Reviews

Heat 2 by Meg Gardiner, Michael Mann

danielott's review

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

checkplease's review

Go to review page

4.0

4.25 Stars

What fun it was revisiting the movie “Heat,” which I hadn’t seen since its theatrical release almost 30 years ago, and then picking up with its characters in this sequel-as-novel. It lent a unique familiarity to the reading experience that I enjoyed. (Maybe I should consider reading fan fic for this reason…nah, never mind.) It wasn’t just the big 3 of Pacino, De Niro & Kilmer that were playing in my mind, but the whole cast was stacked with memorable humans: Jon Voight, Tom Sizemore, Ashley Judd, Natalie Portman, Wes Studi, Mykelti Williamson, Dennis Haysbert, Danny Trejo, Tom Noonan…Sadly, Tone Loc’s character doesn’t manage to return in the book.

It was crafty of Michael Mann and Meg Gardiner to build out the story in dual directions, making this both prequel and sequel. There are essentially three intertwined narratives; two of them are riveting (with nail-biting scenes of cops in pursuit of sadistic serial home invaders & a heist targeting a Mexican cartel) and the third, involving software and defense systems, is…not.

If I have any complaint about the former storylines, it’s that they rely on the same trope of female children in peril. While effective in pulling at my emotions and humanizing Pacino & De Niro’s characters, it was still too much same old, same old. By contrast, I have plenty of complaints about the latter, as its focus is out of step with the rest of the book and just not that engaging.

When the three narratives finally come together, it’s extremely satisfying. It must be said that the action sequences here are so well-described and cinematic that I could picture them just as Michael Mann might shoot them. For a good 2/3 of this book, I was enraptured.

nwmn007's review

Go to review page

5.0

This book fucking rocks. Masterpiece

tomstbr's review

Go to review page

4.0

First up: no you do not have to have seen the movie. It might help, but they run over the events in the book, and the rest is its own wild ride.

This is a rip-snorter, balls-to-the-wall action. If you like Don Winslow you'll probably like this. Good cop vs good robbers. The new bad guy is a real piece of work. Gun battles, car chases, criminal espionage - this has the works. In a word: fun.

completebore's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

caymoe23's review

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional funny tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.0

ibnjah's review

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

bugeys's review

Go to review page

fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

GAY RIGHTS

johnkuznik's review

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.75

annamikulec's review

Go to review page

adventurous dark tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0