwoven. If you haven’t memorized it, see the movie first — it holds up, and then some.
August 29, 2022
Influential, endlessly rewatchable, quotable, writer-director Michael Mann’s nearly three-hour Heat (1995) is The Godfather of heist movies. His similarly epic 480-page novel Heat 2 (co-written with Meg Gardiner) functions as a sequel, a prequel, plus a recap. Far from a gimmick or a pastiche, Heat 2 is seriously hard-boiled and intricately plotted.
August 15, 2022
What do I think? Well, I think, NO, I KNOW, that this is the best crime novel ever written. 5 Stars? Give me a break. You can't praise this incredibly written storytelling masterpiece highly enough. It's a vast epic that is so smart, so well informed, so beautifully constructed, that I wish I could send Michael Mann and Meg Gardiner a crate of champagne for the time spent in losing myself in the world of Vincent Hanna, Neil McCauley, Chris Shiherlis and the countless incisively drawn characters in this propulsive magnum opus. If there is a more evil bad guy in literature than Otis Wardell, I don't want to be on the same planet with him.
The numerous action set pieces are graphically violent, and written with unprecedented, heart-stopping narrative bravura. I had to remind myself to breathe at times. I want to avoid spoiler alerts, but there is tragedy and heartbreak in "Heat 2"as well, and you can't help but have empathy for the original "bad guys" from the movie "Heat," Neil McCauley (Robert DeNiro) and Chris Shiherlis (Val Kilmer), thanks to Mann and Gardiner expanding on their backstories, as well as jumping ahead in time, with a sweeping global narrative of rival crime syndicates operating in South America and Southeast Asia, and how Chris Shiherlis reinvents his life in this cutthroat and lethal environment. "Heat 2" has the ambition and scope of "The Godfather Part 2," immersing you in Mann's relentlessly kinetic universe with mesmerizing brilliance. Bring on the movie!
The numerous action set pieces are graphically violent, and written with unprecedented, heart-stopping narrative bravura. I had to remind myself to breathe at times. I want to avoid spoiler alerts, but there is tragedy and heartbreak in "Heat 2"as well, and you can't help but have empathy for the original "bad guys" from the movie "Heat," Neil McCauley (Robert DeNiro) and Chris Shiherlis (Val Kilmer), thanks to Mann and Gardiner expanding on their backstories, as well as jumping ahead in time, with a sweeping global narrative of rival crime syndicates operating in South America and Southeast Asia, and how Chris Shiherlis reinvents his life in this cutthroat and lethal environment. "Heat 2" has the ambition and scope of "The Godfather Part 2," immersing you in Mann's relentlessly kinetic universe with mesmerizing brilliance. Bring on the movie!
August 15, 2022
Ok it's not Hamlet but it's a fast paced extremely entertaining read specially if you liked the movie Heat (all I can see is Val Kilmer💓) and besides even if you love champagne and caviar who doesn't like pizza and beer once in a while.😉
January 9, 2023
A major disappointment. While at times incredibly well-written with the pulse-pounding pace and dialogue snap akin to Mann’s best films, overall the story was bogged down by a series of contrived coincidences that illogically forced further connection between all the characters in a way I found impossible to believe. For all Mann’s typical gritty realism, these coincidences were a bridge-too-far for me. Especially the prequel portions that rob a lot of the mystery behind Neal’s character and intentions. Does this diminish the original film for me? Not really but I kinda wish I hadn’t read this.
September 1, 2022
Disappointed to say the least. The sequel/prequel to one of my favorite crime films ever is an overstuffed, overlong, interesting at parts but mostly boring in many other parts novel that never really goes anywhere. There are some nice action sequences at the start but I was a bit surprised to find that the majority of the book is a corporate espionage thriller with a generic love story set in Paraguay. I wish I liked it more… perhaps the film version will be better?
August 11, 2025
READ MY FULL REVIEW AT Best Thriller Books
What do you get when you pair an Oscar-nominated filmmaker with an Edgar Award-winning author, give them the direction to write a novel that expands the universe of an iconic movie, and then get out of their way? An insanely intense, action-packed, balls-to-the-wall, extraordinary motherf**king piece de resistance! That’s what. Michael Mann and Meg Gardiner have crafted a truly legendary thriller that is literary genius and bound to be a visually stunning cinematic experience. Simply put, Heat 2 is astonishingly brilliant.
Heat 2 is the epitome of unputdownable. It is highly engaging, engrossing, enraging and exciting from start to finish. Everything in the world stops while reading it, becoming a single focal point that completely sucks you into the realm of Hanna, McCauley, et al. It’s a summer blockbuster in print form. A surefire #1 hit that deserves to be consumed and experienced by as many people as possible. Bravo to Michael Mann and Meg Gardiner for creating this flawless work of genius. A top contender for best thriller of 2022.
What do you get when you pair an Oscar-nominated filmmaker with an Edgar Award-winning author, give them the direction to write a novel that expands the universe of an iconic movie, and then get out of their way? An insanely intense, action-packed, balls-to-the-wall, extraordinary motherf**king piece de resistance! That’s what. Michael Mann and Meg Gardiner have crafted a truly legendary thriller that is literary genius and bound to be a visually stunning cinematic experience. Simply put, Heat 2 is astonishingly brilliant.
Heat 2 is the epitome of unputdownable. It is highly engaging, engrossing, enraging and exciting from start to finish. Everything in the world stops while reading it, becoming a single focal point that completely sucks you into the realm of Hanna, McCauley, et al. It’s a summer blockbuster in print form. A surefire #1 hit that deserves to be consumed and experienced by as many people as possible. Bravo to Michael Mann and Meg Gardiner for creating this flawless work of genius. A top contender for best thriller of 2022.
August 13, 2022
I have mixed feelings about this book; with the 1995 movie being one of my all-time favorites I had high expectations.
I liked the tone of most of the book — it felt true to the movie. The Vincent Hanna dialogues are excellent. The characters were consistent and believable too, with the expansion of the Shiherlis character a pretty interesting development. His adventures in Paraguay make for the most interesting and compelling sections of the book.
On the negative side, some of it felt overwrought. At times it feels like the same story elements from the movie duplicated and mapped onto 1988 and 2000. There’s even a stand-in for Waingro. And a lot of it feels like straight-up script directive. Also I feel like there were two or three plot holes but I’d have to go back to investigate those.
I think the 1995 movie stands well enough on its own without this extra series of storylines.
I liked the tone of most of the book — it felt true to the movie. The Vincent Hanna dialogues are excellent. The characters were consistent and believable too, with the expansion of the Shiherlis character a pretty interesting development. His adventures in Paraguay make for the most interesting and compelling sections of the book.
On the negative side, some of it felt overwrought. At times it feels like the same story elements from the movie duplicated and mapped onto 1988 and 2000. There’s even a stand-in for Waingro. And a lot of it feels like straight-up script directive. Also I feel like there were two or three plot holes but I’d have to go back to investigate those.
I think the 1995 movie stands well enough on its own without this extra series of storylines.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 14, 2025
If you like the film, this is well worth the read; if not, or if you haven’t seen the film, this would be a tough read. A continuation of the original film and a whole lot of backstory to the characters as well. The bad guys are really bad, and the good guys aren’t that great either. I enjoyed it, though its is not for everyone.
July 29, 2023
In 1995, Michael Mann’s Heat made its mark on cinema, as what would become one of the preeminent heist movies for years to come. With an outstanding cast, including Al Pacino, Robert Deniro, Val Kilmer, Tom Sizemore, Jon Voight, Danny Trejo, and Natalie Portman, among others, the film included, not just solid acting performances across the board and smart writing, but also four very memorable action set pieces, and arguably one of the most iconic Scenes from a Diner of all time.
It seemed only a matter of time, before Michael Mann penned a sequel. Many just didn’t expect him to wait upwards of twenty years to do so, nor to (at least initially) put it in novel form.
Heat 2 checks back in with nearly ALL of its characters (even the ones who didn’t survive the first film . . . and there were quite a few of those), as it hurdles through two separate time periods simultaneously.
One part of the story takes place back in 1988. Neil McCauley and his crew are planning a heist of safety deposit boxes in a Chicago Savings and Loan chocked filled with dirty money (mostly owned by cops), such that few would rush to report it missing. The success of this heist eventually leads them to conduct a second, much larger one: the take-down of an extensive drug money laundering operation occurring just over the American / Mexican Border.
Meanwhile, Vincent Hanna (then part of the Chicago PD) is investigating a series of violent home invasions in upper-crust homes, which take place while the victims are home, and nearly always include the violent rapes and torture of women and children. The perpetrator of those crimes, Otis Wardell, somehow catches wind of McCauley’s planned Mexican Border job, and plots to intercept his crew at the border to steal their score.
The second part of the story begins in 1995, mere moments after the credits rolled on the original film. Chris Shiherlis, as the sole surviving, but very injured, member of his crew, is being hunted by Vincent Hanna, after the film’s final bank heist went VERY sideways on the streets of LA. With the help of the crew’s fixer, Nate, Chris is shipped off to Paraguay on a fake passport. There he is given a job working security for a wealthy crime family, who have their fingers on the pulse of new technology and international business. That family’s war with a competing crime family, eventually leads Chris back to LA where the story began. It is there where he finds himself growing ever closer to a final showdown with two of his old enemies: Otis Wardell and Vincent Hanna.
Heat 2 was overall a really good time. Mann and Meg Gardiner (as co-authors), and their outstanding audiobook narrator, did a great job of recapturing the depth, complexity, and intrigue of his original characters, while placing them in believable situations, both in the past and present. The novel reads very much like a screenplay, and is filled with numerous exciting heist / action set pieces that span the globe from Chicago to Los Angeles to the Mexican Border to Paraguay and all the way out to Singapore. Heat 2’s conclusion was very satisfying, while still leaving an opening for the story to continue, should Mann decide to pick up the mantle for Heat 3 in another 20 years.
If I had one complaint, I would say at nearly 800 pages, this book was a bit too long. I actually felt as though the novel could have easily been broken up into two books, one taking place in the Pre-Heat 1988 timeline, and the second following the events of Heat. Each story had a complete arc, and the connections between them were arguably somewhat tenuous, until the novel’s final act. Additionally, because the tale hopped back and forth between two timelines, it was not uncommon to experience a jarring shift to the second storyline, just when the first one was getting exciting. This type of whiplash occasionally made the story lag in parts, and made it difficult, as a reader, to compartmentalize and recall the ins and outs of the various heist plans that were detailed, planned and carried out throughout each timeline.
That said, I think that, much like Heat, Heat 2 is a smart, well-constructed, occasionally emotional, and pulse-pounding, international heist / cops & robbers follow-up to the original film. I would specifically recommend the audiobook, in which the narrator performs surprisingly impressive impersonations of both Pacino and Deniro, in the dialogue sections of the book. When the Heat 2 movie (or, hopefully) two movies, eventually makes it to the big screen, I will most definitely be buying a ticket.
It seemed only a matter of time, before Michael Mann penned a sequel. Many just didn’t expect him to wait upwards of twenty years to do so, nor to (at least initially) put it in novel form.
Heat 2 checks back in with nearly ALL of its characters (even the ones who didn’t survive the first film . . . and there were quite a few of those), as it hurdles through two separate time periods simultaneously.
One part of the story takes place back in 1988. Neil McCauley and his crew are planning a heist of safety deposit boxes in a Chicago Savings and Loan chocked filled with dirty money (mostly owned by cops), such that few would rush to report it missing. The success of this heist eventually leads them to conduct a second, much larger one: the take-down of an extensive drug money laundering operation occurring just over the American / Mexican Border.
Meanwhile, Vincent Hanna (then part of the Chicago PD) is investigating a series of violent home invasions in upper-crust homes, which take place while the victims are home, and nearly always include the violent rapes and torture of women and children. The perpetrator of those crimes, Otis Wardell, somehow catches wind of McCauley’s planned Mexican Border job, and plots to intercept his crew at the border to steal their score.
The second part of the story begins in 1995, mere moments after the credits rolled on the original film. Chris Shiherlis, as the sole surviving, but very injured, member of his crew, is being hunted by Vincent Hanna, after the film’s final bank heist went VERY sideways on the streets of LA. With the help of the crew’s fixer, Nate, Chris is shipped off to Paraguay on a fake passport. There he is given a job working security for a wealthy crime family, who have their fingers on the pulse of new technology and international business. That family’s war with a competing crime family, eventually leads Chris back to LA where the story began. It is there where he finds himself growing ever closer to a final showdown with two of his old enemies: Otis Wardell and Vincent Hanna.
Heat 2 was overall a really good time. Mann and Meg Gardiner (as co-authors), and their outstanding audiobook narrator, did a great job of recapturing the depth, complexity, and intrigue of his original characters, while placing them in believable situations, both in the past and present. The novel reads very much like a screenplay, and is filled with numerous exciting heist / action set pieces that span the globe from Chicago to Los Angeles to the Mexican Border to Paraguay and all the way out to Singapore. Heat 2’s conclusion was very satisfying, while still leaving an opening for the story to continue, should Mann decide to pick up the mantle for Heat 3 in another 20 years.
If I had one complaint, I would say at nearly 800 pages, this book was a bit too long. I actually felt as though the novel could have easily been broken up into two books, one taking place in the Pre-Heat 1988 timeline, and the second following the events of Heat. Each story had a complete arc, and the connections between them were arguably somewhat tenuous, until the novel’s final act. Additionally, because the tale hopped back and forth between two timelines, it was not uncommon to experience a jarring shift to the second storyline, just when the first one was getting exciting. This type of whiplash occasionally made the story lag in parts, and made it difficult, as a reader, to compartmentalize and recall the ins and outs of the various heist plans that were detailed, planned and carried out throughout each timeline.
That said, I think that, much like Heat, Heat 2 is a smart, well-constructed, occasionally emotional, and pulse-pounding, international heist / cops & robbers follow-up to the original film. I would specifically recommend the audiobook, in which the narrator performs surprisingly impressive impersonations of both Pacino and Deniro, in the dialogue sections of the book. When the Heat 2 movie (or, hopefully) two movies, eventually makes it to the big screen, I will most definitely be buying a ticket.
February 20, 2024
Wish I could inject this book into my veins
February 1, 2024
Certainly feels like a novel written by a person who has only written screenplays (apologies to Meg Gardiner). I like what I've read of Mann's screenwriting, and Heat 2 is engagingly propulsive, but the use of present tense and the relentless forward momentum can't help wearing a little thin after a while. So much of what makes Mann's art so special is in the way he cuts and films it, and in the way he directs his actors to somehow make the (potentially silly) macho poetry of his dialogue sing. Some of his expressionistic sensibility comes across on the page, but a lot of it doesn't.
That said, even if he does manage to make this into a film (fingers crossed), or even if (best case scenario in an alternate universe) he'd made it when De Niro and Pacino were the right age to reprise their characters, I don't think this story has the makings of Heat's equal or superior, its Godfather: Part II. It's a little too diffuse, and at the same time a little too tidy and conventional. While the ending it builds to is exciting and satisfying (don't get me wrong), it's not transcendent the way the film's is. It's unfair to compare a debut novel to one of the greatest movies ever made, but as much as I enjoyed reading it directly after revisiting Heat, Heat 2 feels like an afterthought, answering questions that didn't need to be asked without doing too much (not nothing) to deepen our understanding of the characters. And if Mann ever makes it as a film, it'll feel even more like a curio, a funny inverse of the usual "don't bother with the movie if you've read the book" situation.
Wardell is an effectively hatable villain, but some of his scenes are needlessly ugly – the kind of thing Mann would tastefully elide in a film (as he does with Waingro's actions in Heat or Dolarhyde's in Manhunter).
It's fun how much this feels not just like a sequel to Heat, but like a Greatest Hits of Mann's entire filmography. The Chicago section reminded me of Thief and Manhunter, while the Paraguay sections evoke Miami Vice and (perhaps most surprisingly and perhaps most excitingly) Blackhat. Chris Shiherlis is not the film's most compelling character, overshadowed as he is by Hanna and McCauley, but he gets some of the novel's best material.
That said, even if he does manage to make this into a film (fingers crossed), or even if (best case scenario in an alternate universe) he'd made it when De Niro and Pacino were the right age to reprise their characters, I don't think this story has the makings of Heat's equal or superior, its Godfather: Part II. It's a little too diffuse, and at the same time a little too tidy and conventional. While the ending it builds to is exciting and satisfying (don't get me wrong), it's not transcendent the way the film's is. It's unfair to compare a debut novel to one of the greatest movies ever made, but as much as I enjoyed reading it directly after revisiting Heat, Heat 2 feels like an afterthought, answering questions that didn't need to be asked without doing too much (not nothing) to deepen our understanding of the characters. And if Mann ever makes it as a film, it'll feel even more like a curio, a funny inverse of the usual "don't bother with the movie if you've read the book" situation.
Wardell is an effectively hatable villain, but some of his scenes are needlessly ugly – the kind of thing Mann would tastefully elide in a film (as he does with Waingro's actions in Heat or Dolarhyde's in Manhunter).
It's fun how much this feels not just like a sequel to Heat, but like a Greatest Hits of Mann's entire filmography. The Chicago section reminded me of Thief and Manhunter, while the Paraguay sections evoke Miami Vice and (perhaps most surprisingly and perhaps most excitingly) Blackhat. Chris Shiherlis is not the film's most compelling character, overshadowed as he is by Hanna and McCauley, but he gets some of the novel's best material.
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