Few are better equipped to write about the legendary Los Angeles Police Department than Joseph Wambaugh, the son of a Pittsburgh police officer, who served with the LAPD for fourteen years. He had been with them for over a decade when he published his first novel, The New Centurions, in 1971. His first non-fiction book, The Onion Field, appeared in 1974 and was hugely successful, winning him the first of two Edgar Awards. Having retired from the force,  Wambaugh became a full-time writer, producing several highly successful novels, most of them adorned with a powerful and extremely dark humor, often employed as a counterpoint to the accounts of various crimes.

Although the setting of the sun-kissed southern California landscape is a crowded field, Wambaugh's depiction of the corruption and moral decay rampant in this idyllic haven deserves special mention. With their marked absence of media-savvy top brass, distinguished district attorneys and wisecracking detectives, the novels present a convincing portrayal of hard-working police officers. In the melting pot that is LA, with its black, white, Asian and Hispanic legions, the only color that matters is the blue-black hue of the uniform, a detail that's paramount in all of Wambaugh's books.

Often cited as his finest novel and filmed in 1977, The Choirboys was written after its author had read and been influenced by Joseph Heller's Catch-22. Published after Wambaugh had left the force, it begins with a simple statement about a killing in MacArthur Park. Offering a tautly written story of ten regular, hard-working cops, who meet in the park when they are off duty for 'choir practice', a stress-relieving pastime that includes swapping stories, drinking and indulging in acts of violence, Wambaugh tells each cop's tale, masterfully drawing in the reader as he gradually reveals the details that lead back to the killing.

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