Hollywood Station

Starred review from September 25, 2006
Wambaugh's outstanding new novel, his first in a decade, is not only a return to form but a return to his LAPD roots. Times have sure changed since the 1970s, the setting for some of Wambaugh's best earlier works such as The New Centurions
and The Onion Field
. Grossly understaffed, the officers of Hollywood Station find themselves writing bogus field interviews with nonexistent white suspects in minority neighborhoods to avoid allegations of racial profiling. Crystal meth rules the streets, and crackheads and glass freaks dressed in costume (Elvis, Marilyn Monroe, Darth Vader, Elmo) work the tourist strip, bumming money for their next fix. With an impressive array of police characters, from surfer dude partners "Flotsam" and "Jetsam" to aspiring actor "Hollywood" Nate Weiss and single mother Budgie Polk, Wambaugh creates a realistic microcosm of the modern-day LAPD. Today's crop of crime writers, including Michael Connelly and George Pelecanos, obviously owe a debt to Wambaugh. The master proves that he can still deliver. 5-city author tour.

Starred review from October 1, 2006
Thirty-five years after the debut of "The New Centurions", the grand master of cop fiction is back with another inside look at life in the Los Angeles Police Department. But whereas Wambaugh used the 1965 Watts riots as the backdrop to "Centurions", here he chooses postRodney King Los Angeles to present a new set of challenges to todays Los Angeles cops. Handcuffed by a paranoid, stifling bureaucracy, Wambaughs police characters are deeply flawed but intensely devoted to protect and serve the citizens of Americas second-largest city. Holding the troops of Hollywood Station together is the Oracle, a sergeant who has been on the force for almost 50 years. Wambaugh removes the layers from the street-tough cops and exposes their unique blend of bravado and fallibility, but he has proven to be equally adept at examining the psyche of tweakers, scammers, pimps, and murderers. The realities of police work arent glamorous, even in a precinct straddled by the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Its been more than 20 years since Wambaughs last LAPD novel; lets hope the next one doesnt take as long. Recommended for all fiction collections." Ken Bolton, Cornell Univ. Lib., Ithaca, NY"

Copyright 2006 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from September 1, 2006
Wambaugh, awarded the Mystery Writers of America Grand Master Award in 2004, returns to the crazed world of the LAPD for the first time since his 1983 novel, " The Delta Star. "It is a triumphant return. Not only does Wambaugh give readers his usual feast of black humor, as well as deliver another cast of edgy LAPD cops and wacko denizens of the street, but he also portrays how life for L.A. cops has changed in the last 20 years. The novel is both a celebration of street cops and an elegy for the old LAPD, now hobbled by post-Rodney King federal receivership, Draconian PC codes, oversight armies, and severe manpower and equipment shortages (Michael Connelly covers some of this same ground). The setting, Hollywood Station, also serves as a symbol for the collision of cops and criminals. For example, the stars on the Walk of Fame in front of Graumann's Chinese Theater are overrun by costumed cartoon characters who are actually addicts and whores; the stars in front of Hollywood Station are modeled after the stars on the Walk of Fame, but these stars contain the names of seven officers from Hollywood Station, all killed in the line of duty. The plot careens between cops and criminals, as seemingly random acts of desperation by a group of meth burnouts tie into a Russian criminal mastermind's scheme. High-voltage suspense drives the tale, and as always, Wambaugh's characters, language, and war stories exude authenticity. Terrific.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2006, American Library Association.)