Ex-cop turned #1 New York Times bestselling writer Joseph
Wambaugh forged a new kind of literature with his great early
police procedurals. Here in his classic debut novel, Wambaugh
presents a stunning, raw, and unforgettable depiction of life
behind the thin blue line.
In a class of new police recruits, Augustus Plebesly is fast and
scared. Roy Fehler is full of ideals. And Serge Duran is an
ex-marine running away from his Chicano childhood. In a few weeks
they'll put on the blue uniform of the LAPD. In months they'll know
how to interpret the mad babble of the car radio, smell danger,
trap a drug dealer, hide a secret, and-most of all-live with the
understanding that cops are different from everyone else. But for
these men, these new centurions, time is an enemy. The year is
1960. The streets are burning with rage. And before they can grow
old on this job, they'll have to fight for their lives...