Joseph Wambaugh novel

imjin138

imjin138

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Thursday I picked up the new Joseph Wambaugh novel. 'Harbor Nocturne' So far it is really good. I have been reading his books since high school in the Early 70's. I find them very entertaining and true to life. If you like reading police stories this is a good one for you.
 
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Enjoy his books and really enjoyed the television series he produced in the 70's called POLICE STORY.

Back when there was only three channels on the TV, it was ahead of its time. Entertaining and authentic. Never missed an episode.
 
ThirtyAcres said:
Enjoy his books and really enjoyed the television series he produced in the 70's called POLICE STORY.

Back when there was only three channels on the TV, it was ahead of its time. Entertaining and authentic. Never missed an episode.
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Season one of Police Story is on DVD now. I remember it from when I was a kid....so I bought it. I didn't realize just how groundbreaking it was in portraying police officers as real people instead of superheroes. Very few car chases, and shootouts had consequences.
 
I'll look for it. He's a fine writer.

If you like such books, look for David Lindsey's, mostly set in Houston. He rode with Homicide detectives for background research.

Lindsey is a superb wordsmith, with deep insight into human nature and his characters. I especially recommend, "A Cold Mind", "Spiral", and "Requiem For a Glass Heart." Add, "Mercy."

If yyou read the first, you'll never see rabies the same way again. Even explains in detail how the killer extracted the virus from dogs' brains and employed it. Almost too real and scary.

Lindsey offers the best of Wambaugh combined with Thos. Harris. I only wish that his Sgt. Stuart Haydon didn't have black episodes where he goes into a funk of sorts. Thankfully, those are rare and his wife and Lt. cover for him. I like the fastidious Germanic medical examiner, too.

Haydon's gun is a 9mm Beretta,presumably a Model 92. He used it in, "Spiral" in the most realistic police gunfight that I've seen in print. Real and sobering, including the effect on Haydon of seeing his partner murdered in front of him.


Check libraries and used book stores for hardcovers. Some titles can still be found new/ordered in paper.
 
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MY book is MUCH better! A Case of Black or White. It is very rare today as only one copy was ever sold. My mother bought it and made me give her the money back. However, my success is, I recently saw a copy of it for sale for almost $400 on Amazon.com or somewhere? Glad to know someone knows the value of a good book!
 
Wambaugh is a longtime favorite of mine. I wasn't aware he had this new one out, so I'll go get it on my Kindle and see how much of it I can get through before tomorrow morning.

I thought his recent Hollywood trio was not quite up to the levels of his earlier books, but nowhere near weak enough to make me give up on him. What I have always liked about him was the mix of nonsense, chaos, and reality in the world he described. I kind of had the feeling that in the Hollywood books the reality retreated a bit more than necessary and the nonsense and chaos expanded -- not that I have anything against nonsense and chaos, both of which I regard as necessary components of a successful American life.

TStar, I agree completely on David Lindsey. First-rate literature misleadingly presented as genre novels. I wish he had written more.
 
DCWilson said:
Wambaugh is a longtime favorite of mine. I wasn't aware he had this new one out, so I'll go get it on my Kindle and see how much of it I can get through before tomorrow morning.

I thought his recent Hollywood trio was not quite up to the levels of his earlier books, but nowhere near weak enough to make me give up on him. What I have always liked about him was the mix of nonsense, chaos, and reality in the world he described. I kind of had the feeling that in the Hollywood books the reality retreated a bit more than necessary and the nonsense and chaos expanded -- not that I have anything against nonsense and chaos, both of which I regard as necessary components of a successful American life.

TStar, I agree completely on David Lindsey. First-rate literature misleadingly presented as genre novels. I wish he had written more.
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David-


David Lindsey is writing again, now using the pen name of Paul Harper. The first title is, "Pacific Heights." But the characters and settings are new.


T-Star
 
lonejacklarry said:
Mr. Wambaugh will never be able to recreate the visual in the "pressed ham" story. Never!
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For some reason that story popped into my mind the other day. A classic.

I hadn't read Wambaugh in a few years but started again when the Hollywood books came out. Just finished Hollywood Nights and just got Hollywood Hills from Amazon.

He's a very good writer with a long track record.
 
I thought his recent Hollywood trio was not quite up to the levels of his earlier books, but nowhere near weak enough to make me give up on him.
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Quite right. I just finished that series and found these not to be up to his normal high standards.
 
He was a good writer.

On the TV show Police Story, my favorite actors were Don Meredith, and Joe Santos.

There was one episode where two guys were on stake out in a bank.

One guy gave the other guy some "hot loads" for his revolver.

Sure enough the bank got robbed and they "blasted" the robbers.

Witness stated that the guns the cops shot sounded "Very Loud".

The cops were accused of using loads with RIFLE powder...

I thought at the time, "Well 2400 is actually a Rifle powder"...
 
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