As a fan of Wambaugh I have yet to find any of his works that I dont like. Have now read all of the Hollywood Station books (of course in the wrong order) and this is a good introduction to the series. It started out really introducing all the characters in the subsequents books so just filled in some of the character background holes that really never bothered me. Because the first part was getting to know the characters, to me, it moved very slowly. Once past the introductions and the story plot started to jell it picked up speed and I found it an enjoyable story.

Not his best work but a very enjoyable read. ( )

This book is about the night shift at the Hollywood Division of the Los Angeles Police Department, post-Rodney King, and some of the cases they encounter.

They are very understaffed. Crystal meth is the most popular drug on the street and crack heads working the tourist strip are a huge part of the work being done by the police. There is an array of interesting characters from the surfer dudes known as “Flotsom and Jetsom”, to aspiring actor Nate, who never misses an opportunity to talk about the movie business, and new single, mother Budgie Polk, who wants to be taken seriously, but finds herself the butt of lactating jokes.

The characters in the novel are colorful and memorable, both the police officers, the criminals, and the public. Some of the stories are entertaining and realistic enough. The novel was is quite graphic in both language and action. I felt like the book took a little time to get going, mostly because of the huge amount of characters, both police and criminal. Somewhere in the middle I started to become invested in the story and began to enjoy it.

Hollywood Station has a meandering plot but Wambaugh writes well and there are some really funny moments. This started out as a bizarre group of over-the-top characters, but it eventually turned into a mostly cohesive police procedural novel. ( )

I wasn't that impressed. ( )

couldn't get past the first 30 minutes or so -- too crude, too bloody. (Recommended by Peter Strick) ( )

Usually I really like Wambaugh. This one was just a little different and, while enjoyable as a fast read, didn't have his usual flair. It seems almost a bunch of vignettes barely strung together and it seemed an unusually dark view of the world (and I don't mind dark at all, usually.) ( )