After a slow start, Wambaugh gets really fun with his usual cynicism mixed with humor style. Sgt. Valnikov, a world weary cop, has been paired with Natalie in the burglary squad and they wind up investigating the theft of a potential Westminster Show winner. (If you haven’t seen Best in Show, you must.)The interchanges between Natalie, who thinks Valnikov is just some dope addled cop, and Valnikov, who has his own worries, are priceless, not to mention the often quite funny, yet cynical stories embedded in the larger tale.For example, there’s the thief who decides to take down a floating crap game and rip off the players. He charges in with a double-barreled shotgun and immediately scares the crap out of everyone by shooting a round into the ceiling. That’s so exciting, he decide to fire off another round in the ceiling. Shortly thereafter, just after the crowd realizes what he’s done, he does too, i.e. that he just fired two rounds from a double-barreled shotgun. Just before they all beat the crap out of him. Or the Good Humor man breaking speed limits to get to the site of a jumper off a building so he can make a fortune selling ice cream to sooth the throats of all the bystanders yelling, “Jump, you chickenshit.” Or the time when eighteen cops in a barricade situation with a crazy guy behind the door realize they need to dowse the lights in the hallway. Unlike in the movies, when one shot would do, in real life, “adrenaline turns the arms to licorice” and the fusillade from all the cops completely missed the lights. Only a lampshade had a bullet hole. Valnikov suggests an alternate route. Sneaking along the wall, he unscrewed the light bulbs. Instant darkness.In spite of all the fun and love story, there’s an undercurrent of cynicism and horror, represented by Charlie Lightfoot and the rabbit nightmares. Not a great Wambaugh, but certainly a good read.
I can honestly say this is possibly one of the best books I've read. It's one of my favorites...Having said that, it isn't for everyone...It's actually pretty dark in parts, but also has some excellent humor...another book I found myself audibly giggling...I feel Joseph Wambaugh is probably one of my all-time favorite writers...Although I've only now read two of his books, I love his writing style...I'm a HUGE fan of in-depth character development and details and painting a picture with words...He is the king of these...At least with the two books of his that I've read.I absolutely love Andrushka Valnikov...At first he seems hopeless and just depressing and a bum...but by the end of the book, I absolutely was in love with him...And Joseph Wambaugh wove this subtly and perfectly as I believe he intended the reader to experience this along with Natalie Zimmerman...The revelation of the trigger of Valnikov's 'episodes' is one of the darker more disturbing things I've read in a book...However, this is the nature of law enforcement work and again, Joseph Wambaugh immerses the reader into that feeling and those experiences...I hated Philo Skinner, and I'm not quite sure if Wambaugh intended to name him with relativity to Valnikov's dreams or not, but I'm guessing yes...As the stainless steel and the surgical procedures and innocents...and Philo being a perverse lecher...I'm not sure what the deal was with Valnikov and Madeleine Whitfield...??? Ew.And something that I absolutely loved about this book was the way two, separate stories were being told in-parallel, and how the parallel lines crossed and all the characters became interwoven...amazing writing and what an imagination!I can't say enough about this book...I enjoyed it immensely.
What do You think about The Black Marble (1998)?
Only recently started to read this well-established author. I started with a fairly recent book and as usual, I am now going back and reading his books in chronological order.So far, the writing has been as solid as they come. A current author that comes to mind in the same genre is Michael Connelly. Wambaugh uses more cynicism and humor. His storytelling intertwines different stories and characters, a little bit like a TV show.Just finished Chapter 6 and IMHO it was brilliant. The characters are incredibly vivid and interesting. Can't wait to read on.
—Evyn Charles
