Harbor Nocturne by Joseph Wambaugh

In his series of cop stories (Hollywood Hills, Hollywood Moon, etc.) Joseph Wambaugh shows the colorful side of life in Hollywood, both the good and the bad.Which has made for some entertaining reads. But in his latest tome, Harbor Nocturne, he mostly focuses on the bad--domestic violence, strip clubs, weird fetishes, alcoholic homeless people. It's all really kind of a downer. The one bright spot is an unconventional love story between an exotic dancer and a burned-out longshoreman. But it's not enough to lighten the much too dark tone of this book. I've enjoyed the rest of this series but can't really recommend Harbor Nocturne. I hope J.W. brings back a little more of the wacky humor from the earlier books to offset the dark side of life in Hollywood.