Vol. 40, No. 1
Summer 2010

BOOK TALK

(Book talk is presented by Reader Advisor Henry Hayden and is a review of a featured book. Comments and suggestions are invited either through email or by calling 602-255-5578.)

About this time of the year, your "book talk" provider begins tiring of the Arizona heat and starts dreaming of his roots in Southern California. Even the stressful area of my birth, Los Angeles, seems better than the blazing Arizona sun. Dealing with our current economy, I needed an escape that wouldn't cost me a cent and might make me feel cooler. What could be better, cheaper, and more entertaining than an exciting L.A. mystery novel on a free digital or cassette book from the Arizona State Braille and Talking Book Library in front of an air conditioning unit??!!! With this in mind and remembering my many sojourns to - what many outsiders call - "The Weird Town", I strongly recommend "Hollywood Station" by Joseph Wambaugh. ( Warning- this non-stop action thriller does contain extreme frank language.)

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"Hollywood Station"
By Joseph Wambaugh
RC/BARD 065317
Narrated by Adam Grupper
On three cassettes 11 hours 51 minutes.

Plot Summary

The reader is immediately entertained with an L.A. Police car patrol prowl on the Hollywood strip. Here, police rookies (right out of the academy) have to deal with addicts, crazies, and gangbangers. With non-stop action, you witness high-speed auto chases, a jewelry-store robbery that leads to the Russian Mafia, a murder-suicide near Hollywood's famous "Grauman's Chinese Theatre", a police horse patrol on the "Sidewalk of the Stars" that goes terribly wrong, and a racial profiling investigation. This novel shines above the rest in character development, dark humor, social satire, current Los Angeles politics, and action you won't forget!

Reader's Analysis

Joseph Wambaugh in "Hollywood Station" is at his absolute best!! From U.S.C. dropout surfing cops, meth freaks, and homeless street performers - you witness some of the best character development I've ever read. The author provides a fascinating look at not only Hollywood/ Los Angeles culture but also its ever volatile social and political climate. I guarantee this thriller will provide non-stop entertainment, characters and settings you won't forget, and may even provide relief from Arizona's heat!!