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)

great fun

I've been a Wambaugh fan since the 80s & have read almost all his books. I'm very glad he's back & I'll be reading the rest of the Hollywood Station series.

Wonderful and Funny and Sad!

I had never listened to this author before.
The BOOK was fantastic! The Characters were WONDERFUL! I just kept thinking this would be a great TV series BUT it is a GREAT Book. I am going to look for more by this author. I would listen to this over and over again. Real lives and real crime drama.

Fun read, or should I say lisen..

Enjoyed myself and felt his charactors were well developed. He gets me laughing and thinking all at the same time. Thanks Joe, do it again, please....

Really enjoyed this

I blew through this pretty fast as the stories kept me curious and engaged. I’ll be checking out more of the author’s other publications. Loved the humor.

the richness od the characters. The Russian& Ukrainian accents and idioms.

One of my favs by wambau. the Hollywood drama; the dreams and scams! incredible 😲

No Rising Action...?

This story is odd. The characters are well developed and the performance is excellent, but there is no rising action. I am six hours into a 12 hour book, and there’s no tension, no building action, nothing that I’m “worried about.” It’s as if this book is just telling me about the daily life of these officers. There’s no hook to keep me interested. I am so frustrated with this plot – – or lack thereof. What is it that is supposed to keep me listening? Just my interest in the daily life of these officers? It’s like I’m reading a dairy...? Augh. I don’t know if I’m going to be able to finish this. So disappointing.
Sandy Halbrook

Too Many Racial Slurs

and an overabundance of sexist comments such as, "nipples so large they had their own suitcases"
Too dated for anyone younger than Rodney Dangerfield.

The foul language ruined it

Hard to listen to. The F-bomb was so frequent, it was distracting. Might have been a decent book, but the foul language was overkill.

garbage

what a waste of time. just the ID spewing words with zero meaningful story. a waste of time & $$

Terrible. Shocked by how bad this book is.

I can't believe how bad this is. The narration is terrible but, in fairness, he doesn't have much to work with. Anytime the surfer cops are involved it is painful to listen to. If you want an LA police story, I suggest you stick with one of Michael Connelly's fabulous books.