Harbor Nocturne

By: Joseph Wambaugh

Narrated by: R.C. Bray

Length: 10 hrs and 36 mins

Publisher's summary

When Dinko Babich, a young longshoreman, delivers Lita Medina, a young Mexican dancer, from San Pedro Harbor to a Hollywood nightclub, their lives are forever changed. An unexpectedly tender and moving love story develops among the cops and criminals who occupy the harbor, and soon Dinko and Lita are caught up in terror and peril through no fault of their own.

Some LAPD characters from Wambaugh’s acclaimed “Hollywood Station” series are here: the surfer cops “Flotsam and Jetsam,” aspiring actor “Hollywood Nate” Weiss, and young Britney Small, along with new members of the midwatch, all gamely coping with the wackiness of Hollywood. It’s a tale only Wambaugh could have told, with his trademark dark humor and unflinching eye for detail.

©2012 Joseph Wambaugh. Recorded by arrangement with Mysterious Press, an imprint of Grove/Atlantic, Inc. (P)2012 HighBridge Company

Critic reviews

“Razor-edged dialogue punctuates the vignette-filled plot. Realistic criminals are well matched by Wambaugh’s equally authentic police.” ( Publishers Weekly, Starred Review)

“A very fast ride-along, enlivened by cop gallows humor, snarky street altercations, and an insistent pull to the dark side.” ( Booklist, Starred Review)

“The legendary Wambaugh’s newest is chock-full of his trademark cop talk and offbeat side vignettes.” ( Library Journal)

Some funny, some not so funny, not bad i guess

I found parts of this very funny, and then some pretty bland. It was like a good in-between book for when i couldn't find anything better. Just so-so.

This is a Hollywood Station novel.

What did you love best about Harbor Nocturne?

After initially thinking this was not in the Hollywood Station series, I was thrilled to realize that it was a continuation of the stories of the men and women I grew to love in Wambaugh's earlier novels. It was particularly nice to see what had happened to the surfer cops after the accident in the last book. I love all of these characters and was grateful for another chance to visit their world.

Any additional comments?

I felt that this reader did a great job, but I hate it when they change readers mid series.

Hollywood's Back, Baby!

What did you love best about Harbor Nocturne?

I've always loved the grit, humor and realism of the Hollywood Station stories by Joseph Wambaugh. But of the several audiobooks I've listened to of Wambaugh's work, narrator R.C. Bray definitely got it.

What did you like best about this story?

How true to human emotions it is; especially the use of humor. Humor helps aid in everything from sadness to loneliness to pure elation (obviously!). And Joseph Wambaugh is a natural master at it. The politically incorrect banter between the cops is incredibly refreshing. Nice to see that people aren't afraid to 'cross the lines' because they know that it's all in good fun and embracing our differences as well as our respective stereotypes - can be exhilaratingly hilarious and freeing.

What does R. C. Bray bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

His tongue-in-cheek take definitely created a different vision of the Hollywood Station books for me. It's hard to bring a character to life more than Joseph Wambaugh, but R.C. Bray definitely held his own - he fleshed them out nicely. The accents were great too!!!

This is one of my things that borders on a pet peeve but it'd be great if there was some consistency in the narrator for the 'Station' books. Not knocking the others by any means, but if I had my say I'd nominate R.C. Bray!

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes - but having a full time job, and a family... kinda put the kaibash on that! HA!

Any additional comments?

A truly great listen - enjoy!!!

Great story, wonderful characters

Would you try another book from Joseph Waumbaugh and/or R. C. Bray?

If R.C.Bray is reading it, I'll buy the print version gladly.

What didn’t you like about R. C. Bray’s performance?

He does a terrible job on Flotsum and Jetsum's voices. Listeners familiar with previous audio books about Hollywood Division will be disappointed. I am. The opening is rocky and uncertain. Hollywood Nate sounds overdone and smarmy like a bad toothpaste commercial announcer.

An entry in the Hollywood Station gang.

This is another in the Hollywood Station series, which I find heart-warming and funny, especially the police dark humor. In this one, which is more of a love story than usual, Dinko, doing a friend a favor, takes Lita Medina to her home from a Hollywood nightclub where she is working. He finds that Lita, a young Mexican girl, is one of the young women tricked into coming to the U.S. for a new life but instead finds herself enslaved to a pimp, entrapped because he paid her fee to the “coyote” for bringing her out of Mexico, and because her English isn’t great, and she knows no one there. In order to “pay off this debt” she has to work as a prostitute for her “handler.” The trouble begins when a Korean mob boss loses 13 illegal aliens who were being smuggled into the U.S. in a shipping container. The Korean realizes he has lost a large investment and looks for someone to blame. In the meantime, Daisy, who is a sister to one of the refugees coming over, is so horrified by all of those people dying in the container, that she leaves and tells her roommates that she is going to the police. Lita is one of those roommates. When Lita finds out that Daisy is dead, she flees to the only person she has met in America not part of this mob group-Dinko. He takes her in, and they fall in love. Dinko is attempting to alleviate the danger Lita is in by knowing that Daisy was going to the police. In the meantime, the comic relief is provided by the surfer dudes. One of them, who lost a foot in the previous book but retained his place in the police force because his artificial foot works so well that people mostly don’t know he has it, are picked by a vice cop supervisor to run a sting on a Russian who has a strange fixation on people with artificial limbs. The idea of the surfer dudes working under cover is fairly hysterical, and Wambaugh makes us laugh out loud with this story. Eventually the two stories connect as relating to the smuggled refugees killed in the shipping container. A very good edition to the series.

Corny and a good listen

Ignore the bad reviews. This is a low tech, fun listen. A little suspense, a little humor. Summer reading.

Wambaugh

If there is another writer, who displays the gallows humor and insanity of the street cop life better than Joe Wambaugh, I'd like to know who it is.

Hollywood Division Rides Again!

The guys and gals of Hollywood Division are back and then some! Like the others in this series, Harbor Nocturne does not disappoint. Wambaugh's crazy characters abound as usual, but this installment has a good strong storyline, as well. Plenty of humor, action, tragedy, and even love. Well worth your time, but just be careful where you're listening, people might wonder what your constantly changing facial expressions are all about!

Walbaugh and Bray perfectly paired!

This wasn’t my first introduction. I was happy when i realized that some of our favorite police officers from the “Hollywood Station” series are featured. Author Joseph Wambaugh zigzags his way through his subplots at a perfect pace; “Harbor Nocturne” grabbed my attention and never let go. As always, narrator R.C. Bray goes above and beyond with his precise vocal skills. There are ruthless “bad guys,” however, I enjoyed some giggles along the way which, of course, I expected. Well done, indeed! Worth a credit, however, I was thrilled to have found it in the Audible Plus catalogue at no charge. An awesome thank you to Wambaugh and Bray, as well as Audible for bringing this enthralling thriller to the forefront. I look forward to more from this talented duo.

👏✍️🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟👏✍️

I liked it.

His stories are all about Hollywood and vicinity and they are real.. You can go there and see the people he is writing about.. Since the LA Police have changed since the riots and
Rodney King, so have his characters. I have been reading his books since theri beginning
and I continue to await his next book.