HOLLYWOOD TOUGH

Cop turns movie mogul to foil the Mafia, in a dopey but likable thriller by the man who made his bones with The Rockford Files.

LAPD Sergeant Shane Scully, newly married and happy as a clam at the start of his third adventure (The Viking Funeral, 2002, etc.), should have taken just one look at Nicky Marcella and rousted him again. But that’s hindsight. Truth is, Scully has an almost collegial affection for the little crook—never really hard-core, mostly small-change scams and cons—and, besides, as Nicky’s quick to inform him, he’s “found Jesus” and been redeemed. In addition, he’s found showbiz: a flourishing career as a Hollywood producer, he says, flashing the pertinent business card: “Cine-Roma, Nicholas Marcella, C.E.O.” Scully is skeptical, of course, but, tickled as always by Nicky, agrees to do him a favor. A young actress named Carol White has become hard to locate, which is too bad, since Nicky has the perfect role for her in a new film he’s casting. Could Scully just run her through the LAPD’s computers? Such a small thing, the work of an hour maybe, Scully couldn’t possibly know what complexities were to be born therefrom—that it would plunge him smack into the middle of a violent and bloody gang war, bring him into confrontation with a vicious and vengeful Mafia don, and partner him with Nicky in a multimillion-dollar deal so authentically hot that “half the [blanking] town wants a piece.” Before he’s out from under, though, Scully has ample opportunity to prove how “Hollywood tough” he is. As for Nicky—well, it just may be a star is born.

Once again, veteran writer/TV producer Cannell has concocted his special brand of reader candy. If you believe a word of it, there’s this bridge you might be interested in.