Heat 2

Overall, I enjoyed this book. But there were many parts I felt could've benefited from serious editing. Funnily enough, even though Shiherlis was my least favorite criminal from the movie, I liked his arc in the book. Unlike many other reviewers, I really enjoyed reading about him finding his way in an entirely new criminal underworld that was totally unlike what he experienced in the US - yet he was able to use a skill set that propels him forward.
But the backstory was hugely disappointing to me. If Neil truly had a 'heat around the corner' mantra, how was he so deeply involved with a woman and her entire family? Then doesn't spend the rest of his life seeking out the man that ruined it all and got away? This part made no sense to me. Which meant I also connected little with the bad dude and his pursuits in the final portion of the novel.
This book wasn't bad, it just felt contrived and disconnected from the parts of the movie I enjoyed the most.

Let’s be honest: you read this book for the crimes, and the crimes, dear reader, are pretty great. Exotic, high energy, yet methodical. If you loved the movie you might like this. The writing is clunky at times and the primary villain seems almost unnaturally lucky. The context and backstory for the original film characters are well crafted. The love stories kinda work but not really, imho.

My number one gripe is this: the right medium for this story is visual, not textual. The book is filled with specific positions and layouts and scene blocking that refer to very specific spatial positions and visualizing them to understand the flow can feel very clumsy. It’s the old “dancing about architecture” problem. I guess he just realized the actors were too old and a direct prequel wasn’t realistic, so he tried to do the next best thing. I’m glad I read it. I won’t be re-reading.