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

d4e443ce-9d0a-4264-8b67-90d3e7ada517-1

Hardcover (1 to 2 lbs)

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

9e8def8e-5eea-4eec-8d3d-94cc574b2099-1

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

ddc2085c-28fb-45d5-aef3-984a0b658fdf-1

Arkansas

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

e67efc74-a130-4ef6-8cb4-1ba93c201300-1

Light Hardcover (1 lb or less)

Los Angeles Police Dept. homicidee detective Harry Bright attempts to solve the murder of a young man and uses the experience to search for the meaning of his son's death and his own life.

The Secrets of Harry Bright

2aa6023c-d449-461c-90cc-55b57d9b839d-1

Louisiana

Michigan

Outside Grauman's Chinese Theatre, Batman has assaulted Spider-Man. A Marilyn Monroe called it in and three Elvises witnessed it. Business as usual for the cops out of Hollywood Station, but while they deal with the costumed crackheads, prostitutes, purse snatchers, tweakers and ordinary lunatics that haunt the boulevards, in the streets behind the lights and crowds, the real Los Angeles simmers, never far from boiling point. Under the watchful eye of the veteran sergeant they call Oracle, the Hollywood Station squad are as different as the streets they police. Budgie Polk's back on duty while still breast-feeding her son, begrudgingly teamed with old school patrol officer Fausto Gamboa. Flotsam and Jetsam live only for surfing and the petite - but intrepid - Meg Takara. Andi McCrea goes off duty and into night classes, while rich kid rookie Wesley Drubb is as desperate to see some action as Nathan 'Hollywood' Weiss is to get his script developed. Under-staffed and over-worked, bound by red tape and hobbled by political correctness, these men and women hold the front line in LA's epicentre, but add a diamond robbery, the Russian mafia and a cluelessly ambitious glass freak and something has got to give...

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

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

c6f11cc3-c8e7-4774-a7b3-f50bf84aacbb-1

Florida

California

A young longshoreman's delivery of a Mexican dancer from the busy harbor of San Pedro to a Hollywood nightclub changes both of their lives when they encounter individuals on opposing sides of the law, including surfer cops Flotsam and Jetsam, aspiring actor Hollywood Nate and young Britney Small. By the best-selling author of The Onion Field. 50,000 first printing.

Harbor Nocturne

114167dd-3d20-464a-9cba-c98bdf45bf64-1

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

e5b9e613-27e5-4619-afda-f7052f8e4b4a-1

Heavy Hardcover (2 to 4 lbs)

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

f8c07143-3a06-4645-a815-95bd0bbdd316-1

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

439eff28-efbe-406b-8f02-3cc513f4d449-1

Texas

A Novel

L.A. Wambaugh-style. A world of cops on the rocks with a twist of murder. A cheap hooker named Missy Moonbeam takes a fatal dive from the roof of a sleazy hotel. But what’s a Caltech phone number doing in her trick book? And how does that connect to a dead private eye and a useless credit card? And what does all that have to do with a Whisky-class Russian sub and the Nobel Prize? Join Joseph Wambaugh’s ravaged cops of Rampart Station as they follow a trail of corruption from the world of pimps and crazies to the think-tank labs of the country’s top chemistry wizards—where genius and greed mix to create an award-winning case of murder. “A page-turner . . . This is a must-read for Wambaugh fans.”—USA Today

Iowa

In a super follow-up to Hollywood Station, Wambaugh returns to the beat he knows best, taking readers on a darkly funny ride-along with a cast of flawed LAPD cops and eccentric lowlifes you won't forget.

When LAPD cops Hollywood Nate and Bix Rumstead find themselves caught up with bombshell Margot Aziz, they think they're just having some fun. But in Hollywood, nothing is ever what it seems. To them, Margot is a harmless socialite, stuck in the middle of an ugly divorce from the nefarious nightclub-owner Ali Aziz. What Nate and Bix don't know is that Margot's no helpless victim: the femme fatale is setting them both up. But Ms. Aziz isn't the only one with a deadly plan.

A few spots across the top pages and a tear and some rubbing on edges if dust jacket.  See photos. 

Wisconsin

West Virginia

New Jersey

Kentucky

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

Browse by categories

Save this search

Joseph Wambaugh

Hollywood Station

Joseph Wambaugh

Fugitive Nights

Joseph Wambaugh

Hollywood Station

Joseph Wambaugh

The Golden Orange

Joseph Wambaugh

Hollywood Moon

Joseph Wambaugh

The Secrets of Harry Bright

Joseph Wambaugh

Hollywood Moon

Joseph Wambaugh

Hollywood Station

Joseph Wambaugh

The Delta Star

Joseph Wambaugh

Hollywood Station

Joseph Wambaugh

Harbor Nocturne

Joseph Wambaugh

Fire Lover

Joseph Wambaugh

Fugitive Nights

Joseph Wambaugh

Finnegan's Week

Joseph Wambaugh

Hollywood Crows

Joseph Wambaugh

Hollywood Station

Joseph Wambaugh

The Delta Star

Joseph Wambaugh

Hollywood Station

Joseph Wambaugh

Hollywood Crows

Joseph Wambaugh

The Golden Orange

Joseph Wambaugh

Finnegan's Week

Joseph Wambaugh

Hollywood Moon

Joseph Wambaugh

Hollywood Station

Joseph Wambaugh

Floaters