Fugitive Nights

After my career as a street cop in a big city I can tell you that Wambaugh is right on target with his characters. Wambaugh's characters are not what Jack Webb would have approved, but most match people all cops come across after a few decades of street experience. His plots are entertaining with the end product being a book that I cannot set down until the last page is turned.

Lynn Cutter wants only to drink away the days in gorgeous Palm Springs while waiting on the possible arrival of his hoped for disability pension check. When smart, tough, sexy ex-cop turned P.I. Breda Burrows enlists his assistance for a case that she's working on, he agrees to help, against his better judgment. At first the case seems simple enough, socialite Rhonda Devon wants to know why her older husband has been to a sperm bank without her knowledge. Breda figures she can do surveillance on hubby while Lynn uses his police badge to ask some questions and open some doors for her. However, when Devon's husband is spotted meeting a mysterious man who's previously attacked a cop at an airport, then the focus of their case becomes as much about this mysterious "fugitive" as it is about wandering husbands and spousal secrets. Enter a young cop who is way too gung ho for his and everyone else's good, and you have the makings of a typical Wambaugh at his best story. Humor, laced with deadly violence, a mystery that's not exactly what it seems, and characters that grow on you in spite of (or perhaps because of) their faults and foibles.All of Wambaugh's works tend to be both tragic and funny at the same time, and this one is no exception. However I would rate it as one of his better comic mysteries, using comedy in the old Greek sense of the opposite of tragedy. To tell more would spoil the ending of the book, but I would actually place this book with his less tragic works, such as FINNEGAN'S WEEK, or THE DELTA STAR, and less so with his more tragic tales, like THE SECRETS OF HARRY BRIGHT. Since I'm one of those who enjoys Wambaugh when he's not as much in the dark side of life, this is one of my favorites. Experienced Wambaugh readers should know what I'm talking about here, but I would easily recommend this book to anyone who likes a good mystery, be they long time Wambaugh fans or not. A five-star rating for suspense, a compelling story, sympathetic characters, and a fun read.