Runaway Heart: A Novel

Runaway Heart: A Novel

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 our sons and daughters, but genetically engineered animals with superhuman strength and speed, and just enough intelligence to understand commands and follow them blindly? This is exactly the weapon being developed at a base in the desert by a top-secret government agency. Attorney Herman Strockmire, a rumpled man with a very big but defective heart, champion of lost legal causes and the infuriating nemesis of giant corporate polluters, becomes involved when one of his employees is literally torn limb from limb by one of the experimental prototypes. At great personal risk, Herman , his beautiful daughter and law partner, Susan, and ex-LAPD detective, Jack Wirta, ignore all threats and plunge headlong into harm's way, finding themselves involved in a nightmare beyond anyone's wildest imagination... This science exists today. The future is now. Herman J. Strockmire is a lawyer with the heart of Don Quixote. His caseload might be better characterized as a lost-cause load. Here he's battling for the survival of the monarch butterfly, which is on the verge of extinction thanks to a reaction to genetically altered foods. Assisting him in the case are his daughter, Susan, and computer hacker Roland Minton. When Minton is brutally murdered after a surreptitious assault on the data systems of Gen-a-Tec, a firm specializing in genetic research for the government, Herman hires private eye Jack Wirta to dig deeper. Armed with little more than determination to see justice done, Herman, Susan, and Jack find themselves squared off against the worst elements of American industry and the U.S. military. Cannell, one of the most successful television producers of all time as well as the best-selling author of the Shane Scully thrillers, creates memorably endearing characters and places them in harrowing situations with clearly defined moral choices. Strockmire is one of his best. Between battling the military-industrial forces of evil, he copes with an irregular heartbeat, kvetches over Susan and Jack's blossoming relationship, and summons the wherewithal to help Jack with his drug addiction. Too many thriller heroes carry Glocks and boast six-pack abs and dangerously high testosterone levels. Herman has a conscience and a disorganized briefcase. Wes Lukowsky Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved "Cannell has a genius for creating memorable characters and quirky, gripping plots.... This is a fun read." -- Publishers Weekly Praise for Hollywood Tough: "Cannell, creator of such TV shows as The A-Team, clearly knows the ins and outs of the entertainment industry, and the detective story, with its wry, subtle humor, doubles as Hollywood satire. Most of the cops-and-robbers sequences hit the mark as well, and the well-drawn characters and keen observations on the similarities between Hollywood and the mafia make this a winner." -Publishers Weekly "Scully has ample opportunity to prove how "Hollywood tough" he is . . . veteran writer/TV producer Cannell has concocted his special brand of reader candy." -Kirkus Reviews Praise for The Viking Funeral: "Stephen J. Cannell's The Viking Funeral is the sort of fast and furious read you might expect from one of television's most successful and innovative writer-producers." -Los Angeles Times "Solid plotting with nail-biting suspense and multiple surprises keep the reader guessing and sweating right up to the cinematic ending . . . Cannell has a knack for characterization and a bent for drama that will satisfy even the most jaded thrill lover." -Publishers Weekly "Stephen Cannell is . . . an accomplished novelist. . . . Is a Viking Funeral screenplay in the works? If so, don't be surprised to see Cannell's name on it." -New York Daily News Praise for The Tin Collectors: "I've been a Stephen Cannell fan since his remarkable King Con, and he keeps getting better. The Tin Collectors is an LAPD story that possesses both heart and soul, a fresh and different look at the men and women who, even more than the NYPD, are the most media covered police force in the world. Stephen Cannell has the screenwriter's fine ear for dialogue and great sense of timing and pacing as well as the novelist's gift of substance and subtlety. Cannell likes to write, and it shows." - Nelson DeMille "If you like cop novels, you're going to love this one. Cannell is a pro at the top of his game." - Stephen Coonts Praise for Hollywood Tough : "Cannell, creator of such TV shows as The A-Team, clearly knows the ins and outs of the entert