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The name Shane Scully refers to a series of novels written by Stephen J. Cannel. It is also the name of the series protagonist. The Shane Scully books are crime novels that follow the exploits of a detective in Los Angeles doing his best to make the streets safer.
Order of Shane Scully Series
| # | Read | Title | Published | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Tin Collectors | 2001 | Description / Buy | |
| 2 | The Viking Funeral | 2002 | Description / Buy | |
| 3 | Hollywood Tough | 2003 | Description / Buy | |
| 4 | Vertical Coffin | 2004 | Description / Buy | |
| 5 | Cold Hit | 2005 | Description / Buy | |
| 6 | White Sister | 2006 | Description / Buy | |
| 7 | Three Shirt Deal | 2008 | Description / Buy | |
| 8 | On The Grind | 2009 | Description / Buy | |
| 9 | The Pallbearers | 2010 | Description / Buy | |
| 10 | The Prostitutes' Ball | 2010 | Description / Buy | |
| 11 | Vigilante | 2011 | Description / Buy |
Shane grew up in an orphanage. He was always a loner and that trait follows him into adulthood. While Shane doesn’t always prefer isolation, the detective seems to do his best work when he is out on his own. Shane’s most powerful weapon is his mind. He has a way of thinking outside the box that eludes most of his colleagues.
More importantly, Shane Scully cannot stand injustice. There is nothing the detective won’t do to bring the bad guys ruining his neighborhood down, even if it means breaking all the laws. Stephen writes Shane as a rebel. However, like any good author, Stephen J. Cannel structures each new novel in the Shane Scully series as a new opportunity for Shane to grow.
The Tin Collectors, the first book in the series, finds Shane leaving a relatively isolated life. And attempts by members of his own department to ruin his career and possibly even take his life do not do anything good for his trust issues.
But as the series progresses, Shane begins to change. He encounters people that he cannot help but care about and whose involvement in his life make him a better, emotionally healthier man.
The Shane Scully novels reflect Stephen J. Cannell’s background in television. The author, who was born in 1941 and died in 2010, started out as an American Television producer. Stephen wrote scripts for many successful television shows. And it all began when he sold the script for It Takes a Thief to Universal.
This led to a job with Universal Studios and it wasn’t long before the author was writing for shows like Ironside and Columbo. From that point onward, Stephen only continued to spiral down the rabbit hole that is Hollywood, and it wasn’t until 1995 that the author turned his attention to writing, realizing that novels gave him a far more sophisticated opportunity to tell the stories he liked.
Best Shane Scully Books
Stephen wasn’t the most prolific writer of noir but he had a loyal following of fans that loved and appreciated his work, with some of the best Shane Scully books including:
The Tin Collectors: Shane’s life changes when a woman, his ex-partner’s wife, startles him awake with a phone call and claims that her abusive husband is assaulting her. Shane wastes no time in rushing over to their house in the middle of the night, though his attempt at stopping his ex-partner’s assault on his wife leads to the abusive gentleman’s death.
Shane didn’t mean to kill his former partner. But no one cares. The department loved the deceased and so they do not hesitate to turn Shane into an outcast. Even worse, Internal Affairs has set its sights on Shane and there is nothing they won’t do to enact vengeance.
With his life and career on the line, Shane must get to the root of a conspiracy that has infected his department.
Vertical Coffin: When a Sheriff’s deputy is gunned down, the blame falls on the shoulders of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms. The Deputy was killed while serving a routine search warrant and his colleagues think the bureau failed to warn him about all the illegal guns that were in the house.
The situation escalates when members of the ATF Situation Response Team and the Sheriff’s Special Enforcement Bureau are gunned down. Shane is called upon to investigate both incidents because the LAPD is uninvolved in the quarrel and, thus, they are considered unbiased.
Shan must find answers before two SWAT Teams kill each other.
This book is a police procedural that finds Shane Scully trying to resolve an inter-departmental conflict. There is an element of mystery that makes for quite a few unexpected twists.
Other Book Series You May Like
The “Michael Bennett” Series by James Patterson is another great crime series. Michael Bennett is a detective with the NYPD. He must care for his large family of ten adopted kids even while trying to resolve the high rate of crime in New York.
Many fans also enjoy the “Joe Pickett” Series by C.J. Box. Joe Pickett is a Wyoming Game Warden who fights everyone from environmental terrorists to homicidal animal rights advocates and animal mutilators even while caring for his loving family.
What Is The Next Book in The Shane Scully Series?
There doesn't seem to be an upcoming book in The Shane Scully Series. The newest book is Vigilante and was released on December, 6th 2011.