Product Description

Who else but Joseph Wambaugh could write "a joy, a hoot, a riot of a book" that is also acclaimed as "one of this season's best crime novels"? That's how
The New York Times Book Review and Time, respectively, described his last novel, Finnegan's Week. Nobody writes a faster, funnier, more satisfying tale of cops and criminals, the high life and lowlifes that Wambaugh--and Floaters is his sharpest yet.

Mick Fortney and his partner Leeds manage to cruise above the standard police stress-pools of coffee and Pepto-Bismol--they're water cops in the "Club Harbor Unit," manning a patrol boat on San Diego's Mission Bay. A typically rough day's detail consists of scoping out body-sculpted beauties on pleasure craft, rescuing boating bozos who've run aground, jeering at lifeguards, and hauling in the occasional floater who comes to the surface.

But now their days are anything but typical, because the America's Cup international sailing regattas have come to town and suddenly San Diego is swarming with yacht crazies of every nationality, the cuppies who want to love them, and the looky-look tourists, racing spies, scam artists, and hookers who all want their piece of the action. It's the outstanding body and jaunty smile--full of mischief, full of hell--of one cuppie, a particularly fiery redhead named Blaze, that gets Leeds and Fortney's attention. First Leeds drowns in frustratingly unrequited boozy love from afar. Then, with her increasingly odd behavior, Blaze tweaks every one of their cop instincts, alerting them that something's not quite right on the waterfront.

Indeed, Blaze will soon lead Detective Anne Zorn and Mick Fortney along a bizarre criminal trail that would be hilarious if it didn't wind up just as nasty as it gets, with a pair of murders right on the eve of the biggest sailing race of all.

Filled with all of Joseph Wambaugh's trademark skills--laugh-out-loud writing, crackling dialogue, outrageous excitement, and, of course, plenty of raunchy
veteran cops who leap off the page--Floaters is Wambaugh at the very to of his form.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #303477 in Books
• Published on: 1997-03-03
• Released on: 1997-03-03
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 304 pages

From Publishers Weekly
A plot to sabotage New Zealand's entry in the America's Cup regatta forms the premise for Wambaugh's latest police thriller, a slow-moving affair that nonetheless features the author's usual rough-and-tumble prose as well as an intriguing examination of both aquatic police work and the world of competitive yachting. The prime conspirator is Ambrose Lutterworth, the "Keeper of the Cup," an aging real estate agent and yachting enthusiast. Ambrose hopes to prevent the trophy from leaving its temporary home at the San Diego Yacht Club by using expensive call girl Blaze Duvall to coerce the city's harbor crane operator into damaging the powerful New Zealand boat in dry dock, ensuring an American victory. Blaze's conspicuous trail is picked up by a pair of harbor cops, Fortney and Leeds, who receive some vital assistance from a couple of vice cops. Wambaugh takes too long to develop Lutterworth's unimaginative scheme and to link an eventual murder to the posh world of the America's Cup. The sparks fly, however, when the sabotage plan unravels and an attempted blackmail results in another murder. The author's trademark sardonic writing is in full force here, and the police material is, as always, authentic, with the harbor cops' antics particularly entertaining. This may not be Wambaugh's high water mark, but it's not his low tide, either.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
In Wambaugh's (The Golden Orange, Morrow, 1992) latest, San Diego cops investigate murder during the America's Cup.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From AudioFile
Ron McLarty displays impressive versatility in this story about an upcoming America's Cup race. The San Diego setting makes this a rollicking thriller, with McLarty complementing the material and bringing all the characters fully to life. M.A.M. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine

Customer Reviews

Not exactly typical
Being a fan of The Glitter Dome, Delta Star and his other works I was expecting a typical Wambaugh. This one wasn't. It struck me more as an Elmore Leonard with Wambaugh humor in it.

It was funny. It did make me laugh out loud causing stares for it seems America needs to get a good sense of humor. I would have been asking the title something like the woman in the Restaurant scene in Harry and Sally.

The plot revolves around saving the Americas Cup for the USA and the people that play a part in the crime and the people that effect the efforts of the police and the crime. The view switches between the leads. The cup itself is the main character not any one person. This can lead to thinking it is a slow plot or confusing. The talk of the cup and the racers reaches a point of boredom but Wambaugh himself writes into the book that no one else cares about this stuff just when you are about to say "Give the cup away."

Not your typical Wambaugh.

wambaugh's scriptwriting is flawless
This is my second experience reading Wambaugh, the first being "The Golden Orange". Wambaugh's strength lies in his sharp, cynical, sarcastic and blackly humerous use of language. I laughed out loud at his witty and dark brand of humor. His command of the English language and cynical look at Americana seen through the eyes of cops and robbers is worth the price of admission alone. This novel works mostly through his style, and the plot is greatly enhanced through his wordplay. I learned more about Americas Cup racing than I ever wanted to know, yet was never bored throughout "Floaters". A lesser writer might not have been able to make such a plot work, since the finale is laced with coincedence and irony, yet Wambaugh's style more than makes up for any potentially lame plot twists. This is not to say that the plot is poor or predictable; it's neither. But the fact is that few writers would be able to pull off such a tale.

A FINE, FUN READ.
Snappily written, fast paced and witty. Joseph Wambaugh is funny and ceaselessly inventive.