Vertical Coffin.

VERTICAL COFFIN. Stephen J. Cannell. 2004. Read by Scott Brick. 8 cds. 9 hrs. Sound Library/BBC Audiobooks America. 0-7927-3155-7. $69.95.Vinyl; plot, reader, author notes. SA

Shane Scully and his son Chooch begin this adventure with a motorcycle ride through the hills of Malibu with off-duty Los Angeles County sheriffs (Iron Pigs) and a knock-down drag-out with Hells Angels types. One of the sheriffs is Emo and within a short time he is mercilessly gunned down in a "vertical coffin," SWAT team vernacular for "any threshold" where they are "most vulnerable to gunfire." Smiley, the murderer, keeps the sheriffs and other acronymic forces pinned down with an AKA and eventually the house is burned to the ground. But is this over? Of course not.

In the days that follow, the county SWAT-type team (Special Enforcement Bureau) and an AFT (Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms) group are embroiled in an argument over who is responsible for the disaster, and members of each group are murdered. The LAPD gets involved as an objective investigating agency with Scully heading it in his old-fashioned way.

Exciting, plot-rich, with lots of detailed police work. Brick narrates this flawlessly, taking on many voices, male and female, with equal aplomb. Mary Purucker, Beverly Hills P.L., Beverly Hills, CA