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Hollywood Station Series #1
Hollywood Station
For a cop, a night on the job means killing time and trying not to get killed. If you're a cop in Hollywood Division, it also means dealing with the most overwrought, desperate, and deluded criminals anywhere. When you're patrolling Sunset and Hollywood Boulevards, neither a good reputation nor the lessons of scandals past will help you keep your cool, your sanity, or your life when things heat up.The robbery of a Hollywood jewelry store, complete with masks and a hand grenade, quickly connects to a Russian nightclub, an undercover operation gone bloodily wrong, and a cluelessly ambitious pair of tweakers.
Putting the pieces together are the sergeant they call the Oracle and his squad of street cops. There's Budgie Polk, a twenty-something firecracker with a four-month-old at home, and Wesley Drubb, a rich boy who joined the force seeking thrills. Fausto Gamboa is the tetchy veteran, and Hollywood Nate is the one who never shuts up about movies. They spend their days in patrol cars and their nights in the underbelly of a city that never sleeps. From their headquarters at Hollywood Station, they see the glamour city for what it a field of land mines, where the mundane is dangerous and the dangerous is mundane.
Putting the pieces together are the sergeant they call the Oracle and his squad of street cops. There's Budgie Polk, a twenty-something firecracker with a four-month-old at home, and Wesley Drubb, a rich boy who joined the force seeking thrills. Fausto Gamboa is the tetchy veteran, and Hollywood Nate is the one who never shuts up about movies. They spend their days in patrol cars and their nights in the underbelly of a city that never sleeps. From their headquarters at Hollywood Station, they see the glamour city for what it a field of land mines, where the mundane is dangerous and the dangerous is mundane.
432 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published November 13, 2006
654 people are currently reading
1674 people want to read
About the author
Joseph Wambaugh
57 books758 followersJoseph Aloysius Wambaugh Jr. was an American writer known for his fictional and nonfictional accounts of police work in the United States. Many of his novels are set in Los Angeles and its surroundings and feature Los Angeles police officers as protagonists. He won three Edgar Awards and was named a Grand Master by the Mystery Writers of America. Before his writing career Wambaugh received an associate of arts degree from Chaffey College and joined the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) in 1960. He served for 14 years, rising from patrolman to detective sergeant.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 357 reviews
September 1, 2008
HOLLYWOOD STATION is a novel following a multitude of officers and detectives from the Hollywood Division of the LAPD. The one plot line that extends the course of most of the book involves a jewelry theft that results from Crystal Meth addicts fishing mail out of public mailboxes and selling it to a Eastern European couple. There are also a plethora of small sub-story lines throughout the course of the novel.
Some of the main players in this book include two police officers/surfer "dudes" referred to as Flotsam and Jetsam, veteran officer Fausto Gamboa, a new mother officer Budgie Polk, Hollywood Nate - the officer obsessed with being a movie star, Wesley Drubb - the son of a wealthy family who wanted the thrills of being a police officer, and the "Oracle" - the sergeant of Hollywood Division.
Wambaugh seems to have a gift with creating his characters. The meth addict Farley was absolutely reprehensible. I truly disliked him. And Fausto I adored despite his curmudgeon exterior. Flotsam and Jetsam were hilarious, but at the same time they confused me. They were obviously exceptionally intelligent young men, so I couldn't figure out why they would act so incredibly goofy. So, there are multiple layers to these characters, a lot of dimension, and I connected with them. But what Wambaugh was thinking with the plot of this novel is beyond me. He obviously doesn't ascribe to Aristotle's belief that all the events need to be connected to the plot.
The plot almost felt like an episode of Cops on television. I kept asking myself, "WHERE's the plot?" It took until disc five to figure out that the diamond theft was supposed to be the main focus of the book. There were so many small vignettes and most of those were left hanging. I was especially disappointed in the sub-plot dealing with the small children left alone in an apartment or when Flotsam and Jetsam fled a crime scene outside their district after shooting a treed suspect with a bean bag gun. There was no focus to the plot, and I wonder if Wambaugh didn't try to shove too many different characters into the book, without really focusing on any one. So instead, the plot ended up going off in all different directions following all these different characters in their day-to-day dealings.
There were several parts that made me laugh hysterically. When Flotsam and Jetsam busted a guy with a bulge under his shirt. They made him raise his shirt and discovered a phone book the guy had taped to his chest - because someone was out to shoot him, and he didn't want to be unprotected! The one area that Wambaugh probably could have left alone was mixing idioms. There are several characters who are Eastern European and most all of them butchered American idioms at one point or another; however, the results weren't very funny.
I listened to this book on audio and Adam Grupper was the reader. I enjoy his readings immensely. He's very talented with voices, and his energy comes through when he reads. He did an outstanding job.
Overall, I think there could have been a lot of potential for a great book here, but the end product didn't live up to that potential. I was extremely disappointed.
Some of the main players in this book include two police officers/surfer "dudes" referred to as Flotsam and Jetsam, veteran officer Fausto Gamboa, a new mother officer Budgie Polk, Hollywood Nate - the officer obsessed with being a movie star, Wesley Drubb - the son of a wealthy family who wanted the thrills of being a police officer, and the "Oracle" - the sergeant of Hollywood Division.
Wambaugh seems to have a gift with creating his characters. The meth addict Farley was absolutely reprehensible. I truly disliked him. And Fausto I adored despite his curmudgeon exterior. Flotsam and Jetsam were hilarious, but at the same time they confused me. They were obviously exceptionally intelligent young men, so I couldn't figure out why they would act so incredibly goofy. So, there are multiple layers to these characters, a lot of dimension, and I connected with them. But what Wambaugh was thinking with the plot of this novel is beyond me. He obviously doesn't ascribe to Aristotle's belief that all the events need to be connected to the plot.
The plot almost felt like an episode of Cops on television. I kept asking myself, "WHERE's the plot?" It took until disc five to figure out that the diamond theft was supposed to be the main focus of the book. There were so many small vignettes and most of those were left hanging. I was especially disappointed in the sub-plot dealing with the small children left alone in an apartment or when Flotsam and Jetsam fled a crime scene outside their district after shooting a treed suspect with a bean bag gun. There was no focus to the plot, and I wonder if Wambaugh didn't try to shove too many different characters into the book, without really focusing on any one. So instead, the plot ended up going off in all different directions following all these different characters in their day-to-day dealings.
There were several parts that made me laugh hysterically. When Flotsam and Jetsam busted a guy with a bulge under his shirt. They made him raise his shirt and discovered a phone book the guy had taped to his chest - because someone was out to shoot him, and he didn't want to be unprotected! The one area that Wambaugh probably could have left alone was mixing idioms. There are several characters who are Eastern European and most all of them butchered American idioms at one point or another; however, the results weren't very funny.
I listened to this book on audio and Adam Grupper was the reader. I enjoy his readings immensely. He's very talented with voices, and his energy comes through when he reads. He did an outstanding job.
Overall, I think there could have been a lot of potential for a great book here, but the end product didn't live up to that potential. I was extremely disappointed.
December 19, 2018
A very enjoyable read with interesting characters. This book has it all, humor, happiness, anger and sadness. This is not an in depth thought provoking book. If you like cops and robbers with all the quirkiness, you'll like this book. Hope the same people are in the next on in this series.
June 14, 2020
Great! Good diverting fiction with great dialogue, quirky characters and a fast-paced, multi-layered plot. This is #1 in Wambaugh's "Hollywood Station" series. Looking forward to the others!
June 10, 2008
I cannot improve on the blog post that prompted me to read it, so I'll repost a lengthy excerpt: http://www.2blowhards.com/archives/20...
Which brings me to what really made my blood boil: the review-fate of one particular book -- "Hollywood Station," the new novel by Joseph Wambaugh.
A quick word for those who haven't encountered Joseph Wambaugh and his writing. A onetime Marine and L.A. cop, Wambaugh is a wildly successful author of cop novels and cop nonfiction. Among his best-known books are "The Choirboys," "The Onion Field," "The Black Marble," and "The New Centurions."
Wambaugh is anything but a victim deserving our sympathy. He has sold millions of copies of his books, and he has made millions of dollars. All that said, he's also one amazing writer. I've read only three of his books so far, darn it. But my verdicts of these three books ranged from "Wow!" to "Wonderful!" to "Holy cow!" "The Choirboys" in particular struck me as a major novel. I read it muttering, "This is great! This is just fucking great!" My calmer, more reflective, more considered judgment of the book is, by the way, "Fucking great!" "The Choirboys" is big, profane, hilarious, and moving -- a teeming, emotional / physical, evocative heap of rousing storytelling. I confess that I read it with an annoying part of my mind chirping, "Good lord, I like this a whole lot better than I like Pynchon! Why don't the profs and the critics make more of Wambaugh?"
(I've had similar reactions reading other rowdy, accessible, moving novels too. A few that come quickly to mind: Dan Jenkins' football novel "Semi-Tough," Terry McMillan's funky and funny "Waiting to Exhale," and V.C. Andrews' Poe-for-teens classic "Flowers in the Attic.")
As if popular and wonderful aren't enough, Wambaugh has also been an influential writer. In writing-history terms, he took the Ed McBain-style police procedural and filled it to bursting with irreverence, heart and despair. He was an innovator too. He introduced big helpings of tragedy and comedy (as well as grit and strung-out high spirits) into the recipe. He's been a major influence on TV and movies -- on popular storytelling. When you watch such sprawling, mixed-mode entertainments as "Hill Street Blues" and "NYPD Blue," you're seeing shows influenced by and inspired by Joseph Wambaugh.
So it's fair to say that -- in popular-fiction and popular-narrative terms, anyway -- Joseph Wambaugh is a very big deal. In news terms, the appearance of a big cop novel from Wambaugh is a big deal too: "Hollywood Station" is Wambaugh's first ambitious cop dramedy in more than a decade. Has the old master still got what it takes? Can the new book possibly live up to his early work?
A juicy subject, no? Now here's the mind and judgment of the NYTBR Section at work. The week the new Joseph Wambaugh novel appears, they decide to give two of their glamor fiction-review slots to Ambitious First Novels about Historical Tragedies. And how do they deal with the new Joseph Wambaugh? They consign it to their Crime-roundup column.
I don't know what to say or do about this kind of judgment except to shake my head in disbelief. To her credit, Marilyn Stasio wrote a review of the book that is more-than-impressed -- Stasio knows, even if her bosses don't, what a big deal Wambaugh is. And, according to her, Wambaugh is in fab form -- his new novel really rocks. (I've ordered my copy already.) To the Book Review Section's discredit, though, Stasio's review is all of five short paragraphs long, and is merely the first review in a crime-fiction roundup. In other words, the Book Review Section is essentially saying, "This novel isn't of any import unless you're one of those -- sniff, patooie -- people who are into crime fiction, in which case you might have something here to enjoy but you aren't a serious person."
I think it's safe to say that Wambaugh's sin is that he doesn't write literary fiction. Shame on him, he creates compulsively readable, highly-charged, big-hearted, narrative cop fiction that's more than a bit rough around the edges. It isn't about ideas. It isn't gamesmanship for the critics and the intellectuals. It's simply exuberant, moving, humane, absorbing -- and, of course, completely accessible.
Which brings me to what really made my blood boil: the review-fate of one particular book -- "Hollywood Station," the new novel by Joseph Wambaugh.
A quick word for those who haven't encountered Joseph Wambaugh and his writing. A onetime Marine and L.A. cop, Wambaugh is a wildly successful author of cop novels and cop nonfiction. Among his best-known books are "The Choirboys," "The Onion Field," "The Black Marble," and "The New Centurions."
Wambaugh is anything but a victim deserving our sympathy. He has sold millions of copies of his books, and he has made millions of dollars. All that said, he's also one amazing writer. I've read only three of his books so far, darn it. But my verdicts of these three books ranged from "Wow!" to "Wonderful!" to "Holy cow!" "The Choirboys" in particular struck me as a major novel. I read it muttering, "This is great! This is just fucking great!" My calmer, more reflective, more considered judgment of the book is, by the way, "Fucking great!" "The Choirboys" is big, profane, hilarious, and moving -- a teeming, emotional / physical, evocative heap of rousing storytelling. I confess that I read it with an annoying part of my mind chirping, "Good lord, I like this a whole lot better than I like Pynchon! Why don't the profs and the critics make more of Wambaugh?"
(I've had similar reactions reading other rowdy, accessible, moving novels too. A few that come quickly to mind: Dan Jenkins' football novel "Semi-Tough," Terry McMillan's funky and funny "Waiting to Exhale," and V.C. Andrews' Poe-for-teens classic "Flowers in the Attic.")
As if popular and wonderful aren't enough, Wambaugh has also been an influential writer. In writing-history terms, he took the Ed McBain-style police procedural and filled it to bursting with irreverence, heart and despair. He was an innovator too. He introduced big helpings of tragedy and comedy (as well as grit and strung-out high spirits) into the recipe. He's been a major influence on TV and movies -- on popular storytelling. When you watch such sprawling, mixed-mode entertainments as "Hill Street Blues" and "NYPD Blue," you're seeing shows influenced by and inspired by Joseph Wambaugh.
So it's fair to say that -- in popular-fiction and popular-narrative terms, anyway -- Joseph Wambaugh is a very big deal. In news terms, the appearance of a big cop novel from Wambaugh is a big deal too: "Hollywood Station" is Wambaugh's first ambitious cop dramedy in more than a decade. Has the old master still got what it takes? Can the new book possibly live up to his early work?
A juicy subject, no? Now here's the mind and judgment of the NYTBR Section at work. The week the new Joseph Wambaugh novel appears, they decide to give two of their glamor fiction-review slots to Ambitious First Novels about Historical Tragedies. And how do they deal with the new Joseph Wambaugh? They consign it to their Crime-roundup column.
I don't know what to say or do about this kind of judgment except to shake my head in disbelief. To her credit, Marilyn Stasio wrote a review of the book that is more-than-impressed -- Stasio knows, even if her bosses don't, what a big deal Wambaugh is. And, according to her, Wambaugh is in fab form -- his new novel really rocks. (I've ordered my copy already.) To the Book Review Section's discredit, though, Stasio's review is all of five short paragraphs long, and is merely the first review in a crime-fiction roundup. In other words, the Book Review Section is essentially saying, "This novel isn't of any import unless you're one of those -- sniff, patooie -- people who are into crime fiction, in which case you might have something here to enjoy but you aren't a serious person."
I think it's safe to say that Wambaugh's sin is that he doesn't write literary fiction. Shame on him, he creates compulsively readable, highly-charged, big-hearted, narrative cop fiction that's more than a bit rough around the edges. It isn't about ideas. It isn't gamesmanship for the critics and the intellectuals. It's simply exuberant, moving, humane, absorbing -- and, of course, completely accessible.
December 12, 2012
There is a touch of the absurd to every Joseph Wambaugh novel. And this one is no exception. Part of the mind says, "Things like this could never happen," while another part is saying, "Yeah, I can see that happening."
This is not a novel about master criminals being brought down by determined detectives. This is a novel about the real life of cops. They have dreams and doubts and fears and hopes just like the rest of us and Wambaugh brings them all to life.
There's the cop who has hopes of an acting career, the new mother dealing with lactation, the rich kid who became a cop against his family's wishes, the old warhorse putting in time until he retires, and the grizzled sergeant whose family is the officers he commands.
The story is funny (the immigrant detective who slightly mauls every American idiom he says) and scary (the undercover female cop punched so hard by a pimp, her cheekbone shatters and her eye falls from its socket) and heart-touching (the female detective worried about her son serving in Afghanistan).
It took a while for this book to hit its sride and the main plot line become clear, but getting there was as enjoyable as the trip after. There were some sub-plots (the children abandoned by their mother) however that could have been taken further instead of leaving the reader wondering, "What became of..."
It has been a while since I read a Wambaugh book and I had forgotten how good they are.
Hollywood Station makes me want to read more.
This is not a novel about master criminals being brought down by determined detectives. This is a novel about the real life of cops. They have dreams and doubts and fears and hopes just like the rest of us and Wambaugh brings them all to life.
There's the cop who has hopes of an acting career, the new mother dealing with lactation, the rich kid who became a cop against his family's wishes, the old warhorse putting in time until he retires, and the grizzled sergeant whose family is the officers he commands.
The story is funny (the immigrant detective who slightly mauls every American idiom he says) and scary (the undercover female cop punched so hard by a pimp, her cheekbone shatters and her eye falls from its socket) and heart-touching (the female detective worried about her son serving in Afghanistan).
It took a while for this book to hit its sride and the main plot line become clear, but getting there was as enjoyable as the trip after. There were some sub-plots (the children abandoned by their mother) however that could have been taken further instead of leaving the reader wondering, "What became of..."
It has been a while since I read a Wambaugh book and I had forgotten how good they are.
Hollywood Station makes me want to read more.
October 6, 2023
My 2nd Wambaugh novel. 9/10 Follows different police officer/detectives through their day to day duties. Within and around this is a crime plot involving a Russian lowlife criminal and a crystal addict, story builds up towards a strong climax.
A good cast of characters, very well written and you can tell this was written by someone who worked as a police officer.
A good cast of characters, very well written and you can tell this was written by someone who worked as a police officer.
June 10, 2012
It's not a bad book. A pretty quick read, with plenty of interesting little anecdotes and funny dialogue, although the plotting felt a bit loosey-goosey, and the "bizarre coincidence" factor seemed a bit high, especially towards the end. As well, the prose was awkward at times, and I found a surprising number of typos.
The cop characters are for the most part good--almost too good, like real people with the edges filed off. I would have preferred a few more flaws, but I can understand why Wambaugh chose not to focus on the negatives.
Which brings me to my last point: the fairly heavy-handed sermonizing about the evils of oversight. I understand how oversight can be a bad thing, but Wambaugh tries too hard to demonize the restrictions placed on his beloved LAPD. When I deployed with my Guard unit, I heard lots of anecdotes about how it would be nice if we could just shoot bad guys without having to worry about silly things like Rules of Engagement and asking permission; I wasn't convinced then, and I'm not convinced now.
There's other stuff that put me off, as well, like Wambaugh advocating the use of choke holds on civilians.
Anyway, the book was a decently fun read and I probably would have given it 3 stars had my politics leaned a little differently.
The cop characters are for the most part good--almost too good, like real people with the edges filed off. I would have preferred a few more flaws, but I can understand why Wambaugh chose not to focus on the negatives.
Which brings me to my last point: the fairly heavy-handed sermonizing about the evils of oversight. I understand how oversight can be a bad thing, but Wambaugh tries too hard to demonize the restrictions placed on his beloved LAPD. When I deployed with my Guard unit, I heard lots of anecdotes about how it would be nice if we could just shoot bad guys without having to worry about silly things like Rules of Engagement and asking permission; I wasn't convinced then, and I'm not convinced now.
There's other stuff that put me off, as well, like Wambaugh advocating the use of choke holds on civilians.
Anyway, the book was a decently fun read and I probably would have given it 3 stars had my politics leaned a little differently.
January 17, 2021
I really enjoy this author's writing and have read several of his books. Not all in order I admit, which would have been better (I have learned not to do that anymore!). Reading them in order would have helped appreciate the character development, it is not essential to understand the plot or themes.
Wambaugh’s Hollywood Station is a realistic version of a Los Angeles Police Department following the Rodney King beating and they city violence that followed in 1992. It is a time when everything is viewed through the lens of racism and political correctness. Officers must be able to demonstrate they are treating the city’s citizens equally, even if that means fabricating events and documentation so they can prove their activities are not just targeting angry black men. They carry out interviews with fabricated white suspects, document them on the required forms and falsify statistics to protect themselves against charges of racial profiling.
Despite numerous attempts at reform, there is still corruption with false arrests, questionable shootings, suspected beatings and perjury. Hollywood is still simmering with greed, corruption and potential violence. The station is alarmingly understaffed, crystal meth and crack heads work the streets and con artists dressed up like Hollywood icons convince tourists to pay them for photographs so they can get their next fix. There is a bizarre mix of sad homeless people, crafty panhandlers, oblivious rich people, petty criminals and Russian thugs that make-up the crazy mix of people that populate the city.
The first part of the book focuses on small vignettes rather than drawing readers into one single plot as they are invited to ride along in the police car and meet a number of officers going through the daily grind of patrol work. Nick Weiss is an aspiring actor who has a script he hopes to get developed and believes his job at the LAPD is just a brief stop on his way to stardom. His partner is Wesley Drubbs who hates his spoiled easy life and longs to experience real life on the streets. Two surfer dudes “Flotsom and Jetsom” provide a lot of comic relief while single Mum Budgie Park, just back from maternity leave, still breast feeding her son and making periodic stops to the bathroom to pump her milk, is partnered with Vietnam vet and senior patrolman Fausto Gamboa. Gambao continues to work to pay for his divorce, is solidly old school and longs for the days when they didn’t have women on patrol and didn’t have to worry every minute of the day about the threat of lawsuits. Maga Takara is a Japanese-American beauty who is a small, athletic, fearless and paired with a tall black officer named Benny Brewster. Oracle is the forty-year-old veteran leading the team who is known to have a knack for creating odd pairings of officers that seem to work.
Wambaugh focuses on the everyday lives of patrol cops, the police in the street, not the high-profile detectives readers meet in other novels. These men and women try to do their jobs, hobbled by red tape and constrained by political correctness in a place that is as crazy and surreal as Hollywood. The one strong case that emerges to drive the narrative involves Cosmo Betrossian and Ilya Roskova, stolen diamonds and Russian thugs.
The novel published in 2006 marks the return of Wambaugh, long recognized as the “godfather” of the police procedural, who has been off on a long absence and missed by his many fans. The narrative, which is filled with slang and acronyms, has an authentic feel to it. It is very good and often very funny.
Wambaugh’s Hollywood Station is a realistic version of a Los Angeles Police Department following the Rodney King beating and they city violence that followed in 1992. It is a time when everything is viewed through the lens of racism and political correctness. Officers must be able to demonstrate they are treating the city’s citizens equally, even if that means fabricating events and documentation so they can prove their activities are not just targeting angry black men. They carry out interviews with fabricated white suspects, document them on the required forms and falsify statistics to protect themselves against charges of racial profiling.
Despite numerous attempts at reform, there is still corruption with false arrests, questionable shootings, suspected beatings and perjury. Hollywood is still simmering with greed, corruption and potential violence. The station is alarmingly understaffed, crystal meth and crack heads work the streets and con artists dressed up like Hollywood icons convince tourists to pay them for photographs so they can get their next fix. There is a bizarre mix of sad homeless people, crafty panhandlers, oblivious rich people, petty criminals and Russian thugs that make-up the crazy mix of people that populate the city.
The first part of the book focuses on small vignettes rather than drawing readers into one single plot as they are invited to ride along in the police car and meet a number of officers going through the daily grind of patrol work. Nick Weiss is an aspiring actor who has a script he hopes to get developed and believes his job at the LAPD is just a brief stop on his way to stardom. His partner is Wesley Drubbs who hates his spoiled easy life and longs to experience real life on the streets. Two surfer dudes “Flotsom and Jetsom” provide a lot of comic relief while single Mum Budgie Park, just back from maternity leave, still breast feeding her son and making periodic stops to the bathroom to pump her milk, is partnered with Vietnam vet and senior patrolman Fausto Gamboa. Gambao continues to work to pay for his divorce, is solidly old school and longs for the days when they didn’t have women on patrol and didn’t have to worry every minute of the day about the threat of lawsuits. Maga Takara is a Japanese-American beauty who is a small, athletic, fearless and paired with a tall black officer named Benny Brewster. Oracle is the forty-year-old veteran leading the team who is known to have a knack for creating odd pairings of officers that seem to work.
Wambaugh focuses on the everyday lives of patrol cops, the police in the street, not the high-profile detectives readers meet in other novels. These men and women try to do their jobs, hobbled by red tape and constrained by political correctness in a place that is as crazy and surreal as Hollywood. The one strong case that emerges to drive the narrative involves Cosmo Betrossian and Ilya Roskova, stolen diamonds and Russian thugs.
The novel published in 2006 marks the return of Wambaugh, long recognized as the “godfather” of the police procedural, who has been off on a long absence and missed by his many fans. The narrative, which is filled with slang and acronyms, has an authentic feel to it. It is very good and often very funny.
July 31, 2017
Wambaugh’s politics are just too far right for me to buy into this screed disguised as a novel.
This thing is a real piece of shit. Wambaugh lashing out at political correctness, sexism, racism, and police brutality as if these things never existed in the L.A. police department before a bunch of racist assholes beat the shit out of Rodney King.
How dare the law go after a cop who dishes out justice on the street and acts as judge jury and all but executioner! How about letting the courts decide? Your job as a cop is to arrest people. If you want to handle some other aspect of the law then go back to school and be a lawyer so you can be a prosecutor or a judge.
How dare a woman police officer be offended when a fellow officer talks to her like she’s a piece of meat! Wambaugh obviously goes along with the dinosaurs who think that women are only fit for office jobs in the department.
Other than the author’s idiotic politics the book was just OK. It was just a bunch of scenes of cops on the beat, some interesting, some not.
This thing is a real piece of shit. Wambaugh lashing out at political correctness, sexism, racism, and police brutality as if these things never existed in the L.A. police department before a bunch of racist assholes beat the shit out of Rodney King.
How dare the law go after a cop who dishes out justice on the street and acts as judge jury and all but executioner! How about letting the courts decide? Your job as a cop is to arrest people. If you want to handle some other aspect of the law then go back to school and be a lawyer so you can be a prosecutor or a judge.
How dare a woman police officer be offended when a fellow officer talks to her like she’s a piece of meat! Wambaugh obviously goes along with the dinosaurs who think that women are only fit for office jobs in the department.
Other than the author’s idiotic politics the book was just OK. It was just a bunch of scenes of cops on the beat, some interesting, some not.
January 6, 2025
I have always wanted wambaugh, aka to read a Wambaugh book. I succeeded with the audiobook. What a pleasant and very conversational story this was. It was a story about life at the Hollywood police station. The novel focused on a Russian mobster, a Ukrainian two-bit hood, a big breasted Russian lovely and two tweaker, Farley and Olive Oyl. Oh, and of course the men and women who wear the badge. It was a fun story and I enjoyed it immensely. I will Wambaugh again.
April 27, 2023
Another gripping Joseph Wambaugh police novel full of drama, humour, tragedy, and action. The cops of Hollywood Station have even more of the insanity that's a constant in L.A.: strung-out meth heads, deranged street people, violent armed robbers, Russian and Armenian mobsters and their fellow cops, who have their own share of problems and eccentricities. Pure Wambaugh. - BH.
February 17, 2019
Barely 2 stars. I picked this book up literally sight unseen in a "Date Night with a Book" event at one of the local libraries. Books are separated by genre and gift wrapped and you select one and at check out, the scanner reads the tag on the book and you find out what you "won." I picked Adult Crime/Mystery but this book is not my usual fare. I should've just returned it unread, but I felt like this was a reading challenge and I needed to be a good sport and play along. And I was hoping that I would find a new author to enjoy. The unlimited renewals should've been a warning sign. I LOVE the concept, but if I play again, I won't read the book if I'm not interested.
Abandoned-series:
Needless to say, I am not reading anymore books in this series.
The language is so much colloquial cop lingo that I feel as if I need an interpreter. The humor is not amusing me. I'm not sure if this is too much like the TV show COPS and not enough like Law and Order or Hill Street Blues or NCIS. I like character driven detective murder mysteries and I'm not sure what I am going to get. Each chapter is a series of events from the point of view of a few characters and later you see how the same events affected other characters. Wish me luck...I'll keep you posted.
About a quarter of the way into the hardcover, I requested the audiobook from the library. I was actually getting the hang of the book, but I think I prefer the audio to reading. The audiobook is better in that I'm not a huge fan of his writing style and the action keeps it interesting, but there are soooo many characters that if I hadn't read the first several chapters I would not be able to keep them straight and you can't look back with an audiobook. It's fun to hear the foreign accents instead of imagining them.
Joseph Wambaugh is famous for writing The Onion Field and The Choirboys but he's not for me.
With-reservations:
language, gross situations, lewd conduct, prostitution, violence, corruption, murder, armed robbery, all sorts of illegal activities, sex, drugs and movie making
Abandoned-series:
Needless to say, I am not reading anymore books in this series.
The language is so much colloquial cop lingo that I feel as if I need an interpreter. The humor is not amusing me. I'm not sure if this is too much like the TV show COPS and not enough like Law and Order or Hill Street Blues or NCIS. I like character driven detective murder mysteries and I'm not sure what I am going to get. Each chapter is a series of events from the point of view of a few characters and later you see how the same events affected other characters. Wish me luck...I'll keep you posted.
About a quarter of the way into the hardcover, I requested the audiobook from the library. I was actually getting the hang of the book, but I think I prefer the audio to reading. The audiobook is better in that I'm not a huge fan of his writing style and the action keeps it interesting, but there are soooo many characters that if I hadn't read the first several chapters I would not be able to keep them straight and you can't look back with an audiobook. It's fun to hear the foreign accents instead of imagining them.
Joseph Wambaugh is famous for writing The Onion Field and The Choirboys but he's not for me.
With-reservations:
language, gross situations, lewd conduct, prostitution, violence, corruption, murder, armed robbery, all sorts of illegal activities, sex, drugs and movie making
December 29, 2008
Usually I really like Wambaugh. This one was just a little different and, while enjoyable as a fast read, didn't have his usual flair. It seems almost a bunch of vignettes barely strung together and it seemed an unusually dark view of the world (and I don't mind dark at all, usually.)
September 27, 2014
Happy to revisit Wambaugh after many years by way of Michael Connelly and James Ellroy. Wambaugh credits Ellroy for getting him back in saddle. And kudos to Adam Grupper for one of the best performed readings it has been my pleasure to hear.
September 1, 2018
This was average, but entertaining enough to listen to on my commute and actually enjoy it.
June 9, 2021
Probably the most talked-about investigation handled by Brant Hinkle during these we-investigate-every-complaint years was the one involving a woman who had become obsessed with a certain cop and made an official complaint against him, signed and dated, maintaining, "He stole my ovaries."
It had to be investigated in full, including with lengthy interviews. There had to be an on-the-record denial by the police officer in question, who said to Brant, "Well, I'm glad IA is taking her complaint seriously. There could be something to this ovary theft. After all, you guys are trying real hard to steal my balls, and you've just about done it."
~~A couple LAPD Hollywood station cops, standing in front of a movie poster decorating the station wall. Wambaugh describes cops' excitement about finding a new poster in good condition, and trying to talk their sergeant, "the Oracle", into letting them hang it up on free wall space.
Joseph Wambaugh is a former LAPD detective sergeant, and it shows in his novel. He takes us into the nitty-gritty daily life of Hollywood station beat cops, and doesn't pull any punches. There are a diverse range of police officers to get to know and root for--from the grumpy old veteran Fausto, to the blonde, young, surfer pair nicknamed Flotsam and Jetsam, to Hollywood Nate--who signs up for any security job related to movies that he can, and can't seem to let go of his dreams of stardom, to Budgie Polk--a young single mother with a 4 month old infant at home. They are all trying to keep the streets of Hollywood as safe as they can, which is no easy feat given the impressively large homeless and tweaker population.
Things get even more exciting when a jewelry store in the district is robbed...complete with a masks, hand grenades, and Russian accents. They're not sure exactly who is at fault, but a detective is certain that the robbers were tipped off on the large gem delivery to the store by tweaker mail thieves.
My two cents: If you are looking for a seriously thrilling police novel with a cohesive story arc, then you may be disappointed in Hollywood Station . While there is one story thread that weaves its way through the entire book, there are also a multitude of vignettes, that we don't get closure to as readers. While this may feel frustrating as a reader, it perfectly captures the life of beat cops (or ER nurses, EMTs, fire-fighters, and other front-line workers for that matter). Those of us in these professions are thrown daily into the morass of humanity. We never know what will happen on a shift, but it isn't likely to be boring. We also usually have no idea how the dramas play out, after our shifts are over. Frontline workers rarely are given closure to the stories they encounter. So its fitting that us readers don't either. And then there's the dialogue. Wambaugh has a keen understanding of dry gallows humor, and the book is just plain fun to read. Set whatever political views you hold aside for just an evening or two, and walk a mile in the shoes of policemen. They don't have an easy job.
Other favorite quotes: Deadpan, Andi said, "First I made calls on two reports from last night. Then I reread the case file on the pizza man shooting. Then I interviewed a banger down at Parker Center. Then I had some coffee. Then I cleared a double homicide in Fresno. Then I wrote a letter to Max. Then--"
"Whoa!" Rhonda said. "Go back to the double homicide in Fresno!"
~~Compassionate Charlie picked up the water pistol, squeezed the trigger, and when no water squired out said, "Shit, it ain't even loaded." Then he shined his light on the blasted gaping chest of Roland Tarkington and said, "You would have to call this a heart-rending conclusion to another Hollywood melodrama."
~~"You'll enjoy this case," Andi said, liking Brant's smile more and more. "Viktor has been very thorough in his investigation."
"Thank you, Andrea," Viktor said shyly. "I have tried with all my effort to leave no stone upright."
It had to be investigated in full, including with lengthy interviews. There had to be an on-the-record denial by the police officer in question, who said to Brant, "Well, I'm glad IA is taking her complaint seriously. There could be something to this ovary theft. After all, you guys are trying real hard to steal my balls, and you've just about done it."
~~A couple LAPD Hollywood station cops, standing in front of a movie poster decorating the station wall. Wambaugh describes cops' excitement about finding a new poster in good condition, and trying to talk their sergeant, "the Oracle", into letting them hang it up on free wall space.
Joseph Wambaugh is a former LAPD detective sergeant, and it shows in his novel. He takes us into the nitty-gritty daily life of Hollywood station beat cops, and doesn't pull any punches. There are a diverse range of police officers to get to know and root for--from the grumpy old veteran Fausto, to the blonde, young, surfer pair nicknamed Flotsam and Jetsam, to Hollywood Nate--who signs up for any security job related to movies that he can, and can't seem to let go of his dreams of stardom, to Budgie Polk--a young single mother with a 4 month old infant at home. They are all trying to keep the streets of Hollywood as safe as they can, which is no easy feat given the impressively large homeless and tweaker population.
Things get even more exciting when a jewelry store in the district is robbed...complete with a masks, hand grenades, and Russian accents. They're not sure exactly who is at fault, but a detective is certain that the robbers were tipped off on the large gem delivery to the store by tweaker mail thieves.
My two cents: If you are looking for a seriously thrilling police novel with a cohesive story arc, then you may be disappointed in Hollywood Station . While there is one story thread that weaves its way through the entire book, there are also a multitude of vignettes, that we don't get closure to as readers. While this may feel frustrating as a reader, it perfectly captures the life of beat cops (or ER nurses, EMTs, fire-fighters, and other front-line workers for that matter). Those of us in these professions are thrown daily into the morass of humanity. We never know what will happen on a shift, but it isn't likely to be boring. We also usually have no idea how the dramas play out, after our shifts are over. Frontline workers rarely are given closure to the stories they encounter. So its fitting that us readers don't either. And then there's the dialogue. Wambaugh has a keen understanding of dry gallows humor, and the book is just plain fun to read. Set whatever political views you hold aside for just an evening or two, and walk a mile in the shoes of policemen. They don't have an easy job.
Other favorite quotes: Deadpan, Andi said, "First I made calls on two reports from last night. Then I reread the case file on the pizza man shooting. Then I interviewed a banger down at Parker Center. Then I had some coffee. Then I cleared a double homicide in Fresno. Then I wrote a letter to Max. Then--"
"Whoa!" Rhonda said. "Go back to the double homicide in Fresno!"
~~Compassionate Charlie picked up the water pistol, squeezed the trigger, and when no water squired out said, "Shit, it ain't even loaded." Then he shined his light on the blasted gaping chest of Roland Tarkington and said, "You would have to call this a heart-rending conclusion to another Hollywood melodrama."
~~"You'll enjoy this case," Andi said, liking Brant's smile more and more. "Viktor has been very thorough in his investigation."
"Thank you, Andrea," Viktor said shyly. "I have tried with all my effort to leave no stone upright."
August 30, 2021
Originally I was only going to give this book three stars, but my beautiful girlfriend reminded me how long it’s been since I devoured a book this quickly and I had to admit there’s something to that thought. This certainly isn’t Wambaugh’s best; while it bares the same hallmarks as a work such as “The Choirboys,” it lacks the biting satire and emotional investment in the characters that made that book so legendary. “Hollywood Station” is much more of a beach read and succeeds on that level very well with the usual Wambaugh complement of quirky, memorable characters, sarcastic humour, mixed in with some harsh doses of the realities of police life. Probably won’t continue the series, but I still really enjoyed this book.
October 10, 2022
A kind of updated version of his 1970 book, The New Centurions. As a former L.A. cop, the author has a realistic grasp of what it's like to work the beat with your fellow dedicated but jaded comrades. A gritty enjoyable read.
September 7, 2024
Great police story
A look at life in the Hollywood Division of the LA police department. Full of great characters, humor, empathy, and action. Book 1 of the series.
A look at life in the Hollywood Division of the LA police department. Full of great characters, humor, empathy, and action. Book 1 of the series.
June 1, 2019
If you like Joseph Wambaugh, you'll really enjoy this book. the characters are more in tune with todays cops than previous cops from his earlier books. having read most of Wambaugh's books, I cont to be engrossed with them. his writing is clear and keeps you turning the pages. This book is in a series about Hollywood station, you need to read them in order to keep up with the characters.
July 15, 2017
I once read somewhere that if the cops in the story you are reading are more interesting than the criminals, then you’re holding a credible stationhouse procedural. Joseph Wambaugh, ex-cop and son of a cop, has been mining the rich ore of real-world police persons since his beginnings as a writer and novelist in the early 1970s. "Hollywood Station," published in 2006 after a decade-long hiatus, is an enjoyable read, with a gritty realism and an insider's perspective that allows us to experience the effect that the law enforcement profession has on its workforce, and how their personal lives effect their profession.
This novel was my first direct experience reading Wambaugh, although I have seen several of the movies based on his novels, including "The Onion Field" and either "The Blue Knight or "The Black Marble," I can no longer remember. (I actually recall the movie as "The Blue Marble," but that had nothing apparently to do with Joseph Wambaugh and everything to do with the initial images of the earth taken from space by astronauts and origins for a children's television show called "The Big Blue Marble." Ah, the quirks of our all too fallable memories.)
But I digress. This novel was cool. I especially liked the interplay between the cop partners - a young pregnant cop paired with a salty sexist old guy, both of whom grudgingly grow to acknowledge each other's unique skills - two idiot surfer cops nicknamed "Flotsam" and "Jetsam"
who constantly get into hilarious trouble and use surfer slang, even in the precinct house - a stunning young Asian policewoman who heroically jumps on a grenade in front of her partner, only to be seriously injured later while undercover and away from her partner who then struggles with his anger and guilt for not protecting her. The plotline, as it were, is pretty loosy-goosy, really a slightly intertwined series of amusing anecdotes that have the credibility and telling detail to suggest they actually arose from station house gossip and 'sea stories.'
There are five novels in this series:
1. Hollywood Station (2006)
2. Hollywood Crows (2008)
3. Hollywood Moon (2009)
4. Hollywood Hills (2010)
5. Harbor Nocturne (2012)
Based on my enjoyment of #1, I intend to read #2 but the reviews for Hollywood Crows are noticeably weaker than for Station. #3 - Hollywood Moon - seems like the series gets on track, so I believer I will give a shot to #2 anyway. Terrific summer reading.
This novel was my first direct experience reading Wambaugh, although I have seen several of the movies based on his novels, including "The Onion Field" and either "The Blue Knight or "The Black Marble," I can no longer remember. (I actually recall the movie as "The Blue Marble," but that had nothing apparently to do with Joseph Wambaugh and everything to do with the initial images of the earth taken from space by astronauts and origins for a children's television show called "The Big Blue Marble." Ah, the quirks of our all too fallable memories.)
But I digress. This novel was cool. I especially liked the interplay between the cop partners - a young pregnant cop paired with a salty sexist old guy, both of whom grudgingly grow to acknowledge each other's unique skills - two idiot surfer cops nicknamed "Flotsam" and "Jetsam"
who constantly get into hilarious trouble and use surfer slang, even in the precinct house - a stunning young Asian policewoman who heroically jumps on a grenade in front of her partner, only to be seriously injured later while undercover and away from her partner who then struggles with his anger and guilt for not protecting her. The plotline, as it were, is pretty loosy-goosy, really a slightly intertwined series of amusing anecdotes that have the credibility and telling detail to suggest they actually arose from station house gossip and 'sea stories.'
There are five novels in this series:
1. Hollywood Station (2006)
2. Hollywood Crows (2008)
3. Hollywood Moon (2009)
4. Hollywood Hills (2010)
5. Harbor Nocturne (2012)
Based on my enjoyment of #1, I intend to read #2 but the reviews for Hollywood Crows are noticeably weaker than for Station. #3 - Hollywood Moon - seems like the series gets on track, so I believer I will give a shot to #2 anyway. Terrific summer reading.
March 25, 2019
This is perhaps the best cop book I've read. It has a more realistic tone and circumstance than all the super cop, master villain scenarios out there where they're doing things that nobody could ever expect another human being to do, aside from once, perhaps, in a lifetime. These were average cops who make mistakes running down lowlife criminals who are less than legendary, and even a little nuts. I like it. I imagine it's what most cops lives are like: busting tweekers, running down pushers and pimps. The robberies are not well planned bank heists with cool criminals. The cops are average people trying to do a job that gets them jammed up as often as not.
The commentary on the oversight of the LA police department is quite revealing. While the dialogue came across as racist, I expect it was meant intstead to reveal a jaded perspective that sees only the darker side of things. The political and bureaucratic red tape attached to the LAPD after their high profile problems should say something to the average american about how controlled by the media we are. Of course, while Wambaugh is not afraid of showing the police department's flaws, he is careful to make sure that the reader sees the cops as having nothing but integrity. While they are jammed up by IA, they are never actually guilty of anything major. That too is unrealistic.
This book is an excellent example of urban realism, the segregation that happens as a result of cultural clustering and poverty, the police dilemmas faced at every turn, and the complexity of life in general. Things are seldom precisely what they seem and almost never simple. Read it.
The commentary on the oversight of the LA police department is quite revealing. While the dialogue came across as racist, I expect it was meant intstead to reveal a jaded perspective that sees only the darker side of things. The political and bureaucratic red tape attached to the LAPD after their high profile problems should say something to the average american about how controlled by the media we are. Of course, while Wambaugh is not afraid of showing the police department's flaws, he is careful to make sure that the reader sees the cops as having nothing but integrity. While they are jammed up by IA, they are never actually guilty of anything major. That too is unrealistic.
This book is an excellent example of urban realism, the segregation that happens as a result of cultural clustering and poverty, the police dilemmas faced at every turn, and the complexity of life in general. Things are seldom precisely what they seem and almost never simple. Read it.
September 25, 2018
If anyone else wrote this, it would have garnered a 2- or even 1-star rating. However, despite the thin, meandering plot in Hollywood Station, Wambaugh writes well and there are some really good moments. But for the most part, this is a rambling group of over-the-edge characters all mixed into the stew of a police procedural novel.
There are the surfer dude cops, the old curmudgeon cop with the protective heart of gold, the woman cop who wants to overcome the stereotypes of female officers, the stupid meth tweakers and the fractured-English Russian Mafia types who at first are somewhat amusing mixing idioms but then become annoying.
I've not read a Wambaugh in many years and maybe it's because I am older I am not as impressed. I was 14 when a librarian urged me to read "The Choir Boys" and I was hooked with the gritty, off-color, raunch at an early age. Maybe too early. Over the years, I read much of his stuff and enjoyed it. Until I found a copy of Hollywood Station in the ol' shelf o' books to be read the other day and jumped in.
That said, Wambaugh is an excellent writer and, like I mentioned before, there are nice moments. No spoilers, but Wambaugh captured the essence of police brotherhood, I think, when the female officer was punched during an arrest. My No. 3 Writing Hero, Michael Connelly, said in an interview once that Wambaugh was one of his favorites, so I thought I'd try it again. When it comes to police procedurals, you can do far worse than Wambaugh and this one won't deter me from trying others again.
There are the surfer dude cops, the old curmudgeon cop with the protective heart of gold, the woman cop who wants to overcome the stereotypes of female officers, the stupid meth tweakers and the fractured-English Russian Mafia types who at first are somewhat amusing mixing idioms but then become annoying.
I've not read a Wambaugh in many years and maybe it's because I am older I am not as impressed. I was 14 when a librarian urged me to read "The Choir Boys" and I was hooked with the gritty, off-color, raunch at an early age. Maybe too early. Over the years, I read much of his stuff and enjoyed it. Until I found a copy of Hollywood Station in the ol' shelf o' books to be read the other day and jumped in.
That said, Wambaugh is an excellent writer and, like I mentioned before, there are nice moments. No spoilers, but Wambaugh captured the essence of police brotherhood, I think, when the female officer was punched during an arrest. My No. 3 Writing Hero, Michael Connelly, said in an interview once that Wambaugh was one of his favorites, so I thought I'd try it again. When it comes to police procedurals, you can do far worse than Wambaugh and this one won't deter me from trying others again.
April 21, 2019
Hollywood Division of the LAPD is a strange place to be a cop. The cops are quirky too. This book follows several pairs of cops as they patrol and investigate crimes in the bizarre La-La Land of Hollywood. A meth addict and his girlfriend, and a Russian criminal and his girlfriend are the characters in the central plot that weaves in and out of the anecdotes of the daily encounters of the police. Farley, the addict, and his brain-fried girlfriend Olive steal mail to sell to identity thieves. Cosmo, the low life Russian, and his girlfriend Ilya use a letter that Farley sells them to learn of diamonds that will be available for them to steal at a local jewelry store. A pair of “surfer dude” cops, a wanna be actor cop, a aging cop with his new partner who has a newborn baby at home, and a some other cops encounter sometimes funny, sometimes tragic, sometime violent crimes on their patrols. A female detective and a Ukrainian detective also figure in the many stories told in this book. The various cops and detectives and Farley, Olive, Cosmo, and Ilya finally have their stories converge. I found the book entertaining, funny and weird, and clever.
March 17, 2011
Joseph Wambaugh's Hollywood Station, a novel he wrote in 2006, is fiction. But so much of it is nonfiction.
This book is about life at the Hollywood Division of the Los Angeles Police Department, post-Rodney King, post-9/11, and some of the cases they encounter. Because I lived in San Diego for 20 years, I heard from afar (but close enough to get KFI, an LA talk radio station) about all the demoralizing political correctness going on at the LAPD post-Rodney King, post-9/11. But this book is a look from within the LAPD rather than from outside.
And all the police dialog sounds so authentic, I'm sure it can't be fiction. Wambaugh had lots of conversations with LA (and other) cops, and I could tell that what I read was based on them.
I've always enjoyed Wambaugh's nonfiction and didn't think I'd care for this book. But Hollywood Station was so real, it didn't feel like fiction.
This book is about life at the Hollywood Division of the Los Angeles Police Department, post-Rodney King, post-9/11, and some of the cases they encounter. Because I lived in San Diego for 20 years, I heard from afar (but close enough to get KFI, an LA talk radio station) about all the demoralizing political correctness going on at the LAPD post-Rodney King, post-9/11. But this book is a look from within the LAPD rather than from outside.
And all the police dialog sounds so authentic, I'm sure it can't be fiction. Wambaugh had lots of conversations with LA (and other) cops, and I could tell that what I read was based on them.
I've always enjoyed Wambaugh's nonfiction and didn't think I'd care for this book. But Hollywood Station was so real, it didn't feel like fiction.
September 14, 2014
James Ellroy es mi referente. Joseph Wambaugh es el de Ellroy. Si después de Hollywood Station, Wambaugh también se hubiera convertido en el mío, se habría alcanzado el silogismo perfecto… Sin embargo, la perfección no existe.
Y eso que la novela es impecable. Tanto como lo puede ser un informe presentado al final de un turno por el mejor policía de Los Ángeles. O si libra, por dos surferos, o por un policía obsesionado con las películas de Hollywood, o por una mujer con los pechos rebosantes de leche. Anécdotas, críticas a la presión sufrida por el departamento después de escándalos de corrupción y unos malos metanfetamínicos y otros mafiosos cierran el círculo.
Pero no quiero repetir. No si es Wambaugh de ficción. Uno de los motivos por los que me gusta tanto Ellroy es porque todo lo que escribe no solo se lee, sino que se siente, se huele y hasta se oye. Su sangre hierve y la mía también. La de Wambaugh no. Por eso no somos compatibles.
Y eso que la novela es impecable. Tanto como lo puede ser un informe presentado al final de un turno por el mejor policía de Los Ángeles. O si libra, por dos surferos, o por un policía obsesionado con las películas de Hollywood, o por una mujer con los pechos rebosantes de leche. Anécdotas, críticas a la presión sufrida por el departamento después de escándalos de corrupción y unos malos metanfetamínicos y otros mafiosos cierran el círculo.
Pero no quiero repetir. No si es Wambaugh de ficción. Uno de los motivos por los que me gusta tanto Ellroy es porque todo lo que escribe no solo se lee, sino que se siente, se huele y hasta se oye. Su sangre hierve y la mía también. La de Wambaugh no. Por eso no somos compatibles.
March 15, 2012
Hollywood Station was the first book that I read by Wambaugh, and I did find that I enjoyed it. Wambaugh created some very colorful characters both cops and villains that made the book interesting. There were a lot of twists and turns, and the reader never knew what these crazy characters were going to do next. I found that my favorite characters ended up being Budgie, Mag, Olive, Andi, and Oracle. Each character was pretty well developed considering the number of characters involved in the story but each of these characters stood out to me for one reason or another. Wambaugh does an excellent job with his world building and shows you a Hollywood that you don't expect. Overall this was an interesting read that I would recommend if you like colorful characters, a few mad capers, and seeing a new side of Hollywood.
September 7, 2013
Both Joseph Wambaugh and Ed McBain are adept at creating characters that are colorful and memorable--both the police officers, and the criminals as well as the innocent public. There are two women officers, Budgie and Mags, who volunteer to pose as prostitutes, with the result that Mags is badly damaged on her face and almost loses an eye. Hollywood Nate, despite being 35 years old, has hopes of a movie career. The bad guys are Russian and Ukrainian, and their crimes are theft of mail, stealing hotel plastic keys to be made into fake driver's licenses, and jewel theft. Sometimes there are humorous incidents, but the police are always putting their lives on the line. I hadn't read a Wambaugh book in a while. This one was published in 2006, and is still enjoyable.
July 21, 2014
Pretty standard Wambaugh.
A gritty, street level view of the street cops of Hollywood station.
The characters are decent but could have been a little bit more well developed and the plot sometimes seems just something on which to hand a series of anecdotes...but it is those anecdotes which really make the book. From these stories, Wambaugh is able to really convey the horror, boredom and humor that comes from day to day policing in a big city from Elmo v. Batman to cops using a riot gun to get a burglar out of a tree to a drunk woman who gets in the wrong car and claims she was kidnapped.
Not sure how the rest of the series will be, if it will become repetative, but considering how much I enjoyed this I am at least willing to give Hollywood Crows a try.
A gritty, street level view of the street cops of Hollywood station.
The characters are decent but could have been a little bit more well developed and the plot sometimes seems just something on which to hand a series of anecdotes...but it is those anecdotes which really make the book. From these stories, Wambaugh is able to really convey the horror, boredom and humor that comes from day to day policing in a big city from Elmo v. Batman to cops using a riot gun to get a burglar out of a tree to a drunk woman who gets in the wrong car and claims she was kidnapped.
Not sure how the rest of the series will be, if it will become repetative, but considering how much I enjoyed this I am at least willing to give Hollywood Crows a try.
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