What do You think about The Viking Funeral (2002)?
For three years, Shane Skully has been mourning the death of best friend and fellow cop, Jody Dean. He's trying to move forward, but his career's been affected. Imagine his shock when, on his way to work, he spots Jody driving the car in the adjoining lane. Their eyes meet, and recognition is telegraphed, but Jody takes off and Shane loses him. Shane refuses to rest until he finds him again, and what he finds will land him in a nightmare that will probably destroy him.The Viking Funeral propels its readers through a breakneck tour of the high stakes world of drug trafficking, smuggling, and money laundering. More likely to appeal to men rather than women, it pulses with menace, danger, and violence. Skully is a tough, straightforward kind of character, one who is trying to allow his softer side to see the light of day. The plot contains a few incredible moments, but it holds together well enough. A word of warning - there are several gruesome scenes that are not for the squeamish.
—Linda
I'm not sure what to say about this book, other than it kept making me think of the movie "Predator". In that movie, Ahnald , Jesse Ventura and a group of tough-guy commandos go into the jungle on a mission only to be taken apart by an alien. There are no aliens in this book, but much of the action revolves around a group of tough guy types called the Vikings. Like the "Predator" gang, most of the characters are cartoonish and hard to take seriously.That being said, the book gets off to a great start with Shane Scully depressed about a friend's suicide, only to see the friend driving on the freeway a few days later. That starts a chain of very entertaining events that make up the plot of the book. Alexa and Chooch are back, although Chooch gets sent off to football camp and doesn't figure much in the plot. After many twists and turns it all ends with a mano a mano showdown. The book reads more like a wild cartoon than a real cop novel, and if you take it in that spirit, you will enjoy this one. Stephen J. Cannell writes with a real exuberance, and seems to be in command of a fun and twisting plot. The book is filled with evil villains, plot twists and sexy women, much like a good Schwarzenegger movie. If you liked the Terminator movies, True Lies, etc., you will enjoy this book.If, on the other hand, you are looking for realism, try Michael Connelly, for forensics, Patricia Cornwell and for grit, George Pelecanos. You won't find any of the above in the Viking Funeral. If you like cartoons, this one is a pretty good one.
—David
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.
—Zach
