Joseph Wambaugh's Hollywood novels are getting less enjoyable as they go along. Hollywood Station was excellent, a fun and informative look at how the L.A.P.D. works, particularly the ridiculous rules and restrictions put on them by politically correct bureaucrats who value looking fair on paper above actually helping people. Hollywood Crows was good, but more of the same. Hollywood Moon, the third in the series, is a big step down and, while not a bad book, certainly a disappointment. This time, there are two over-arching villains: an identity theft ring run by a shrill computer expert and her failed actor husband, and a nineteen-year-old psychopath trying to be a serial rapist. Meanwhile, old and new faces from Hollywood Station go about their day-to-day policework. Spoilers follow...The biggest problem with Hollywood Moon is that the emphasis is taken off the police officers and put on the criminals. Entire chapters go by with no mention of the cops. Other times they show up for a page and a half at the end, while the other twenty were dedicated to the bad guys. The story could've been told without the police at all, actually. It's great to see Hollywood Nate Weiss and surfer partners Flotsam and Jetsam again, and I liked the new additions like Dana Vaughn, Nate's new partner, and the pairing of Aaron Sloane and Sheila Montez, but Wambaugh barely spends any time with them. Aaron and Sheila have a burgeoning romantic relationship that would've been interesting if it were given the proper time to develop. Instead, we know Aaron is attracted to her, then suddenly Sheila reveals that she reciprocates his feelings, they sleep together and they get engaged at the end. It's too rushed and, as a result, less impactful. There are also considerably fewer interludes where the cops respond to a strange call involving some weirdo that could only exist in Hollywood. That was part of the fun of the first two books. The cops and their stories are why we read these novels, but this time they're an afterthought.The book isn't a total wash, however, as the villains are kind of interesting. Eunice the identity thief and her idiot husband are entertaining in their way, as are their henchman-turned-tormentors, Tristan "Creole" Hawkins and "New" Jerzy Szarpowicz, the latter continuing the trend of destructive, unpredictable crystal meth tweakers in Wambaugh's series (he seems to have a real distaste for this particular drug and those who use it, and based on his descriptions of their lifestyles and actions, I don't blame him). Then there's Ruben Malcolm Rojas, a disturbed young man who has confused sexual feelings and attempts to take them out on overweight, middle-aged blonde women who wear too much makeup for his taste. And his "relationship" with fourteen-year-old Naomi Teller is very disturbing. When the two villain stories intersect, it's interesting trying to predict how it will turn out. But again, this all comes at the expense of the story we want to read. It feels almost as if Wambaugh had written a book about the criminals and decided to plug in Hollywood Nate and the others to make it a Hollywood novel. It comes off poorly. The way Hollywood Moon turned out was a real shame. The first two books I highly recommend, but this one, while still worth a read, comes up short. I hope Wambaugh re-shifts his priorities with the next books in the series (there are at least two more already published). I'm sure the Hollwood Station cops have plenty more stories to tell. This is the third in Wambaugh's "Hollywood Station" series, and is not up to the standards of the first two. The anecdotes, while amusing, seem to have fallen into the "you had to be there" category - roll on the floor funny for the people involved, but only amusing for everyone else. The major crime was an interesting case of identity theft gone wrong (with rape and murder thrown in for good measure), but took up too many pages of the book for to little payoff in the end. A pretty good book that simply falls a little short of the great work I am used to from Wambaugh.
What do You think about Hollywood Moon (2009)?
Second in the series that introduces an entire station of Wambaugh's creatively named cops.
—Alyssa
