To clear his name and save his job, Jack Cates, a maverick cop with the L.A.P.D., once again joins forces with Reggie Hammond, an ex-con with a bounty on his head
This is a pretty poor novelization on the whole, but the worst thing about it is that it almost completely transcribes the movie. If you were hoping to read a novelization based on the shooting script that resulted in a massively hacked up release version that is a huge chunk of the movie, forget it. This was published a month after the release and aside from a missing scene and an extra one at the beginning, it's got zilch to offer. Flatly written too. Very disappointing.
Cop and ex-con must band together to save each others lives after a bunch of crazy bikie hitman attempt to kill their asses after ex-con stole money from drug kingpin. Loads of shoot-outs, one liners and pretty standard cop shop story.
This book gains an extra star from me because I don't remember the movie. I'm sure if the film were fresh in my mind, this novelization would feel pretty pointless. Deborah Chiel (assuming that's not a pen name) starts out pretty strong, making the initial few chapters feel like an actual novel and not an extended screenplay. Eventually though, whether due to laziness or looming deadlines, any semblance of literary artistry is thrown out the window, and we are treated to a parade of hokey action scenes and buddy-cop cliches that Chiel puts no effort whatsoever into spicing up. Bit what kind of made the whole thing work for me was how un-PC it was. For example, imagine telling a story in 2021 about a trigger-happy white cop partnering with an African-American just released from prison, and never raising the issue of race. Can't? Me, neither. And that's the one thing that makes this novel kind of refreshing in this day and age, despite how tired every other aspect comes across as being.