3rd in the series of Wambaugh's stories about the cops of Hollywood Station.

By CURT SCHLEIER, Special to the Star Tribune.

Review : Wambaugh's practical outline of what cops do and how they work sets his crime books apart. And his books about the cops of Hollywood Station are among his best. The 1st is that law enforcement officials are human. They do not solve crimes in 42 mins ( and commercials ) ; they haven't any super powers. The second is that bad guys are generally dumb.

When Wambaugh mixes cops and thieves, the results are delightful in an easy-reading, I am going to finish this quicker than a law-breaker running from a wild K-9 way. But they also are considerate in that he makes clear that cops take the job for over the cash. They're dedicated and are prepared to give -- and often do give -- their lives. Wambaugh's The New Centurions, broadcast in 1971, revolutionized police procedurals. He did on behalf of beat cops what Evan Hunter / Ed McBain's 87th Precinct police procedurals did for investigators ; he wrote fiction that read and felt like nonfiction. Hollywood Moon is the 3rd of Wambaugh's novels about the cops of Hollywood Station, and in making this a series ( a la Hunter / McBain ), the books become superior to the majority of his prior fiction. And we get straight away and closely concerned in their lives from page one. The 4 at the centre of this story are Hollywood Nate Weiss, so called because he has got a Screen Actors Guild card, his stunning partner Dana Vaughn, and the 2 surfer cops known as Flotsam and Jetsam. All of them take what they do seriously, but their experiences on the job have given them a good sense of the ludicrous. They become involved with a crew of low-tech ID thieves and Malcolm Rojas, a upset young man with mommy issues who takes his resentment out on random girls. The identity burglars are run by an abortive actor, Dewey Gleason, and his domineering other half, Eunice. Eunice is the brains of the operation and keeps Dewey on an exceedingly short leash. To escape from her, Dewey hatches a project with 2 of his personnel to kidnap Eunice and require her to bare where she hides their cash. But nothing works out the way it's planned, particularly when Rojas gets concerned. But that only adds gravitas to a novel that already brims with life. Curt Schleier is a book reviewer in New Jersey.