The Plan

Okay, so I'm totally biased. I just love everything Stephen J. Cannell has done.

If I would be a bit more fair, I'd give The Plan 4 stars. or even 3.5. But no, 5 stars because it's Stephen. J. Cannell. Period.

His characters tend to use overly crude language from time to time, and the plot is fairly straight-forward, but Cannell manages to throw in some surprises, and take you on a thrilling ride, even though you know the destination.

An entertaining book with a few 'grown' moments. But well thought out, with some interesting relationships.

BIBLIOGRAPHIC DETAILS:
Print: COPYRIGHT: 6/18/1995; PUBLISHER: William Morrow & Co—1st edition; ISBN 978-0688140465; PAGES 420.
Audio: COPYRIGHT: 12/8/2014; ISBN: 9781590401507; PUBLISHER: Phoenix Books, Inc.; DURATION: 4:58:49; PARTS: 4; File Size: 143456 KB; Abridged
Feature Film or tv: Not that I know of.

SERIES: No

MAJOR CHARACTERS:
Paul Arquette
Warren Sacks
Ryan Bolt
Mickey Alo
Joseph Alo
Lucinda Alo
Cole (can’t recall his first name)
Caz (Nick name- spelling could be wrong)

SUMMARY/ EVALUATION:
How I picked it: Perhaps I have some degree of obsessive-compulsive disorder, but once I have read multiple books written by one person, I tend to feel compelled to read them all. So, I went back to read Cannell’s earlier books. The first time I show more did, the first one he wrote wasn’t available, so, since they were not a series, I got the second one (not noticing that only an abridgment, which I typically avoid, was available in audio format) and didn’t much like it—in fact Don (husband) quit listening with me. Still, I felt compelled to read this first one and knew better than to invite Don to listen.
I find it a little hard to believe that someone who co-created the Rockford Files could write with such all-out vulgarity. I guess he wanted to make his Mafia characters authentic, but golly. I think even a Mob Boss would blush. Maybe I’m over-reacting—It’s just the story seemed to open harshly --kind of like when you dive into cold water—it hits as a fast and unwelcome shock, however much it was anticipated.
Then, quite early on there’s a scene I’ll just categorize as ‘cruelty to animals’ that might, combined with the offensive vocabulary, have had me tossing the book in the trash, were it mine (and in print). But I figured since the thing was only some 5 hours long (again, I did not realize this was an abridgement, but am sort of thankful it was at this point), I could somehow power through. Then, I was surprised, when I actually started wondering what would happen next…and thankfully, once the plot got a hold of Stephen, the need to color it with vulgarity seemed to taper off.
What’s it about? Well, that’s actually where Cannell’s talent bleeds through—it does seem well plotted. It’s about a top Mafia fellow who schemes to get an unknown politician into the White House, at which point the plan is to control him to abolish RICO (the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act), among other things, by appointing Supreme Court Justices that they suggest, and assert manipulations wherever else they can influence things. He plots it well, and either had a broad knowledge of a large variety of things, or researched well.

AUTHOR:
Stephen Cannell (February 5, 1941 – September 30, 2010). According to Wikipedia, Stephen “was an American television producer, writer, novelist, and occasional actor, and the founder of Cannell Entertainment (formerly Stephen J. Cannell Productions) and the Cannell Studios.
After starting his career as a television screenwriter, Cannell created or co-created several dozen successful TV series from the 1970s to the 1990s, often with his creative partner Frank Lupo. Cannell's creations included The Rockford Files, The A-Team, The Greatest American Hero, 21 Jump Street, and The Commish. He also wrote novels, notably the Shane Scully mystery series.”

NARRATOR:
Stephen Cannell. (see above).
Stephen was also an actor, so it’s no surprise he read his own first novels—especially considering that, at least I am guessing; few self-respecting narrators would be willing to utter so much vulgarity. There were only a few deliveries that I thought, ‘How is it when an author is reading his very own lines, that he delivers them “wrong”? Maybe not everyone hears intonations and word stresses as I do and he’s saying it exactly as he meant it to be said?” But like I said, it wasn’t prevalent—well, but then, how could it have been when I would never say some of those words at all?

GENRE:
Fiction; Political Thriller;

LOCATIONS:
New Jersey; Rhode Island; California; Catalina; Israel

TIME FRAME:
Contemporary (1994)

SUBJECTS:
Murder; Psychology; Mafia; Corruption; Radio Frequency (RF) engineering; Politics; News networks; Crime; Murder; Violence; Animal abuse; Death: Loss

DEDICATION:
"To Marcia
who sees me through
and to
Derek, Naja, N’Gai,
and Garret who all left too soon

SAMPLE QUOTATION:
From Chapter 1: “The Sporting Club: January 3, 1996”
“Mickey Alo tipped the seat back but didn’t sleep. He looked out the window of the Lear-55 at the blue-green reef fifteen thousand feet below. His father’s pilot, Milo Duelo, had just announced that they were about to make their descent into Grand Bahama island. Mickey rubbed the stubble on his chin and wondered what the hell Paul Arquette was trying to pull. The call had been screwy. Paul’s voice screeched at him through fifteen hundred miles of Atlantic Bell cable.
“I can’t tell you on the phone . . . but it’s important. You can land at the deserted military field at Sand Dollar Beach. You won’t have to clear customs or immigration. Nobody will ever know you’re down here.
In the two rear seats of the plane, New York Tony Demarco and Little Pussy Bono were snoring contentedly. New York Tony had been Mickey’s bodyguard since he was at Harvard back in the late seventies; now he was his capo, or right hand. Tony was short and muscular with a head as big as a truck tire and a complexion like lunar lava. Little Pussy Bono had gotten his name and reputation as a cat burglar in New York, but now he handled special assignments for the Alo family. He had been working mostly for Mickey, now that Joseph Alo was sick. Little Pussy was slender and hawk-faced. Like most cat-burglars, God had designed him for air-conditioning vents and small openings.
The pressure in the rich gray and burl-wood cabin changed as New York Tony and Little Pussy sat up and rubbed their eyes.
Two minutes later, the plane touched down at the end of the apron and taxied to a stop. Mickey turned to face the two men in the seats behind him. ‘I don’t know what’s going on. Get a map of this fucking place and line up a car, don’t rent it, steal something, and stay handy. In case I need you, I want you ready to move. No phone calls, no contact with anyone, no record we were ever here.’ Mickey didn’t quite know why, but he sensed impending disaster.”

RATING:
2 stars. I can’t say it wasn’t written well, I just didn’t care for how graphic it was.

STARTED READING – FINISHED READING
6-7-2022 to 6-9-2022 show less

The Mafia, having secured secret control of a television network, and utilizing its vast amounts of untraceable cash, runs its own puppet for the presidency of the United States. Its Plan is discovered by Ryan Bolt, who has been hired to do a documentary about the candidate by his old prep-school buddy Mickey Alo, Bolt gets help from an unlikely source-Mickey's beautiful Mafia Princess sister, Lucinda. Hase Richards the governor of Rhode Island accepts the invite to become the next president of the united States, funded by the Mafia's dirty money.

First edition very fine

NF
NF
Signed first edition

Fiction