Customer Reviews

Hollywood Moon: A Novel (Hollywood Station)

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I was a young boy when I became aware of Wambaugh...a downtown movie theatre poster for an R-rated New Centurions I could not see, if memory serves. I started reading him when I was in my 20's, which was during the 80's. I have read them all, and re-read most of them starting in the late 90's. So I know this guy's books.

I love the three Hollywood books he put out in the past 2 or 3 years. I was not expecting them and I was pleased at how good they are. The second one was better than the first and this, the third one, is really dynamite and the best of the three.

Sometimes the wit and wisecracks from various characters and the humorous statements made in plot exposition sound like they come from the same person (which they do of course...the author). But if I had to chose, I'd leave all of it in because it's not a big distraction, and trust me, there are some priceless LOL lines.

The story is a page turner and towards the end I could not put it down. If you have any reason to think you might like it (e.g. liked one of his books) you probably will. You don't have to read the others to get anything in this book; it stands alone. If you like cop stories and cop dialog and weird but believeable street charactors you will enjoy it.

For Mr. Wambaugh: I vote the Hollywood series continue! It's a winner and just gets better and better. "We're gravy, bro!"

"For you new people, a Hollywood moon is what the Oracle called a full moon, and tonight we're getting close. The team with the weirdest call gets an extra-large pizza with the works....of course, we'll share the pizza with the winners. Too much of that stuff is not healthy for you."

For the LAPD, it's the city streets that are not healthy. The officer known fondly as the Oracle has been "end of shift" for many years. It is now considered bad luck not to touch his picture when filing out of roll call. You won't catch the cops on the Middle Watch hitting the streets without indulging their superstition. No one knows better than they do that it takes more than training to keep them alive. A little luck can't hurt.

In this newest novel from former LAPD detective Joseph Wambaugh, fans will revisit some old familiar characters in new situations, along with fresh felons and a transplanted cop or two to spice things up. But, have no doubt, the streets of L.A. have gotten much uglier and filled with much bigger problems. The sheer amount of crime is overwhelming in the City of Angels.

One problem child, 19-year-old Malcolm Rojas, has serious problems with anger management. A very young teen named Naomi Teller has developing problems with an older boy named Clark Jones, also known as Malcolm Rojas. Identity thief Dewey Gleason has constant problems with Eunice, his wife of nine years. And his runners Tristan and New Jerzy have budding problems with Dewey and Eunice. It's a very tangled web.

But it's all nothing compared to the plethora of problems the Hollywood Division has. For days, you can ride along with "Hollywood" Nate Weiss and his partner as they try to catch what's shaping up to be a serial rapist. Or spend several shifts with Flotsam and Jetsam, so named because of their fondness for surfing. There's also Sheila Montez, with whom a whole host of the male cops want to be paired, or R.T. Dibney, with whom no one wants to be paired. And all the while, the entire division competes for the Hollywood moon prize. Since the prize hinges on weirdness, the stories that are told at the end of shift grow stranger and stranger.

Meanwhile, small-time scammer Dewey Gleason tries to make a go of his aspirations of becoming an actor by creating different personas when he deals with the various "aides" in his criminal enterprise. Dewey's acting is about as bad as his luck with women. His wife Eunice seems perpetually disgusted, enough so that Dewey fears she may kick his butt out onto the street, a scenario that absolutely terrifies him since he has no idea where she has hidden all their savings. Starting over at his age with his contacts --- or, rather, lack thereof --- scares the bravado right out of him. But, then, almost everything does.

There's a lot going on in HOLLYWOOD MOON, and the story is entertaining enough to wade through an overabundance of bizarre characters, cop jargon and street talk. Wambaugh fans, rejoice, for some of these police personnel will live to see another day and tell another story.

--- Reviewed by Kate Ayers

As the story begins the reader is re-introduced to numerous characters from earlier Wambaugh novels such as cops "Hollywood Nate"... surfer dude/cops "Flotsam and Jetsam"... and the late great "Oracle" who was a legend in his own time... and who is still revered by current cops... who superstitiously touch his framed photo as they leave the precinct to go out on duty. The "Oracle" in days gone by had termed a full moon... a "HOLLYWOOD MOON"... the night when the craziest arrests would be made. In loving memory... there is normally a free extra large pizza with the works presented to the team that comes in with the craziest arrest on a "HOLLYWOOD-MOON-NIGHT". It's normally a closely competed contest... since as they say in the Hollywood precinct... HEY! THIS IS FREAKIN HOLLYWOOD!

As the reader is bedazzled with the normal daily chit-chat and insanity that the cops take as common sense and logic... simultaneously multiple criminal characters are developed and the author deftly shifts the characters and the cops from foreground to background... and then with a literary synergy they all... good guys and bad guys... merge and overlap like rivers heading to the sea. There is Ruben Malcolm Rojas (aka Clark) a nineteen-year-old who lives with his drunken Mother... has eyes on a fourteen-year-old girl... gets upset and boils when his Mother pets his hair... and one of the ways he "relieves" himself is to attempt rapes on older women. He has a job in a store where he has become handy with a box cutter as he unpacks boxes all day. Then we have Dewey Gleason (aka Jakob Kessler aka Ambrose Willis aka Bernie Graham) who runs multiple crews of lowlifes heavily populated by "tweakers" and minorities... that specialize in stealing mail... forging checks... counterfeiting checks... phony real estate deals... and bogus ordering of products through multiple channels. Dewey's (aka see all aliases above) wife of nine-years Eunice (aka Ethel ) who believes she is the brains behind the operation (Dewey thinks he is) as she operates multiple computers... all for illegal criminal gain out of their apartment... while simultaneously smoking four packs of cigarettes a day. Since Eunice alone knows where their $500,000.00 - $1,000,000.00+ illicitly gained retirement nest egg is hidden... it adds another level of intrigue as their hate for each other grows... and Dewey dreams of killing her... but he is stuck with the enigma of how to find "his" money before he "offs" her.

If you're a Wambaugh fan you will be fed your usual non-stop diet of politically incorrect slurs as well as an absolutely hilarious conversation between Flotsam and Jetsam regarding Jetsam's surf date with a "hot" IHOP waitress that went awry... when it turns out every part of her body was artificially enhanced. Without giving this classic scene away... I'll just share with you Jetsam's summary to his partner: "MAYBE YOU JUST SHOULDN'T TRUST SOMEONE WHO WEARS RINGS ON HER INDEX FINGERS."

In the end... Wambaugh is able to compellingly bring all these diverse characters together in an entertaining crescendo... but HEY!... THIS IS FREAKIN HOLLYWOOD!

Ever since Joseph Wambaugh, a former LAPD detective sergeant, burst on the scene well over 30 years ago with a startling thriller, The New Centurions, this author has been keeping readers engrossed and entertained, which is putting it mildly. With Wambaugh's background his stories have an unparalleled gritty realism fueled by shotgun dialogue - he knows cop-speak, which fires every page. His characters are sharply etched making us either shiver or laugh.

Apparently, there's a saying in Hollywood that a full moon brings out the beast not the best in those who make that city their home. It's surely true in HOLLYWOOD MOON as we're introduced to some of the most off-the-wall loonies imaginable. Unimaginable, yes, but in Wambaugh's hand very real.

Trying to look after the city's good and dreadful are some of the most realistically drawn officers in print. There's Dana Vaughn, a super savvy, self-assured woman officer known for having "the smartest mouth at Hollywood Station." She's partnered with Hollywood Nate, a wannabe movie star who's yet to be discovered. Nate doesn't much care for Dana because "she snarked him about his vanity."

There's also another team known as Flotsam and Jetsam, surfer cops. What a pair! "Flotsam wore his two-inch hair gelled up in front like a baby cocka-too, and Jetsam's was semispiked, both coifs streaked with highlights not provided by sun."

Out in the city there's Jakob Kessler, a pudgy, stoop shouldered frightening German who has dispatched runners throughout the city to steal credit cards. He's making piles of money. Thing is he's not German, he's not stoop shouldered and he's not Jakob Kessler. He's Dewey Gleason, an expert at disguise. One thing he's not expert at is handling his non-stop smoking wife, Eunice, who orders him around like a trained poodle.

There's also young Marcus, a handsome , curly haired young fellow who's about to explode with rage. Stuck in a dead-end job, he detests his mother and all other females.

Wambaugh carries readers on a dangerous path filled with twists, turns, up hill, down hill, and around Hollywood as officers respond to calls and criminals ply their trades. The chases are merry, mordant and many in this third installment of Wambaugh's Hollywood series. Movies are never this good.

Enjoy!

- Gail Cooke

In a blurb on the cover, Stephen King refers to HOLLYWOOD MOON as "Joseph's Wambaugh's best yet." That's stretching things a bit; it's not as good as THE NEW CENTURIONS or THE CHOIRBOYS or even THE BLUE KNIGHTS, but it is the best of the "Hollywood" trio he's written since he's been back on the scene.

MOON is better than the other two in that, here, Wambaugh is more focused on the story; If there's a drawback to the two previous Hollywood novels, it's that they're too episodic. There's some of that here: Flotsam and Jetsam stop a driver who isn't wearing pants, or underwear. But, for the most part Wambaugh centers on conman Dewey Gleason and his wife, Eunice, who are into stealing credit cards, real estate frauds and a thousand other hustles. Dewey feels unappreciated, and Eunice keeps comparing him to her former husband who is doing fifteen years in the clink. Dewey employs two "runners," Tristan and Jerzy. Tristan is a whole lot smarter than most of Dewey's runners, and Jerzy is a homicidal psycho. The three soon team up against Eunice.

The "B" story involves Malcolm Rojas, a handsome teenager with mother issues. He's been attacking women with a box cutter, but he's also a candidate for one of Dewey's henchmen and Eunice becomes enamored of the curly-haired Malcolm.

Meanwhile, the boys and girls at Hollywood station are hot in pursuit. They're not as quirky as they have been in the past. Hollywood Nate is now thirty-seven and beginning to realize that his acting career is pretty much a pipe dream. Flotsam and Jetsam, the surfer dudes, act more like cops. In the process of following the Dewey story, we learn a lot about how crooks steal credit cards. They steal the mail for one thing, and they use something called a skimmer, attaching it to gas station pumps. If all of this is true, you ought to consider paying cash from now on.

Of course, Wambaugh also has the woman cop angle going on. One of the watch commanders, Sergeant Hermann, is a woman. We get an entire soliloquy from her when she explains the pitfalls women cops have to deal with. No fewer than three of the teams are male/female, and Dana Vaughn, Hollywood Nate's partner, plays a key role in the resolution.

HOLLYWOOD MOON may not be as good as THE NEW CENTURIONS, but it's instructive and entertaining, and it'll provide a chuckle or two during this downturn in the economy.

I've been a fan of Joseph Wambaugh's writing since I read his first book years ago. "Hollywood Moon" is the latest - and hopefully not the last - book in his "Hollywood" series. Wambaugh's novels are not police procedurals. There are plenty of great writers who write plot-driven procedurals. Wambaugh writes character-driven novels that happen to be about police officers and the people and situations they run into while on duty. (And sometimes off-duty, too). In "Hollywood Moon", Wambaugh brings back many of the cops we're familiar with from past "Hollywood" novels. We meet again "Flotsam" and "Jetsam", two surfer-dude cops who'd much rather be riding the waves that patrolling the streets of Hollywood. And, "Hollywood Nate", a late-30's good-looking cop - with a SAG card - who's trying and trying to get into acting. Wambaugh also introduces new cops, and, of course, a new crew of villains, who spend most of their time and energy trying to dupe the good citizens of Los Angeles out of money, using a variety of methods and schemes.

Like most Wambaugh novels, this one has a bittersweet ending. Because Wambaugh is such a good writer, most readers feel like his characters are "real" and we feel invested in their lives. The cops and the criminals and the hangers-on are all interesting.

Wambaugh's writing is not for everyone. He's "politically incorrect" to an amazing degree, so if you're easily offended, don't read his books. For those of us who like a little "incorrectness", he's a great read.

Some of the favorites from the earlier two "Hollywood" books are back -- the surfer cops (always good for a laugh) and Hollywood Nate. New characters joining the story are well rounded and add to the rich mix. I listened to this on audio and it was terrificly performed. Great job.

The story takes awhile to develop but it is entertaining nonetheless. Throughout the book there are several small little vignettes of LA police officers (Hollywood Nate, Dana, Flotsam, Jetsam, etc. are some of their names) responding to different calls. Each one of these little tales helps to paint a picture of the various personalities of each police officer. As the reader gets deeper into the book, you realize that there are two recurring plotlines in some of these tales the first involving a con man (Dewey) who is running various schemes with his wife (Eunice) and two of his main runners (Creole and Jerzy), the second involves a troubled teen (Malcom) who has a problem with his mother and his anger.



As the book unfolds, Malcom starts to get drawn into Dewey's schemes and Creole and Jerzy attempt to get the better of Dewey. We learn that Dewey is actually under the thumb of Eunice who may be "smarter" than them all. An overall fun book but not for those that are into tense police drama.

In Joseph Wambaugh's latest book in the Hollywood series, the plot gets tense. Dewey Gleason, a crook who spends his time stealing credit information and re-selling stolen goods, is good at alternating his disguises--until he hires Tristan and Jerzy who ultimately see him for what he is and consider blackmailing that later turns into kidnapping. However, the true mastermind of Dewey's dirty credit ventures is his much-hated, nicotine-addicted wife Eunice, who runs multiple computer operations right from their apartment.

The story gets further complicated when Dewey hires nineteen-year-old Malcolm Rojas, who secretly attacks women, as one of his "runners," and his wife Eunice ends up falling for him. At times comic and at times tragic, "Hollywood Moon" takes the readers right into the underbelly of L.A., where anything odd is blamed on the glamorous location.

Much of the book stays with the view-points of the cops--an actor-hopeful police officer known as "Hollywood" Nate and his mature older partner Dana Vaugn, surfer cops Jetsam and Flotsam, Aaron Sloane who's secretly in love with sassy partner Sheila Montez, and officer Mindy Ling stuck with a new womanizing partner who nobody works to work with.

Aside from the main plot, Wambaugh, a former LAPD cop and sergeant himself, describes the L.A. scene very well and frequently mixes in entertaining police episodes--an over-weight murderer slipping from the roof and falling smack down on a rookie cop, a dubious late-night party involving a Barbie doll, a woman at a Laundromat who refuses to put on her clothes, and etc.

I was occasionally reminded of the Police Academy movie franchise where a group of cops constantly gets into comic misadventures, sometimes missing the more serious crimes going on around them, though eventually managing to save the day.

I bought the audiobook version of Wambaugh's latest "Hollywood" series and I couldn't get enough of it. I even found myself looking for excuses to go out to the store or dry cleaners just so I could listen to the book in my car! The characters are eminently believable and you even end up liking a lot of the bad guys. His storytelling is superb and hooks you from the very beginning. I can't wait for the next Hollywood story to come out...I think these books are some of his absolute best writing.