Joseph Wambaugh – författare

Hollywood is not all movies, fame and fortune, its underside is dirty, drugged up and criminal with a capital C. Under the watchful eye of their veteran sergeant, known as the Oracle, the men and women of the LAPD working out of Hollywood Station are the ones on the front line.The Hollywood Station squad are as different as the streets that they police - Budgie Polk is a 27-year-old firecracker who is begrudgingly teamed with Fausto Gamboa, the oldest, tetchiest patrol officer. Andi McCrea is a single mom, Wesley Drubb a university drop-out desperateto see some action. Flotsam and Jetsam are two aptly named surfer boys who pine for the petite - but intrepid - Mag Takara. Together they spend their days and nights in the city''s underbelly, where a string of seemingly unrelated events lure them to their most startling case yet.

The cops of Hollywood Station are over-worked, under-staffed, bound by red tape, hobbled by political correctness, and constantly amazed by what the boulevards can throw at them. Scratch the surface of the ''reel'' Hollywood and you''ll discover the ''real'' Hollywood. Here, Mickey Mouse is a crack addict, Marilyn Monroe is a man and when the moon is full, the neighbourhood gets even weirder.

When the legendary Oracle is replaced by Sgt. Jason ''Chickenlips'' Treakle - a politically correct, paper-shuffling putz with a shiny shoe fetish - Nate ''Hollywood'' Weiss leaves the mid-watch to become a Crow, or Community Relations Officer (C.R.O.). These are the guys dealing with domestic disputes, busting stalkers, bouncing paparazzi and calming chronic complainers, wannabe cops and loons of all varieties. It should be easy duty - to the other cops it''s ''the sissie beat'' - but being Hollywood, the loons are not in short supply and not everything is quite at is seems. So when Hollywood Nate and fellow crow Bix Rumstead find themselves caught up with bombshell Margot Aziz, they think they''re just having some fun. To them, Margot is a harmless hill bunny, stuck in the middle of an ugly divorce from a nefarious strip-club-owner. But Margot''s no helpless victim: the femme fatale is setting them up so she can pull off the perfect murder and walk away with her ex-husband''s ill-won fortune. But Margot isn''t the only one with a deadly plan.

Hollywood Station certainly isn''t your typical police division, but in Hollywood Moon the cops of that surreal place seem called upon to deal with an even greater share of weirdness than normal.A prowler has been violently attacking women, and officers ''Hollywood Nate'' Weiss and the captivating Dana Vaughn are in hot pursuit, with Nate on edge because his no-nonsense, whip-smart partner has a knack for making him feel like a rookie.And there''s an even darker side to the weirdness. Cue the enigmatic crook Dewey Gleason, master of disguises. Each of his many identities is crafted for the execution of some under-the-radar racket. When, with his henchmen, he hatches an audacious plan, things get very violent indeed.