Hollywood Moon

Regarding the book review from the Washington Post(what a surprise): Dear Sir or Madam--IMHO, the only thing you understand less than street cops and the incredible stress they endure, is their humor in order to cope with that stress.

I've been a fan of Joseph Wambaugh's writing since I read his first book years ago. "Hollywood Moon" is the latest - and hopefully not the last - book in his "Hollywood" series. Wambaugh's novels are not police procedurals. There are plenty of great writers who write plot-driven procedurals. Wambaugh writes character-driven novels that happen to be about police officers and the people and situations they run into while on duty. (And sometimes off-duty, too). In "Hollywood Moon", Wambaugh brings back many of the cops we're familiar with from past "Hollywood" novels. We meet again "Flotsam" and "Jetsam", two surfer-dude cops who'd much rather be riding the waves that patrolling the streets of Hollywood. And, "Hollywood Nate", a late-30's good-looking cop - with a SAG card - who's trying and trying to get into acting. Wambaugh also introduces new cops, and, of course, a new crew of villains, who spend most of their time and energy trying to dupe the good citizens of Los Angeles out of money, using a variety of methods and schemes. Like most Wambaugh novels, this one has a bittersweet ending. Because Wambaugh is such a good writer, most readers feel like his characters are "real" and we feel invested in their lives. The cops and the criminals and the hangers-on are all interesting. Wambaugh's writing is not for everyone. He's "politically incorrect" to an amazing degree, so if you're easily offended, don't read his books. For those of us who like a little "incorrectness", he's a great read.

I was a young boy when I became aware of Wambaugh...a downtown movie theatre poster for an R-rated New Centurions I could not see, if memory serves. I started reading him when I was in my 20's, which was during the 80's. I have read them all, and re-read most of them starting in the late 90's. So I know this guy's books. I love the three Hollywood books he put out in the past 2 or 3 years. I was not expecting them and I was pleased at how good they are. The second one was better than the first and this, the third one, is really dynamite and the best of the three. Sometimes the wit and wisecracks from various characters and the humorous statements made in plot exposition sound like they come from the same person (which they do of course...the author). But if I had to chose, I'd leave all of it in because it's not a big distraction, and trust me, there are some priceless LOL lines. The story is a page turner and towards the end I could not put it down. If you have any reason to think you might like it (e.g. liked one of his books) you probably will. You don't have to read the others to get anything in this book; it stands alone. If you like cop stories and cop dialog and weird but believeable street charactors you will enjoy it. For Mr. Wambaugh: I vote the Hollywood series continue! It's a winner and just gets better and better. "We're gravy, bro!"

Some of the favorites from the earlier two "Hollywood" books are back -- the surfer cops (always good for a laugh) and Hollywood Nate. New characters joining the story are well rounded and add to the rich mix. I listened to this on audio and it was terrificly performed. Great job.

In Joseph Wambaugh's latest book in the Hollywood series, the plot gets tense. Dewey Gleason, a crook who spends his time stealing credit information and re-selling stolen goods, is good at alternating his disguises--until he hires Tristan and Jerzy who ultimately see him for what he is and consider blackmailing that later turns into kidnapping. However, the true mastermind of Dewey's dirty credit ventures is his much-hated, nicotine-addicted wife Eunice, who runs multiple computer operations right from their apartment. The story gets further complicated when Dewey hires nineteen-year-old Malcolm Rojas, who secretly attacks women, as one of his "runners," and his wife Eunice ends up falling for him. At times comic and at times tragic, "Hollywood Moon" takes the readers right into the underbelly of L.A., where anything odd is blamed on the glamorous location. Much of the book stays with the view-points of the cops--an actor-hopeful police officer known as "Hollywood" Nate and his mature older partner Dana Vaugn, surfer cops Jetsam and Flotsam, Aaron Sloane who's secretly in love with sassy partner Sheila Montez, and officer Mindy Ling stuck with a new womanizing partner who nobody works to work with. Aside from the main plot, Wambaugh, a former LAPD cop and sergeant himself, describes the L.A. scene very well and frequently mixes in entertaining police episodes--an over-weight murderer slipping from the roof and falling smack down on a rookie cop, a dubious late-night party involving a Barbie doll, a woman at a Laundromat who refuses to put on her clothes, and etc. I was occasionally reminded of the Police Academy movie franchise where a group of cops constantly gets into comic misadventures, sometimes missing the more serious crimes going on around them, though eventually managing to save the day.