Hollywood Station

A Novel

By: Joseph Wambaugh

Narrated by: Adam Grupper

Length: 11 hrs and 54 mins

Publisher's summary

The Grand Master of the police procedural returns to the Los Angeles Police Department in a gripping new audiobook about life in one of the more sensational police forces.

They call him the Oracle. He's got 46 years under his belt and more hash marks than a football field. More importantly, he has a crew of cops to look out for on the streets of Hollywood. From his understaffed office at Hollywood Station, he keeps a close eye on his squad who spend their day in patrol cars, and their nights in the underbelly of a city that never sleeps. As they make their way from the drug dens to dirty street corners, a string of seemingly unrelated events lures the cops of Hollywood Station to their most startling case, reminding them that nothing is too horrific or extreme for Los Angeles.

In his long-awaited return to the LAPD, Joseph Wambaugh takes his listeners on a raucous ride through the streets of Los Angeles and into the heart of the LAPD, where no one's safe from the gritty city - especially the cops.

©2006 Joseph Wambaugh. All Rights Reserved (P)2006 Hachette Audio. All Rights Reserved.

Critic reviews

"Outstanding....The master proves that he can still deliver." (Publishers Weekly)
"A triumphant return....High-voltage suspense drives the tale, and as always, Wambaugh's characters, language, and war stories exude authenticity." (Booklist)

Brilliantly written!

Met all of my expectations and more. A true suspense-filled work from beginning to end. I didn't want to stop reading!

Good story but production needs work

The story and the reader were good.
The weird music in the middle of chapters needs to be removed because it was distracting

Loved the Humor

Excellent voice work, the characters were people I really got attached to. Looking forward to listening to the other books in the series. This book compared very well to Wambaugh's earlier works.

great cop story

great and well performed audiobook. you'll feel for these characters. Wambaugh is the master of police fiction .

Great Stuff

I had forgotten how much I enjoyed Wambaugh's ability to bring his characters to life. I typically don't like fiction, but his characters and stories seem based on real events and people and I actually feel like I am learning something along with enjoying the story.

A must read if you enjoy Crime Novels

Stories coming from Hollywood Station that will keep you entertained. I recommend this book as a can't miss and you will have zero regrets spending the time to listen.

Awesome

Very well written and will be reading more of his books in the future. Great book

2nd Best of Hollywood Series

What made the experience of listening to Hollywood Station the most enjoyable?

The geography of Southern California where I have always lived, the characters, and the insane life events that take place throughout the story. Also, a viable plot extends through the book. Also, you'll learn about the life police people lead and endure.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Olive Oil because she winds up the victor, in part because of her "floating through life" existence.

Which character – as performed by Adam Grupper – was your favorite?

Trombone Teddy, but really all of them. This narrator is the absolute best at doing characters. I actuall look for books based on his narration.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I mostly laughed but the story is punctuated with very disturbing moments.

Any additional comments?

Wambaugh wrote four books in this "Hollywood" series. By far I believe the best was Hollywood Moon. Second best was this book (1st in series) Hollywood Station. I listened to them all and enjoyed them all. Wambaugh had a common template for these books, each with a book-long plot, side stories of police work, "tweeker" characters, cop in trouble... In some cases, you will hear the same anecdotes in all books (Hollywood street characters like Spiderman and Pluto or The Hulk getting into fights in front of tourists.)

It's F-ing Hollywood - the matra of Hollywood Cops

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes, I have recommended to every person I know

Who was your favorite character and why?

The Oracle, he is like the old Sergeant from the TV series Hill Street Blues who always ended his briefings with "Let's be careful out there."

Have you listened to any of Adam Grupper’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No this was my first time and I loved it. he has this way of bringing the characters to life it was hard for me to stop listening - I also wanted to it to never end.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The whole book had scenes throughout that moved me - I wish the series would go on forever - I have heard each of the Hollywood stories at least 4 times and never get tired of them.

Great intro into the Wambaugh collection

The story was amusing, real, sad, and about covered everything. The narrator did a fantastic job with all of those dialects, I don't know what they should sound like so he had me. Great job.