Runaway Heart

by Stephen J. Cannell

Book Overview

As an Emmy Award winning writer, Stephen Cannell has created over 40 TV series, including The A-Team, The Greatest American Hero, and 21 Jump Street. He is also a "New York Times" Bestselling author. In Runaway Heart, Cannell combines cutting edge biotechnology and action-packed suspense in a new and stunningly original thriller set on the outer fringes of medical science . . . What would modern war be like if the front-line foot soldiers were not...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312304269
• ISBN13: 9780312304263
• Release Date: July 2003
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press
• Length: 400 Pages
• Weight: 1.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 6.4" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

This parabellum bullet really hurts, bubala!

Herman Strockmire is a plaintiff's lawyer, litigating on behalf of all of the clients who can't protect themselves. Ludicrous at first but really, isn't that what we were supposed to believe lawyers would do as in Harper Lee's Atticus Finch? So I'm not sure that Herman is the anomoly. I have come to believe the rest of the profession took the fork in the road, not Herman.In any event, he is now prosecuting a case on behalf of the Monarch Butterfly, soon to be exiled to the same dusty books as the dinosaur because of the government's genetic alteration of food. They're killing the butterflys, man!But that's not all. As Herman and his lovely daughter Susan probe deeper, bodies start turning up. Not with a simple K-bar wound to the thoracic cavity or a Glock shot to the head, but ripped up bodies. Super human strength MOs. Could it be that the evil doers in the monarch butterfly case are into slightly more than genetically altering just food?Enter Jack Wirta, sullen, despondent, wise-cracking, friend of Shane Scully, wounded and left on the hill like a malnourished Spartan child in 350 B.C., who has started his own detective agency. And guess who is his first client?This is great Stephen Cannell! It's part Michael Crichton, part Robert Crais. But most of all it's part Rockford Files, the A-Team and Wiseguy. And why not? Mr. Cannell wrote those scripts. We see references to Barbra and Jim, and of course Ted and Mary. I have to be honest. I don't know these people. But when he's finished, Mr. Cannell has convinced me that I ought to. And, as Jack struggles with his percocet and percodan habit, there's a cool intervention scene that I don't think I've ever seen in a book.So strap this one on. Slip on your black jeans, black turtleneck and a throwaway ankle gun. There's no commercials. Enjoy, boychick! 5 stars. Larry Scantlebury

Most Enjoyable

This is a book that is a little bit of John Grisham and Michael Crichton, but mostly it is Stephen Cannell. It holds your attention, challenges your ideas of what is credible, makes you laugh, makes you think and always entertains you. I looked forward to picking it up and continuing along with the story of the Don Quixote of the legal community in California as he tilted at windmills and the judiciary that thought him unworthy. However, one of his windmills turned out to be real and also deadly and how that all gets exposed and dealt with is a most entertaining story and a tale worth reading and thinking about. Let's hope that the technology which is in the book is not available today. The fly leaf says it is. If so, we all have something to think about.

Another fast paced overnight read from Cannell

Stephen Cannell has the gift of writing good old fiction that will keep you reading until you finish the book. The star of this novel is his unlikely protagonist, Herman Strockmeyer. An older, unattractive, overweight attorney for "lost cause" clients against Government agencies, he is the David that takes on Goliath for the good of humanity. With a serious heart condition threatening his life, he refuses to take time out from his cases because he is the only one who will fight for those who cannot fight for themselves. His lovely daughter Susan works with him, and during his investigation for his case against Gen-a-Tec and their biologically engineered corn, his assistant is savagely murdered. Susan and Herman hire unlikely detective Jack Wirta, an ex-LA cop with a prescription drug habit, to find out why Roland was murdered. This unusual trio of heros is what makes this book tick so loudly, Mr. Cannell's talent for bringing these people to life is the heart of the novel. Our trio discovers much more than biologically engineered corn when their investigation of Gen-a-Tec pulls them into danger with DARPA, a black-op government agency that will do anything to hide their illegal and unethical genetics project. As they run from one danger straight into the next, barely escaping time after time, you won't be able to let go until the conclusion.Fast paced as all of Mr. Cannell's books are, this is a good story and a quick read with a truly likeable protagonist, and a highly recommended break from your stack of self-help and text books. Enjoy! :-)

A Great Read!

This is a great novel from Cannell. The story is smart, well thought out and at the same time is a fast paced action adventure. I found it hard to put down ! Cannell is a master story teller. Runaway Heart ranks up there with his other great novels and leaves you reflecting on the points he raises about our world. Go get this book !!!! Enjoy!

This novel is FANTASTIC!

I immensely enjoyed this work of Cannell's. I think it's my favorite of his so far. It's exciting, fast-paced, and the characters are unique and interesting - incredibly so. The fact that the technology in the novel exists is quite frightening and Stephen Cannell paints a realistic and believable picture of what could actually be in our future.Since I am an activist, I really loved (and could identify with) the Quixotic Herman Strockmire. I hope to see more of him in future novels!