A combination prequel and sequel to the much-admired Mann film that brought together Robert De Niro and Al Pacino. The movie climaxed in 1995, with Pacino's intense LA cop, Vincent Hanna, shooting and killing De Niro's fatalistic bank thief Neil McCauley, his nemesis and alter ego. In the "before" sections of the novel, set in 1988, Hanna pursues a sadistic home-invading gang of killers and rapists while McCauley plans the heist of millions in cartel money from a truck bound for Mexico. Following McCauley's death and a massive shootout, his wounded right-hand man, Chris Shiherlis (the Val Kilmer character), escapes to South America, where he goes to work for a Taiwanese Paraguayan crime boss. Women figure in the plots: McCauley has an affair in Mexico with Elisa, a "seventh-generation smuggler," and Chris sleeps with the crime boss's daughter, Ana, even as he pines for his estranged wife and son. Minus the film's psychological mano a mano between Hanna and McCauley, this nearly 500-page novel, Mann's first, lacks a compelling center. And in Chris, it lacks a compelling protagonist--once a sidekick, always a sidekick. Hanna's fierce efforts to save Elisa's daughter from a mad killer 12 years after her single mother was killed energize the book, leading to an explosive highway chase. But with its unwieldy structure, the novel keeps getting in its own way. And despite the collaboration of seasoned pro Gardiner, the descriptive writing is weak: "Looking into his vacant blue eyes is like staring into the black ocean at night." Ultimately, Mann has written not a self-contained novel, but a novelization of the film sequel the 79-year-old director envisions. A book hardcore fans of Mann's film may enjoy but others will dismiss as unneeded. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

DEBUT Edgar Award-winning thriller author Gardiner ("UNSUB" series) and award--winning writer and director Mann (writing his first novel) explore the background and future of characters from Mann's classic 1995 film Heat. How did McCauley, played by Robert DeNiro, end up on a heist team with Shiherlis, played by Val Kilmer? How did Hanna, played by Al Pacino, become the focused cop? Prepare for an epic journey of the seven years before the bank heist that would change all of their lives and the events that unfold afterward, bringing in a new cast of riveting characters. The world of international drug cartels and crime syndicates has never been so gripping. Heat was a cinematic spectacle, and this sequel manages to create the same immersive experience in written form. The opening details the 1995 film, so prior knowledge is unnecessary, though interest should also spike for that film. VERDICT This novel takes time to tell the story while slowly ratcheting up the suspense to nearly uncomfortable levels. Gardiner and Mann are legends, and this book will be a best seller that leads the cry for a film version.--Jeff Ayers

As in The Godfather, Part Two, Mann and Gardiner's riveting thriller functions as both prequel and sequel, in this case to the 1995 film Heat, which was directed by Mann and starred Al Pacino and Robert De Niro. The narrative structure here is considerably more complex than in Coppola's film, however, with the before-and-after sequences intermingled as the time frame jumps between 1995, when the events of Heat took place; 1988, when the gang masterminded by superthief Neil McCauley is sparring with LAPD lieutenant Vincent Hanna; and 2000, after Chris Shiherlis (the gang's only survivor after the film's fiery finale) has escaped to South America and ingratiated himself with the Liu crime family. Meanwhile, in L.A., Hanna is tracking a gang of home invaders who are seemingly more interested in rape and murder than robbery. We sense early on that these new plots--Chris' involvement with the Liu family, Hanna's obsession with stopping the truly evil home invaders--will somehow come together, but we can't begin to anticipate the legerdemain with which the authors manage that feat, employing characters from the pre-Heat period as the connecting tissue. It's no surprise, however, that the novel concludes with a spectacular conflagration that parallels the ending of Heat. Still, the best thing about this innovative tale is the way the fully fleshed human stories support and even transcend the often-breathtaking action.

Emmy-winning director, screenwriter, and producer Mann has coauthored his first crime novel with Edgar winner Gardiner (The Dark Corners of the Night), which falls short as a sequel to Mann's 1995 movie, Heat. Heat focused on a battle of wits between Neil McCauley, the head of a Los Angeles robbery crew, and the LAPD Robbery-Homicide Division's Vincent Hanna, who sacrificed a personal life to his job. Since McCauley was gunned down by Hanna at the movie's climax, the focus is on the member of the robber's crew who escaped, Chris Shiherlis. Flashbacks describe Shiherlis's life before the film, starting in 1988, and sections set in 1996 and 2000 detail his time on the run, during which he commits new crimes, ending up in Paraguay as a result. Hanna also gets a backstory, including his search for a sadistic murderer and rapist during his tenure with the Chicago police, which picks up again, unexpectedly, in 2000. Neither character is meaningfully fleshed out, and the prose is often stilted and baroque ("The cheap porn of Alex's illogic roars in Hanna's head"). Even passionate fans of the movie are likely to feel that Mann should have quit while he was ahead. Agent: Shane Salerno, Story Factory. (Aug.)