Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly
Wambaugh ( Fugitive Nights ) is at the top of his form here and probably destined for another visit to the bestseller lists. His cop characters are marvelous as usual, deftly characterized in dialogue, attitude (much of it political this time, as the setting is last year's presidential election) and behavior. Even tertiary characters, whether good guys or bad, are skillfully drawn. The villain of the piece is Jules Temple, the son of a wealthy lawyer who takes up the toxic waste business after being disinherited. In Mexico, two of Temple's truck drivers dump a shipment of a lethal pesticide and then decide to rob the Navy base where they were supposed to make a pickup. This brings matters to the attention of an unlikely threesome: Nell Salter, a DA Investigator into environmental crimes; Bobbie Ann Doggett, a young Navy command investigator; and Finbar Finnegan, a San Diego police detective who'd rather be an actor. The women, each in her own way, almost make Fin forget the thrice-married misery of his past. It's a raunchy and often hilarious tale as Fin, Nell and Bobbie Ann try to sort things out until justice is finally served up in a most fitting manner. 300,000 first printing; major ad/promo; BOMC alternate; author tour. (Oct.)
School Library Journal
YA-The owner of a waste-hauling firm shaves costs by mislabeling drums of highly toxic pesticide and dumping them illegally. When two deaths result, Fin Finnegan teams up with civilian and Navy investigators to solve the series of related crimes. Wambaugh fans expect a fast-paced plot, gritty and colorful characters, sex, rough language, and bloody fights. They'll find it all here, plus a subtly woven environmental message.-Judy Sokoll, Fairfax County Public Library, VA
Kirkus Reviews
After a so-so show in Fugitive Nights (1991), Wambaugh returns nearly in top form with a very funny suspenser about toxic waste. Finbar Finnegan, a San Diego police detective and sometime actor, has a midlife crisis at 45, his existence having been dominated by three sisters while growing up and by three ex-wives as an adult. His theme song is "Someone to Watch Over Me"—he needs a mommy/wife, has sworn off marriage, but finds himself tied ticklingly to two female detectives at once, both of whom see him as romantically interesting despite immense shortcomings: happy, cheerful, pistol-packing Petty Officer "Ba-a-d Dog" Bobbie Ann Doggett, 28, an investigator for the Navy who's looking for 2,000 boots hijacked from a warehouse; and District Attorney's Investigator Nell Salter, 43, once divorced, and looking for a stolen truck filled with supertoxic waste. The truck actually was "stolen" by its tow drivers—porky meth-head Shelby Pate and his Mexican sidekick, Abel Durazo, who lifted the boots while picking up drums of toxic waste at a naval station, took them to a fence in Tijuana, then pretended their truck was stolen while they ate lunch. The truck, however, gets sold to a Mexican pottery maker, who repaints uses it to deliver pots to San Diego. During all this, the waste drums still on the truck spill horrible Guthion over two kids, killing one of them. In their investigation, the three San Diego law folk wind up in weirdest Tijuana for some surreal surveillance duty—and have a punchy pair of drunk scenes that show Wambaugh at his cleverest in the sexy, gin-soaked Nick & Nora Department. Smart, crunchy dialogue—too topical, yes, but for now quite witty enough.(First printing of 300,000)
