San Diego police detective Finbar Finnegan is forty-something, an aspiring but frustrated actor and - after that third divorce - a committed bachelor. Just when he thinks he's seen it all, he faces a killer more deadly than any psychopath: a 55 gallon drum of the toxic chemical Guthion. That's what two disgruntled truckers are hauling for a waste disposal company. But when they steal some Navy goods to sell on the black market, their scheme goes haywire. Fin joins forces with two impressive female cops on this case - Nell Salter, with whom he has a past; and Bad Dog, with whom he may have a future - if the killing can be stopped.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
A San Diego police detective trails a stolen truck full of toxic chemicals; BOMC alternate in cloth.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Kirkus Reviews
After a so-so show in Fugitive Nights (1991), Wambaugh returns nearly in top form with a very funny suspenser about toxic waste. Finbar Finnegan, a San Diego police detective and sometime actor, has a midlife crisis at 45, his existence having been dominated by three sisters while growing up and by three ex-wives as an adult. His theme song is ``Someone to Watch Over Me''--he needs a mommy/wife, has sworn off marriage, but finds himself tied ticklingly to two female detectives at once, both of whom see him as romantically interesting despite immense shortcomings: happy, cheerful, pistol-packing Petty Officer ``Ba-a-d Dog'' Bobbie Ann Doggett, 28, an investigator for the Navy who's looking for 2,000 boots hijacked from a warehouse; and District Attorney's Investigator Nell Salter, 43, once divorced, and looking for a stolen truck filled with supertoxic waste. The truck actually was ``stolen'' by its tow drivers--porky meth-head Shelby Pate and his Mexican sidekick, Abel Durazo, who lifted the boots while picking up drums of toxic waste at a naval station, took them to a fence in Tijuana, then pretended their truck was stolen while they ate lunch. The truck, however, gets sold to a Mexican pottery maker, who repaints uses it to deliver pots to San Diego. During all this, the waste drums still on the truck spill horrible Guthion over two kids, killing one of them. In their investigation, the three San Diego law folk wind up in weirdest Tijuana for some surreal surveillance duty--and have a punchy pair of drunk scenes that show Wambaugh at his cleverest in the sexy, gin-soaked Nick & Nora Department. Smart, crunchy dialogue--too topical, yes, but for now quite witty enough. (First printing of 300,000) -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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More About the Author
Joseph Wambaugh, a former LAPD detective sergeant, is the bestselling author of eighteen prior works of fiction and nonfiction, including The Choirboys and The Onion Field. Tim Rutten of the Los Angeles Times' said, "Joseph Wambaugh is one of those Los Angeles authors whose popular success always has overshadowed his importance as a writer. Wambaugh is an important writer not simply because he's ambitious and technically accomplished, but also because he 'owns' a critical slice of L.A.'s literary real estate: the Los Angeles Police Department -- not just its inner workings, but also its relationship to the city's political establishment and to its intricately enmeshed social classes. There is no other American metropolis whose civic history is so inextricably intertwined with the history of its police department. That alone would make Wambaugh's work significant, but the importance of his best fiction and nonfiction is amplified by his unequaled ability to capture the nuances of the LAPD's isolated and essentially Hobbesian tribal culture."
Understandably, then, Wambaugh, who lives in California, is known as the "cop-author" with emphasis on the former, since, according to him, most of his fantasies involve the arrest and prosecution of half of California's motorists. Wambaugh still prefers the company of police officers and interviews hundreds of them for story material. However, he is aghast that these days most of the young cops drink iced tea or light beer, both of which he finds exceedingly vile, causing him to obsessively fume with Hamlet that, 'The time is out of joint.' He expects to die in a road rage encounter. For more information please visit www.josephwambaugh.net or www.hollywoodmoon.com.
Understandably, then, Wambaugh, who lives in California, is known as the "cop-author" with emphasis on the former, since, according to him, most of his fantasies involve the arrest and prosecution of half of California's motorists. Wambaugh still prefers the company of police officers and interviews hundreds of them for story material. However, he is aghast that these days most of the young cops drink iced tea or light beer, both of which he finds exceedingly vile, causing him to obsessively fume with Hamlet that, 'The time is out of joint.' He expects to die in a road rage encounter. For more information please visit www.josephwambaugh.net or www.hollywoodmoon.com.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A lot can happen in a week........,
By
This review is from: Finnegan's Week (Mass Market Paperback)
With Finnegan's Week, Joseph Wambaugh has pulled together a very entertaining story. The book follows a week in the life of aging police detective -- and aspiring actor -- Finn Finnegan as he works through two apparently unrelated crimes. Finnegan's insecurities and quirks add spice to the story and mix well with the other characters. All in all, Wambough has created a story that, although not terribly complex, is enjoyable to go through.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Not Quite His Best,
By Seventh Son "Seventh Son" (Maryland) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Finnegan's Week (Paperback)
I purchased this book several years ago and finally got around to reading it this past week. It is an enjoyable read but not - in my opinion - one of Joseph Wambaugh's best. I was going to give it 3 stars but will upgrade to 4 because the book has a better ending than most of Wambaugh's books. Nothing bad happens to the main police characters. The best line in the book deals with Vietnamese restaurants.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A PEDAL-TO-THE-METAL ROMP,
This review is from: Finnegan's Week (Mass Market Paperback)
A wonderful, crazy, yet cruelly sane morality tale, written with preeminent wit and humor. Impossible to put down!
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