[.ca] FINNEGAN'S WEEK (ISBN 0553763245)

One of Wambaugh's best, Fin is a winner.:
Wambaugh delivers as usual in this funny, exciting tale of an cop who_s an aspiring actor (and who_s facing midlife crises as only an actor wannabe can) while in the middle of investigating a truck theft that turns out to also involve a theft from a Naval warehouse as well as a load of missing toxic waste. His case brings him into contact with two tough and sexy Policewomen, each with her own private and professional agenda. Will Fin Finnegan (the cop-actor-hopeful) get the part he_s trying out for? Will he survive a week filled with too much booze, a murderous sociopath business owner, a druggy biker turned trucker, and two beautiful women who both seem as interested in him as they are in the case at hand? This is typical Wambaugh in that the horrors and sadness of the crimes and victims are not treated lightly, yet (like the good cops who frequent his novels) our only salvation from evil is to laugh at his sometimes mordant humor and wit. One of Wambaugh_s strengths is his ability to gradually make his characters sympathetic and likeable, sometimes even when they_re not the good guys. I rate this as one of Wambaugh_s best novels, and that_s saying something, since in my opinion he_s never written a bad one. I wish he would recover his muse and write some more fiction in the vein of this novel and FUGITIVE NIGHTS. It_s been a while since he_s come out with any novels. A shame, because no one else writes about police life in quite the same way. A five star rating for the humor, characters, and the suspense.

Who does Wambaugh think he is kidding?:
To a certain degree I can enjoy zany antics just as much as the next guy. And I am glad that Wambaugh at least tries to put some humor into his novels. But sometimes one has to wonder if he is trying to model his humor on (or is it after?) the Three Stooges. I enjoyed reading this novel, but I am not about to take it seriously. I wonder what would happen if Wambaugh ever co-authored a mystery novel with Patricia Cornwell in which one of his versions of a cop worked closely with Kate Scarpetta (in her current paranoid, very near nervious, and very mental, breakdown condition) in trying to solve an intriguing and highly invoved case.

Well done:
Wambaugh has a flair for scriptwriting equal to Quinton Tarantino at his best. He's brutal, sly, topical, sharp, intense and outrageous all at the same time. This novel can be a bit silly at times, but never does it become stale. "Finnegan's Week" should appeal to readers of a wide variety of tastes, and I'm surprised that Wambaugh doesn't have a larger following than he has. His plots weave in and out, and he always finds a unique way to bring it all together at the end. His razor-sharp wit sets him apart from the rest of the thriller writers out there. A great, fun read with a superior style.

Reads more like Elmore Leonard than the old Wambaugh.:
Much, much more fun than previous work. My wife and I both laughed out loud while reading Finnegan's Week. It's larger than life, but believable all the way. In our opinion, this is Wambaugh's best novel.

A PEDAL-TO-THE-METAL ROMP:
A wonderful, crazy, yet cruelly sane morality tale, written with preeminent wit and humor. Impossible to put down!