Joseph Wambaugh

Light Paperback (1 lb or less)

New York

For a cop, a night on the job means killing time and trying not to get killed. If you're a cop in Hollywood Division, it also means dealing with the most overwrought, desperate, and deluded criminals anywhere. When you're patrolling Sunset and Hollywood Boulevards, neither a good reputation nor the lessons of scandals past will help you keep your cool, your sanity, or your life when things heat up.The robbery of a Hollywood jewelry store, complete with masks and a hand grenade, quickly connects to a Russian nightclub, an undercover operation gone bloodily wrong, and a cluelessly ambitious pair of tweakers.

Putting the pieces together are the sergeant they call the Oracle and his squad of street cops. There's Budgie Polk, a twenty-something firecracker with a four-month-old at home, and Wesley Drubb, a rich boy who joined the force seeking thrills. Fausto Gamboa is the tetchy veteran, and Hollywood Nate is the one who never shuts up about movies. They spend their days in patrol cars and their nights in the underbelly of a city that never sleeps. From their headquarters at Hollywood Station, they see the glamour city for what it is: a field of land mines, where the mundane is dangerous and the dangerous is mundane.

Hollywood Station

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Hardcover (1 to 2 lbs)

California

A True Story

From master crime writer Joseph Wambaugh, the acclaimed author of such classics as The Onion Field and The Choirboys, comes the extraordinary true story of a firefighter who may have been, according to U.S. government profilers, "the most prolific American arsonist of the twentieth century." Growing up in Los Angeles, John Orr would watch in awe as firefighters scrambled to put out blazes with seeming disregard for their own lives. One day he would become a fireman himself, and a good one. As a member of the Glendale Fire Department, he rose through the ranks, eventually becoming a fire captain and one of southern California's best-known and most-respected arson investigators, as well as a writer of firefighting articles and finally of a fact-based novel. But there was another, unseen life, one that included many women, a need for risk, and a hunger for recognition. While Orr busted a string of petty arsonists, there was one serial criminal he could not track down. The fire lover used the same simple yet devastating device and was unerring in his execution. His lethal handiwork led to the death of four innocent people and countless millions of dollars worth of property damage. Homes, retail stores during business hours, fields of dry brush in stifling summer heat -- little was safe from his obsession to see them burn. But after years of terror and destruction, he would make a mistake. He would leave behind a precious clue that investigators would use to lead them to the true identity of the fire lover, to the shock and disbelief of the firefighting community. Chilling, colorful, and vivid, Fire Lover is Joseph Wambaugh at his best. He explores the making of a deviant personality, the fascinating intricacies of fire science, the uneasy relationship between firefighting and law-enforcement communities, and a legal system gone haywire. Based on his trademark meticulous research, interviews, case records, and thousands of pages of court transcripts, Wambaugh fashions a powerful narrative. You will never look at fire the same way again.

Fire Lover

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Nebraska

This title covers the tragic and brutal rape of two teenagers in the British Midlands. It covers, in every detail, the massive manhunt that ensued with a twist in the proceedings at almost every chapter.

The Blooding

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A beautiful private investigator, a hard-drinking, burnt-out detective, and an over-zealous cop yearning for a position on the lush Palm Springs police force team up to capture a mysterious desert fugitive

Fugitive Nights

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Ohio

They call their sergeant the Oracle. Hes a seasoned LAPD veteran who keeps a close watch over his squad from his understaffed office at Hollywood Station. They are: Budgie Polk, a 27-year-old firecracker whos begrudgingly teamed with Fausto Gamboa, the oldest, tetchiest patrol officer. Andi McCrea, a single mom who spends her days studying at the local community college. Wesley Drubb, a USC drop-out who joined the force to see some action. Flotsam and Jetsam, two aptly named surfer boys who pine after the petitebut intrepidMeg Takara. And Hank Driscoll, the one who never shuts up. Together they spend their days and nights in the citys underbelly, where a string of seemingly unrelated events lures the cops of Hollywood Station to their most startling case yet: Russians, diamonds, counterfeiting, grenadesa reminder that nothings too horrific or twisted for Los Angeles. Here, its business as usual. For the first time in 20 years, Wambaugh revisits the kind of story he tells bestlife in the LAPD. Not only have his fans been waiting for this comeback, but readers of the new generation of police writing will have great interest in this book.

Alabama

Drunk and adrift in Orange County, California, forty-year-old ex-cop Winnie Farlowe attracts the attention of a three-time divorcee who introduces him to the mystery of her father's death and leads them both into danger

The Golden Orange

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Seeking two truckers hauling a drum of lethal chemicals, San Diego detective Finbar Finnegan joins forces with two strong-willed female cops to investigate a deadly toxic waste scam. 300,000 first printing. $250,000 ad/promo. BOMC Feat Alt. Tour.

Finnegan's Week

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The Black Marble

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1983 book club edition
An excerpt from this book has appeared in the February, 1983 issue of Playboy Magazine 

Light Hardcover (1 lb or less)

Missouri

Los Angeles homicide detective Mario Villalobos' investigation of a seemingly routine murder leads him to a famous university where the struggle for recognition, funds, and the Nobel prize may have high costs.

The Delta Star

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Oklahoma

Who else but Joseph Wambaugh could write "a joy, a hoot, a riot of a book" that is also acclaimed as "one of this season's best crime novels"? That's how The New York Times Book ReviewandTime, respectively, described his last novel,Finnegan's Week. Nobody writes a faster, funnier, more satisfying tale of cops and criminals, the high life and lowlifes that Wambaugh--andFloatersis his sharpest yet. Mick Fortney and his partner Leeds manage to cruise above the standard police stress-pools of coffee and Pepto-Bismol--they're water cops in the "Club Harbor Unit," manning a patrol boat on San Diego's Mission Bay. A typically rough day's detail consists of scoping out body-sculpted beauties on pleasure craft, rescuing boating bozos who've run aground, jeering at lifeguards, and hauling in the occasional floater who comes to the surface. But now their days are anything but typical, because the America's Cup international sailing regattas have come to town and suddenly San Diego is swarming with yacht crazies of every nationality, the cuppies who want to love them, and the looky-look tourists, racing spies, scam artists, and hookers who all want their piece of the action. It's the outstanding body and jaunty smile--full of mischief, full of hell--of one cuppie, a particularly fiery redhead named Blaze, that gets Leeds and Fortney's attention. First Leeds drowns in frustratingly unrequited boozy love from afar. Then, with her increasingly odd behavior, Blaze tweaks every one of their cop instincts, alerting them that something's not quite right on the waterfront. Indeed, Blaze will soon lead Detective Anne Zorn and Mick Fortney along a bizarre criminal trail that would be hilarious if it didn't wind up just as nasty as it gets, with a pair of murders right on the eve of the biggest sailing race of all. Filled with all of Joseph Wambaugh's trademark skills--laugh-out-loud writing, crackling dialogue, outrageous excitement, and, of course, plenty of raunchy veteran cops who leap off the page--Floatersis Wambaugh at the very to of his form. From the Paperback edition.

Floaters

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Virginia

The True Story of the Narborough Village Murders

Relates the true story of how two vicious rape-murders in small English midlands villages were solved using the revolutionary technique of genetic fingerprinting

For some, it's the pleasure capitol of the world. For others, it's a city of last chances, a paradise on the edge of the desert. For soon-to-be-ex-cop Lynn Cutter, sweating out a disability pension, it could become a point of no return. As a rule, Cutter wouldn't give a private investigator the time of day, but Breda Burrows is the exception to every rule. Sultry, blue-eyed, long-legged, and tough as nails. Breda can be very convincing, and she's convinced Cutter to be her guide through the glittering netherworld of Palm Springs - an explosive mix of silicone, Geritol, old money, and mur…

When forty-year-old cop Winnie Farlowe lost his  shield, he lost the only protection he had. Ever  since, he's been fighting a bad back, fighting the  bottle, fighting his conscience. But now he's in  for a special fight. Never before has he come up  against anyone like Tess Binder. She's a  stunningly beautiful, sexually spirited three-time  divorcee from Newport Beach--capital of California's  Golden Orange, where wallets are fat, bikinis are  skimpy, and cosmetic surgery is one sure way to a  billionaire's bank account. Nearly a year ago Tess  Binder's father washed up on the beach with a bullet  in his ear. The coroner called it suicide, but to  Tess it means the fear of her own fate. And  Winnie Farlowe is a man willing to follow wherever she  leads--straight into the juicy pulp of the Golden  Orange, a world where money is everything, but  nothing adds up . . . where death and chicanery  flourish amidst ranches, mansions, and yachting  parties…

The Los Angeles homicide detective, Mario Villalobos, investigates the involvement of a group of university chemistry professors in the murder of a prostitute

Pennsylvania

A Novel

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLSER * "This is vintage Wambaugh, a rollicking and ribald tale, laced with black humor."--The San Diego Union-Tribune

Harbor cops Fortney and Leeds have a good time patrolling San Diego's Mission Bay, scopingout body-sculpted beauties on pleasure craft, rescuing boating bozos who've run aground, and haulingin the occasional floater.

But now their days are anything but typical, for theAmerica's Cup regattas have come to town and San Diego swarms with sailors, schemers, spies, and saboteurs,and the cuppies who want to love them. It's a randy cuppie named Blaze who tweaks their cop instincts thatsomething's not quite right on the waterfront--and it'sBlaze who sets off a bizarre criminal trail that wouldbe hilarious if it didn't wind up just as nasty asit gets, with a pair of murders right on the eve of thebiggest sailing race of all.

Praise for Floaters

"There's only one Joe Wambaugh. He's a really important American writer."--Jonathan Kellerman

"[Wambaugh] dazzles with his intimate knowledge of police life, black humor, raunchy dialogue, and a cast of nineties choirboys. . . . A cop's expertise and the literary power of a master storyteller."--Digby Diehl, Playboy

"The author's trademark sardonic writing is in full force here."--Publishers Weekly

Illinois

There's a saying at Hollywood station that the full moon brings out the beast-- rather than the best-- in the precinct's citizens. One moonlit night, LAPD veteran Dana Vaughn and "Hollywood " Nate Weiss, a struggling-actor-turned cop, get a call about a young man who's been attacking women. Meanwhile, two surfer cops known as Flotsam and Jetsam keep bumping into an odd, suspicious duo-- a smooth-talking player in dreads and a crazy-eyed, tattooed biker. No one suspects that all three dubious characters might be involved in something bigger, more high-tech, and much more illegal. After a dizzying series of twists, turns, and chases, the cops will find they've stumbled upon a complex web of crime where even the criminals can't be sure who's conning whom. Wambaugh once again masterfully gets inside the hearts and minds of the cops whose jobs have them constantly on the brink of danger. By turns heart-wrenching, exhilarating, and laugh-out-loud funny, Hollywood Moon is his most thrilling and deeply affecting ride yet through the singular streets of LA.

Hollywood Moon

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Kentucky

There's a saying at Hollywood station that the full moon brings out the beast--rather than the best--in the precinct's citizens. One moonlit night, LAPD veteran Dana Vaughn and "Hollywood" Nate Weiss, a struggling-actor-turned cop, get a call about a young man who's been attacking women. Meanwhile, two surfer cops known as Flotsam and Jetsam keep bumping into an odd, suspicious duo--a smooth-talking player in dreads and a crazy-eyed, tattooed biker. No one suspects that all three dubious characters might be involved in something bigger, more high-tech, and much more illegal. After a dizzying series of twists, turns, and chases, the cops will find they've stumbled upon a complex web of crime where even the criminals can't be sure who's conning whom. Wambaugh once again masterfully gets inside the hearts and minds of the cops whose jobs have them constantly on the brink of danger. By turns heart-wrenching, exhilarating, and laugh-out-loud funny, Hollywood Moon is his most thrilling and deeply affecting ride yet through the singular streets of LA.

Encountering a seemingly harmless socialite in Margot Aziz, LAPD cops Hollywood Nate and Bix Rumstead are unaware that the woman's ugly divorce from a nefarious nightclub owner is part of a murderous ruse in which both Nate and Rumstead are being set up.

Hollywood Crows

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Michigan

Demonstration of effects of amoral Hollywood on four sets of police officers enmeshed in the glamour and the grime.

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