Riding the Snake
by Stephen Cannell
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Description
A Beverly Hills golden boy whose glow is fading, Wheeler Cassidy, an aimless, hard-drinking womanizer, is partying toward dissipation. But after his brother's mysterious death, Wheeler embarks on a perilous journey to find himself and the Chinese gangsters who murdered the only member of his family he ever really loved. Along the way, he teams up with Tanisha Williams, a beautiful African-American detective raised in Watts and now assigned to the L.A.P.D. Asian Crimes Task Force. The two show more make an unlikely pair, but together they face the violence and corruption that stretches from Hong Kong's notorious criminal Triad to the highest reaches of the American government. It's an international conspiracy of huge proportions that will take Wheeler and Tanisha halfway around the world and into the most dangerous adventure of their lives... show lessTags
Recommendations
Member Reviews
Stephen J. Cannell was one of the greatest story-tellers of these United States, and "Riding the Snake" is one of his greatest stories.
And despite its 1998 publication date, it's very timely, and very relevant today to us in these United States, especially with the Biden family in the White House (this review is being written in 2023) and its connections to certain foreign nations.
Author Cannell was remarkably inventive and creative, and the plot of "Riding the Snake" is intricate and complex, and it involves dozens of characters.
Among them are racists, upper-economic-class members of high society, extremely poor residents of U.S. and Chinese slums, power-seeking politicians and bureaucrats, vicious criminals, Chinese communist show more imperialists, and thousands of innocent victims.
"Riding the Snake" will encourage a reader to learn about history, about geography, and about what some call "realpolitik."
It is one of the best books I've read lately, and I strongly recommend it. show less
And despite its 1998 publication date, it's very timely, and very relevant today to us in these United States, especially with the Biden family in the White House (this review is being written in 2023) and its connections to certain foreign nations.
Author Cannell was remarkably inventive and creative, and the plot of "Riding the Snake" is intricate and complex, and it involves dozens of characters.
Among them are racists, upper-economic-class members of high society, extremely poor residents of U.S. and Chinese slums, power-seeking politicians and bureaucrats, vicious criminals, Chinese communist show more imperialists, and thousands of innocent victims.
"Riding the Snake" will encourage a reader to learn about history, about geography, and about what some call "realpolitik."
It is one of the best books I've read lately, and I strongly recommend it. show less
PLOT OR PREMISE:
Stephen J. Cannell is an expert at pulling PR successes with fluff on the TV airwaves. This book is no exception. It takes a wealthy playboy (who never measured up to his father's standards) and a black female cop (who came from the streets) and throws them together to investigate a crime committed by Asian tongs. About the only thing missing from the demographics are gays because we also have Russians and international intrigue. The short plot summary is that playboy Wheeler Cassidy loses his seemingly straight-laced brother to an Asian tong war involving immigrants "riding the snake" to America and the "free" elections in Hong Kong as it reverts to Chinese rule. Along as his investigative partner is a black cop, show more Tanisha Williams, being investigated for having ties still to her "hood", and therefore assigned to a desk in the Asian bureau of the LAPD. She investigates the death of Cassidy's brother, and the brother's secretary, and it all leads off to Hong Kong -- taxi!
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WHAT I LIKED:
A weird series of events leads from Hong Kong back to L.A. and more fights with the tongs, and a Russian nuclear bomb that has been smuggled into L.A.
.
WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE:
Basically, the writing is fine, but the story is what happens when you take a Tom Clancy-type story, and replace the spooks with characters from your average cop story on TV, and run it along the same TV format plot lines. No depth here, but he hits all the major story headlines from popular press.
.
BOTTOM-LINE:
Holes all over the place but fun ride
.
DISCLOSURE:
I received no compensation, not even a free copy, in exchange for this review. I am not personal friends with the author, nor do I follow him / her on social media. show less
Stephen J. Cannell is an expert at pulling PR successes with fluff on the TV airwaves. This book is no exception. It takes a wealthy playboy (who never measured up to his father's standards) and a black female cop (who came from the streets) and throws them together to investigate a crime committed by Asian tongs. About the only thing missing from the demographics are gays because we also have Russians and international intrigue. The short plot summary is that playboy Wheeler Cassidy loses his seemingly straight-laced brother to an Asian tong war involving immigrants "riding the snake" to America and the "free" elections in Hong Kong as it reverts to Chinese rule. Along as his investigative partner is a black cop, show more Tanisha Williams, being investigated for having ties still to her "hood", and therefore assigned to a desk in the Asian bureau of the LAPD. She investigates the death of Cassidy's brother, and the brother's secretary, and it all leads off to Hong Kong -- taxi!
.
WHAT I LIKED:
A weird series of events leads from Hong Kong back to L.A. and more fights with the tongs, and a Russian nuclear bomb that has been smuggled into L.A.
.
WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE:
Basically, the writing is fine, but the story is what happens when you take a Tom Clancy-type story, and replace the spooks with characters from your average cop story on TV, and run it along the same TV format plot lines. No depth here, but he hits all the major story headlines from popular press.
.
BOTTOM-LINE:
Holes all over the place but fun ride
.
DISCLOSURE:
I received no compensation, not even a free copy, in exchange for this review. I am not personal friends with the author, nor do I follow him / her on social media. show less
Cannell is an action TV guy, so you'd expect this to read like an action show. Aging playboy Wheeler works with a female African-American LAPD detective to investigate the murder of his seemingly perfect brother. They run up against evil Chinese gangsters. Violent and fast-moving, not really for me.
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Author Information
89+ Works 5,493 Members
Stephen J. Cannell was born in Los Angeles, California on February 5, 1941. He was dyslexic and struggled through school. After graduating from the University of Oregon, he drove a truck for his father's home-decorating business and wrote TV scripts at night and on the weekends. His first writing successes were story ideas sold to Mission show more Impossible. Four years later, he sold a script for It Takes a Thief. In 1966 a script he submitted for Adam 12 so impressed the producers at Universal that they offered him the position of head writer. At Universal he wrote and helped create several TV shows including The Rockford Files, Baretta, and Baa Baa Black Sheep. He started his own production company in 1979, generating The A-Team, Riptide, Hunter, and 21 Jump Street. Other credits include Wiseguy, Renegade, and Silk Stalkings. He has scripted over 1,500 TV episodes and created or co-created over 40 programs. His first novel, The Plan, was published in 1995. During his lifetime, he wrote more than 15 novels including Final Victim, King Con, and the Shane Scully series. He died of complications associated with melanoma on September 30, 2010 at the age of 69. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Riding the Snake
- People/Characters
- Wheeler Cassidy; Tanisha Williams
- Important places
- Los Angeles, California, USA
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 237
- Popularity
- 136,564
- Reviews
- 3
- Rating
- (3.45)
- Languages
- Czech, Dutch, English
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook
- ISBNs
- 8
- ASINs
- 3
