Fugitive Nights

Rating:
Summary: Typical Wambaugh; and that's a good thing
Review: After my career as a street cop in a big city I can tell you that Wambaugh is right on target with his characters. Wambaugh's characters are not what Jack Webb would have approved, but most match people all cops come across after a few decades of street experience. His plots are entertaining with the end product being a book that I cannot set down until the last page is turned.

Rating:
Summary: Compelling, fun read deserves better rating.
Review: Lynn Cutter wants only to drink away the days in gorgeous Palm Springs while waiting on the possible arrival of his hoped for disability pension check. When smart, tough, sexy ex-cop turned P.I. Breda Burrows enlists his assistance for a case that she's working on, he agrees to help, against his better judgment. At first the case seems simple enough, socialite Rhonda Devon wants to know why her older husband has been to a sperm bank without her knowledge. Breda figures she can do surveillance on hubby while Lynn uses his police badge to ask some questions and open some doors for her. However, when Devon's husband is spotted meeting a mysterious man who's previously attacked a cop at an airport, then the focus of their case becomes as much about this mysterious "fugitive" as it is about wandering husbands and spousal secrets. Enter a young cop who is way too gung ho for his and everyone else's good, and you have the makings of a typical Wambaugh at his best story. Humor, laced with deadly violence, a mystery that's not exactly what it seems, and characters that grow on you in spite of (or perhaps because of) their faults and foibles.

All of Wambaugh's works tend to be both tragic and funny at the same time, and this one is no exception. However I would rate it as one of his better comic mysteries, using comedy in the old Greek sense of the opposite of tragedy. To tell more would spoil the ending of the book, but I would actually place this book with his less tragic works, such as FINNEGAN'S WEEK, or THE DELTA STAR, and less so with his more tragic tales, like THE SECRETS OF HARRY BRIGHT. Since I'm one of those who enjoys Wambaugh when he's not as much in the dark side of life, this is one of my favorites. Experienced Wambaugh readers should know what I'm talking about here, but I would easily recommend this book to anyone who likes a good mystery, be they long time Wambaugh fans or not. A five-star rating for suspense, a compelling story, sympathetic characters, and a fun read.

Rating:
Summary: Was the author as drunk as the main character?
Review: Sure, the plot lines are more than a little strange, and I do not mean strange in a good way, but has no one else noticed how unbelievably CLUMSY this book is? I kept reading because one of the plot lines (the more serious one--with the bald fugitive) dragged me along. But it was doggone hard to deal with the style. Maybe I should say lack of style, unless a surfeit of exclamation points counts as "style." I've read Wambaugh's nonfiction in the past, and I've never found it to be particularly ineptly written. Maybe I stumbled on books he spent some time polishing, I dunno. But this book is a wreck. There isn't a graceful descriptive sentence in it, and the dialogue is almost unbearable. Even if it had been well-written, it would be pretty hard to enjoy a book where the dog is the only truly appealing character.

Rating:
Summary: Don't waste your time on this one.
Review: This is an exemplary example of NOT judging a book by it's cover. The back of the book insist this is "a hilarious and chilling.......playground for the rich, ...brilliantly suspenseful.."ad nauseum. First I couldn't keep the characters straight because one of the protagonists was a detective named Lynn Cutter. I thought it was a female, which threw me really off track when MR. Cutter gives private investigator Breda Burrows a long look at her blue eyes and long legs. MR. Cutter is a policeman, but one who is hoping he will get into no more trouble until his pension comes through in a matter of months. Along stumbles (literally) Ms. Breda Burrows, a strong woman, but desperately in need of someone with a badge to help her solve the mystery of a rich woman who believes her husband is philandering by giving sperm to a sperm bank. My sympathies and sense of humor lie with Mr. Cutter, who is really a very funny character and brings life into this incredibly boring story. As Breda's guide they must wander through the glazed world of Palm Springs, where they will encounter oddities that don't fit, bodies that shouldn't be dead and loads of money. This book is not captivating enough, even with Mr. Cutter as a lively character to warrant one star.

Rating:
Summary: Don't waste your time on this one.
Review: This is an exemplary example of NOT judging a book by it's cover. The back of the book insist this is "a hilarious and chilling.......playground for the rich, ...brilliantly suspenseful.."ad nauseum. First I couldn't keep the characters straight because one of the protagonists was a detective named Lynn Cutter. I thought it was a female, which threw me really off track when MR. Cutter gives private investigator Breda Burrows a long look at her blue eyes and long legs. MR. Cutter is a policeman, but one who is hoping he will get into no more trouble until his pension comes through in a matter of months. Along stumbles (literally) Ms. Breda Burrows, a strong woman, but desperately in need of someone with a badge to help her solve the mystery of a rich woman who believes her husband is philandering by giving sperm to a sperm bank. My sympathies and sense of humor lie with Mr. Cutter, who is really a very funny character and brings life into this incredibly boring story. As Breda's guide they must wander through the glazed world of Palm Springs, where they will encounter oddities that don't fit, bodies that shouldn't be dead and loads of money. This book is not captivating enough, even with Mr. Cutter as a lively character to warrant one star.

Rating:
Summary: Nice try, but, again, no cigar.
Review: Though apparently ignored by critics in favour of many shallower and more pretentious "serious" authors, Joseph Wambaugh stands out as one of the few novelists today who deals with serious themes and describes reality as many of us know it. Much of the activity in his work may sound farcical, and the characters and language coarse, yet the underlying theme is always profound, even disturbing. Wambaugh des not hesitate to project (subtly, and disguised by a hardshell worldwiseness) a strong sense of morality and responsibility. This man is not afraid to take a stand on what ultimately he believes is right and wrong - nor, albeit reluctantly, like Luther at Worms, do his characters. They confront realities that most of the rest of us don't even want to acknowledge exist and they do necessary and unpleasant jobs with decency, courage and humour. "Fugitive Nights" reflects some of these themes, but less so than in earlier classics like "The Choirboys" and the unbearably poignant "Glitter Dome". It's nevertheless worth reading - and very entertaining - but could have been better. Don't despair however - "Finnegan's Week" sees Wambaugh back on form.