Heat 2 book review

One of my favorite movies is Heat, the 1995 classic crime-thriller starring Al Pacino and Robert De Niro. I loved the psychological tension, especially between Neil McCauley, the meticulous and disciplined criminal, and his obsessively thorough adversary, LAPD Lieutenant Vincent Hanna. So, when I saw that Meg Gardiner wrote a book called Heat 2 that was co-written by director-producer-writer Michael Mann, I immediately put my order in to buy! But, did the book meet my high expectations? Read our Heat 2 book review for that answer!

The thing that really grabbed me about the movie were the conversations. For instance, I was thoroughly engaged as Neil McCauley’s gang of criminal conspirators gathered together for a holiday meal. It was at a restaurant, and the other guys had their spouses and their children, and were enjoying everyone’s companionship.

But, Neil McCauley had no one by his side, and he really felt and looked out of place. He was a true loner, and I could identify with that so much. As the others laughed, McCauley smiled and pretended to enjoy himself, but you could see he was itching to get out of that uncomfortable situation.

Then, I remembered Vincent Hanna’s many strained conversations with his third wife. He was working all the time, and taking calls when new clues came in, and his spouse was upset! And then at a party, Hanna and his wife really got into this deep, existential conversation, and it was so good.

There were so many more instances like that, and those conversations revealed how McCauley and Hanna were both driven loners—they did what they knew how to do, and they respected and even admired each for their commitment and sense of honor. But that devotion really fractured their personal lives.

One of the best conversations was when Hanna pulled over McCauley, and invited him for coffee. That act of pulling McCauley over, after tailing him with a helicopter, was so tense. I thought for sure that McCauley was going to shoot Hanna, but he didn’t. Instead, they went for coffee together, and they talked. That was one of the best scenes I have ever seen in a movie!

Then, at the end of the movie, McCauley and Hanna had a final conversation. They shook hands as the jets landed over them at LAX. That interchange was so unbelievably gripping and good. 30 years later, that scene still captivates me, along with the entire movie.

So, what about Heat 2, the book? Was it as gripping as the original movie?

Honestly, I think it would be helpful if you did watch the producer Michael Mann‘s movie before reading Heat 2. Fortunately, if you didn’t see the movie, the book starts with an introductory Prologue.

In the Heat 2 Prologue, the original movie is summarized, which I found really helpful. In this summary, a few paragraphs are devoted to the major events, and the reader is reintroduced to the major characters.

Also, the author used the Prologue to set the stage for a dramatically fast-paced, immersive style of writing. That was good, and I mostly enjoyed that writing style, especially for this type of tension-filled crime drama.

Major characters of Heat 2, the book, and Heat, the movie:

Vincent Hanna (Al Pacino), the intensely focused, driven LAPD Lieutenant. As he investigated a crime scene, he became obsessed with its professional execution. That’s where he first began focusing on Neil McCauley, and trying to catch him and his gang.

Hanna was in his third marriage, but because of his obsessive, workaholic nature, it was about to end soon. Apparently, Hanna loved his job and was devoted to it, but showed less devotion to his wife.

Neil McCauley (Robert de Niro), was a career criminal. He came from a broken home, and had no family of his own. He prided himself on keeping his word, and his discipline to leave when he sees ‘the heat’ coming around the corner. That discipline to leave included cutting all ties and leaving potential riches untapped.

As McCauley told Hanna when they shared coffee together, he is “never going back again”, so his discipline is focused on that primary goal.

Chris Shiherlis (Val Kilmer), a gambler who knew McCauley, teamed up with the older criminal and father-figure to take down scores. In the movie, he got wounded during a bank robbery, and had to leave. That meant he left his wife and young son behind. This was a difficult process, but was his only choice.

Personally, I didn’t connect or empathize with this character—I don’t know what it was but I kind-of didn’t like him, or something—I don’t know what.

Most of Heat 2 focuses on McCauley’s and Shiherlis’s life before (prequel) and after (sequel) 1995, when the movie Heat takes place.

In the 1980’s, McCauley is taking down scores and forming his disciplined philosophy. During that time, a younger Shiherlis was gambling and grifting, and doing pretty well for himself.

Of course, McCauley is killed in the movie. So, afterwards in the sequel, the story mostly focuses on Shiherlis.

Meg Gardiner, the author, cleverly used a terse but descriptive writing style to paint a frenetic picture of crime, along with Vincent Hanna’s style of rebellious law enforcement.

The crimes perpetrated by McCauley and Shiherlis were exciting to read, and kept me eagerly turning the page.

And then Vincent Hanna had his own, more youthful and drug-fueled style of law enforcement. Honestly, the whole package was very exciting.

After 1995, McCauley is dead, and the book mostly focuses on Chris Shiherlis’s life. For me, his life was really interesting, but not compelling.

Frankly, the unique criminals and their idiosyncratic personalities fascinated me. And, I loved how Shiherlis interacted them—there was always an element of danger. But, I couldn’t empathize with him as a person. And, I don’t know why that is, because he is an interesting character.

For me, the jumping back-and-forth between the past and present, and the large cast of different characters, made this plot a little hard to follow. I often had to refer back to figure out who Shiherlis was interacting with, as well as who was with McCauley in his younger years.

I think my confusion might have been magnified by the staccato, rapid-fire style of writing. In times, that writing style helped magnify the tension, but other times it made the plot more confusing (for me).

The quietly intense conversations that really grabbed me in the movie, were mostly non-existent in this book. For me, that was the biggest disappointment of the book, Heat 2.

While the movie’s conversations were so deceptively quiet and nonchalant, they also revealed so much about the characters. The conversations, and not the violent chases or gun shots, were the most compelling and spine-tingling parts of the movie.

The quiet parts in the movie were what built the extreme tension, but there were very few quiet parts in the book. Instead, there were lots of car chases and crashes, and shootouts and close calls. Unfortunately, the book’s action wasn’t enough to build the intense psychological tension that I felt while watching the movie.

The book’s ending had an element of a ‘cool’ cop-criminal vibe, and a little bit of a plot-twist, but the coolness was not enough for me. It doesn’t even compare to the movie’s dramatic, heart-wrenching conclusion—not even close.

Overall, Heat 2 was a well-written book with lots of page-turning action. But, the character development and psychological intensity that made the movie such a memorable hit, is lacking in this follow-up book.

Michael Mann’s Heat is the best movie I ever saw—I’ve seen this movie too many times to count.

TAKEAWAYS:

Heat 2 tells the story of bad-criminal McCauley and good-cop Hanna before and after the movie. Of course, McCauley was killed in the movie. But, the book tells us all about his earlier years in crime and in his personal life, which was interesting.

In addition, Heat 2 devotes a big chunk of its content to Chris Shiherlis, another member of McCauley’s crew in the movie. Unfortunately, I never empathized with that guy (I don’t know why). Fortunately, the details about his criminal life were fascinating.

Lastly, I felt the ending of the book was big let-down, especially in comparison to the movie’s dramatic ending.

Overall, this book is an action-packed page-turner, but did not affect me as deeply as the movie did. However, if you’re a fan of the movie, you will love the good-guy, bad-guy action in this book, and you’ll love catching up on old “friends”!

Thanks for reading our Heat 2 book review! If you’ve read the book, or saw the original movie, please share your thoughts in the comments section below!

Content and photos by Doug Martin and Our Book Banter