Tangled Web UK Review March 2007
Hollywood Station by
Joseph Wambaugh
hbk out January 07
Published by Quercus
at £14.99
Where do you start, when it's all been said before? This is Joseph Wambaugh,
after all. You know – The New Centurions, The Choirboys, The Onion Field, and the
inspiration for such iconic shows as Hill Street Blues and NYPD Blue. It's been ten years
since his last novel and a couple of decades since he last wrote about the LAPD, which he
joined in 1960. It would be trite to say this is just a return to the old formula, and dismiss
it. But you can't. Yes, it's the tried and tested Wambaugh style, but it still works – this
sharp brand of wit, wisecracking, and dark humour. It still works well.
The cops of Hollywood Division (no one can think of it as Hollywood Area, as it
was called) are a motley bunch, and the call of duty confronts them with some off-
the-wall and occasionally horrific sights. Where else could you book Darth Vader for
indecent exposure, or forget your gun when a call come in because you are in the john
expressing milk from your swollen breasts while on duty with your baby back at home.
Surf-dudes Flotsam and Jetsam have to deal with a guy who has slit his own wrists after
murdering his lover. And then detective Compassionate Charlie turns up, only to suggest
they should have let him bleed out and save a lot of trouble. The force includes rich boy
Wesley Drubb, only in it for the buzz, and Hollwood Nate who is sure the next acting job
is just around the corner. Unusual combinations occur, as tetchy veteran Fausto Gamboa
is teamed up with Budgie Polk – she of the milk-swollen breasts. And then there's the
Oracle, a sergeant with more experience than most, and more stripes than can fit on his
sleeve. Running through the cascade of seemingly unrelated incidents is a storyline that
links together a couple of tweakers (crystal meth addicts) dipping mailboxes for credit
cards, the robbery of a jewelry store where a hand grenade is used, and a Russian
nightclub of dubious legitimacy. Don't worry – it all dovetails together beautifully.
This is Wambaugh's unique sense of characterisation and plotting at its best. The
feeling of a chaos of unrelated incidents, drowning the poor cops on the street, gloriously
recreates a heightened reality that is engrossing. This is LAPD post-Rodney King, and a
shooting incident brings the whole section under scrutiny, making the cops life even
harder. It is left to the Oracle to see through the ugly morass. Wambaugh clearly lived
this experience to be able to convey it so authentically. And his acknowledgement at the
beginning of the book confirms that he is still drawing on actual incidents involving real-
life cops. He dumps you deep in to the thick of it from bloody start to messy finish. So take
this chance to wallow in the detritus of LA street-life. You'll love every moment of it.
(
Ian Morson
Author of Falconer books and short listed for 1999 Ellis Peters Historical Crime Dagger)
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