Operatic in scope, HEAT 2 is engrossing, moving, and tragic - a masterpiece of crime fiction from one of the most innovative and influential filmmakers in American cinema. The fallout from McCauley’s scores and Hanna’s pursuit cause unexpected repercussions in a parallel narrative. What do I think? Well, I think, NO, I KNOW, that this is the best crime novel ever written. 5 Stars? Give me a break. You can't praise this incredibly written storytelling masterpiece highly enough. It's a vast epic that is so smart, so well informed, so beautifully constructed, that I wish I could send Michael Mann and Meg Gardiner a crate of champagne for the time spent in losing myself in the world of Vincent Hanna, Neil McCauley, Chris Shiherlis and the countless incisively drawn characters in this propulsive magnum opus. If there is a more evil bad guy in literature than Otis Wardell, I don't want to be on the same planet with him. So a book that is a sequel/prequel to a movie and is co-written by its director. I have to say I was intrigued but slightly skeptical. This is a perfectly adequate crime novel that adds little to and subtracts little from the film it follows. To reviewers claiming this is the best crime novel ever, I implore you: please read more.

Mann co-wrote “ Heat 2” with Edgar-winning crime writer Meg Gardiner. The novel includes events both before and after the first film, including an origin story for Neil as a rising criminal battling PTSD after returning from serving in the Vietnam War. Guys will literally watch Heat instead of going to therapy. Trust me on this, I'm guys. Heat is a fantastic movie, Mann an incredible director of crime and action, and the movie is gorgeously shot and full of top-tier performances, from Pacino's deranged detective Vincent Hanna, to De Niro's professional and tactical criminal mastermind Neil McCauley, and Val Kilmer's icy gunman Chris Shiherlis. The movie is perfect and self contained, and doesn't really need a sequel. Michael Mann, Oscar-nominated filmmaker and writer-director of Heat and Miami Vice, teams up with Meg Gardiner to deliver Mann's first crime novel, an explosive return to the world and characters of his classic film Heat - an all-new story that illuminates what happened before and after the film.

Michael Mann’s “Heat 2” novel sells publishing rights in 13 offshore territories.

We get three time periods - Before, during, and after the movie. All of the character arcs are solid. There's a surprising amount of depth to all of them, and some scenes are particularly moving. If you haven't seen the movie, then you're going to struggle with this one. And while the characters are mostly super well written, there were specific moments that didn't meet my movie-expectations. Look, Heat might be famous for the real life robberies it inspired and for *that* shooting scene that’s apparently shown to Marines as part of their training - but what always stands out to me is how the movie succeeds in humanizing fairly violent ‘bad guys’ without ever glamorising or romanticising them. Unfortunatley that approach is not always there in Shiherlis’s sequel story (a bit too much heroism for my taste) - and especially not in McCauley’s origin story, which I found unconvincing and overly romanticised (it reads more like run-of-the-mill fan fiction than anything).

The book works beautifully with the both time lines. The new characters are as memorable as those from the film, the book really is a tour de force and a fantastic addition to the movie.Michael Mann, four-time Oscar-nominated filmmaker and writer-director of Heat, Collateral, Thief, Manhunter, and Miami Vice, teams up with Edgar Award-winning author Meg Gardiner to deliver Mann’s first crime novel, an explosive return to the world and characters of his classic film Heat — an all-new story that illuminates what happened before and after the iconic film. Mann added that “Heat” has a unique lasting power and has “sustained in culture” since its debut 27 years ago.

Michael Mann's HEAT is one of my all-time favourite movies. HEAT 2 is now one of my favourite suspense novels' JAMES PATTERSON The Audiobook - Peter Giles's narration is fantastic considering the extremely difficult set of roles he has to play. Yes, he sounds like 'the trailer guy - Don LaFontaine' a lot of the time, but his Pacino accent is phenomenal! All the scenes with Vincent Hanna shine. Tom Sizemore and Val Kilmer get the same treatment. It's extremely well done, albeit a little over the top at times. Heat 2 projects its dimensional and richly drawn men and women into whole new worlds—from the inner sanctums of rival crime syndicates in a South American free-trade zone to transnational criminal enterprises in Southeast Asia. The novel brings you intimately into these lives. In Michael Mann’s Heat universe, they will confront new adversaries in lethal circumstances beyond all boundaries.This book is an unexpected bonus to one of my favorite movies of all time, and it is both a prequel and a sequel to the original movie HEAT, starring Al Pacino and Robert De Niro. One of the spectacular heistmovies that cinema gave us in which its director Michael Mann gave us the perfect balance between all characters involved. Described by Michael Mann as both a prequel and sequel to the renowned, critically acclaimed film of the same name, Heat 2 covers the formative years of homicide detective Vincent Hanna (Oscar winner Al Pacino) and elite criminals Neil McCauley (Oscar winner Robert De Niro), Chris Shiherlis (Val Kilmer), and Nate (Oscar winner Jon Voight), and features the same extraordinary ambition, scope, rich characterizations, and attention to detail as the epic film. There's a hell of a lot going on in this book- and just like the movie - It's heavily character-driven.