The Golden Orange

I've finished my third Joseph Wambaugh book in the last couple of months. The Golden Orange was published in 1990 and was the first publication at the time for Wambaugh in five years.

"When forty-year-old cop Winnie Farlowe lost his shield, he lost the only protection he had. Ever since, he's been fighting a bad back, fighting the bottle, fighting his conscience. But now he's in for a special fight. Never before has he come up against anyone like Tess Binder. She's a stunningly beautiful, sexually spirited three-time divorcee from Newport Beach-capital of California's Golden Orange, where wallets are fat, bikinis are skimpy, and cosmetic surgery is one sure way to a billionaire's bank account. Nearly a year ago Tess Binder's father washed up on the beach with a bullet in his ear. The coroner called it suicide, but to Tess it means the fear of her own fate. And Winnie Farlowe is a man willing to follow wherever she leads-straight into the juicy pulp of the Golden Orange, a world where money is everything, but nothing adds up . . . where death and chicanery flourish amidst ranches, mansions, and yachting parties. In his long-awaited new novel, best-selling author Joseph Wambaugh combines harrowing suspense, scathing humor, and a moving portrait of a man on the brink of self-destruction."

The novel was far better than "Fugitive Nights" but not nearly as good as "The Choirboys," the previous two books of Wambaugh's that I've read. The novel has all the great, dark humor I've come to expect from Wambaugh, as well as an intriguing story that had me scratching my head up to the final revelation near the end.

Recommended. As much as I've enjoyed the three books by Wambaugh, it's time to take a break from his writing. Any suggestions out there on good fiction or non-fiction books or any good book blogs I should be following?