Book cover of The Choirboys

Book description

The classic novel of the LA Police

They are the Choirboys - the patrol squad of the LA Police attempting to stay sane in an insane world.

The Choirboys are five sets of partners on the night-watch, all men of varying temperaments and backgrounds, but they are joined together by…

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Why read it?

1 author picked The Choirboys as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

I first read Wambaugh long before I was a police detective and, truth to be told, linking policing to crime writing left my mind for many years.

What drew me to Wambaugh and to this book in particular is the way in which the characters are gritty and flawed. Unlike the Larger-Than-Life characters that were the norm back in the day, Spermwhale Wallen, Calvin Potts, and the rest of the night watch platoon are damaged souls.

The Choirboys is an excellent (fictionalized) account of how the daily trauma of police work can impact a person. 

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Book cover of December on 5C4

December on 5C4 by Adam Strassberg,

Magical realism meets the magic of Christmas in this mix of Jewish, New Testament, and Santa stories–all reenacted in an urban psychiatric hospital!

On locked ward 5C4, Josh, a patient with many similarities to Jesus, is hospitalized concurrently with Nick, a patient with many similarities to Santa. The two argue…

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