Hollywood Crows

March 3, 2008
Gallows humor and the grim realities of street police work coexist uneasily in this less than stellar follow-up to Hollywood Station (2006) from MWA Grand Master Wambaugh. Nathan Weiss, known as Hollywood Nate for his acting ambitions, and his friend Bix Ramstead are now assigned to the LAPD's Community Relations Office, which handles quality-of-life issues and whose members are referred to as Crows. Weiss and Ramstead both become ensnared by a stunning femme fatale, Margot Aziz, who's in the middle of a contentious divorce. Aziz is trying to gain the upper hand over her husband, who operates a seedy nightclub but stays on the good side of law enforcement with well-timed donations to police charities. Aziz's scheming follows a fairly predictable path, and there's not much suspense about the outcome. Through the eyes of an eccentric collection of beat cops, Wambaugh gives a compelling picture of what policing is like under the federal monitor appointed to oversee the real LAPD after the Rampart corruption scandal, but characterizations are on the thin side and some readers may find the callous cruelty off-putting.

Christian Rummel's roles on "Law & Order" were good training for narrating this gritty tale of community relations officers (CROWs) in "La-La Land." He excels at the flip cop jargon as well as a variety of ethnic accents. Incidents with cross-dressers, scofflaws, and the like are woven into the stories of a strip joint owner's ongoing plot to kill his stunning estranged wife, Margot, and her relationship with a policeman with movie star aspirations. Partly due to Rummel's vocal talents, the characters are believable, if not necessarily likable. A lot of energy goes into the climactic bedroom shooting scene, as well as Margot's version of it. Wambaugh's latest novel in audio may leave listeners cynical about the LAPD, but they'll be enthusiastic over Rummel's performance. J.B.G. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award (c) AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine