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276th out of 500 books
—
191 voters
The New Centurions
by
Joseph Wambaugh (Goodreads Author)
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....more
Paperback, 368 pages
Published
March 1st 1987
by Dell
(first published 1970)
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Serge Duran, Gus Plebesly, and Roy Fehler are classmates at the police academy and take to the streets after graduation. But will being police officers be as they thought?
The New Centurions follows the lives of three young men for five years, starting from their police academy days and into the Watts riots of 1965. I was expecting a simple cop story but got so much more.
Joseph Wambaugh was a cop before he was a writer and it shows. Both the cops and the people they encounter are three dimensiona...more
The New Centurions follows the lives of three young men for five years, starting from their police academy days and into the Watts riots of 1965. I was expecting a simple cop story but got so much more.
Joseph Wambaugh was a cop before he was a writer and it shows. Both the cops and the people they encounter are three dimensiona...more
28 likes · like · see review
view all 13 comments
May 09, 2012
Checkman
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Anyone interested in real police work
Good solid dramatic police fiction. Joseph Wambaugh's debut novel and one of his best. We follow three L.A.P.D. officers for five years (1960-1965) joining them as they are entering the academy and following them up to and through the riots in the Watts area of Los Angeles in 1965.
My father was a career police officer for twenty-four years. I grew up during the seventies and Wambaugh's books could always be found in our house. Like many other cops (and non police as well) during that time perio...more
My father was a career police officer for twenty-four years. I grew up during the seventies and Wambaugh's books could always be found in our house. Like many other cops (and non police as well) during that time perio...more
5 likes · like · see review
Amazing that this is Wambaugh's first novel. Vivid and complex look at police life in LA in the early 60's; the novel tracks 3 new recruits and the hardships they face in 5 years on the force.
As with previous Wambaugh novels I've read, he writes some of the of the best black humored dialogue I've encountered.
An example from a scene where two vice cops discuss hookers at a local bar:
"Another thing, don't let old Dawn kiss you," giggled Ranatti. "She loves to snuggle around with guys she's hust...more
As with previous Wambaugh novels I've read, he writes some of the of the best black humored dialogue I've encountered.
An example from a scene where two vice cops discuss hookers at a local bar:
"Another thing, don't let old Dawn kiss you," giggled Ranatti. "She loves to snuggle around with guys she's hust...more
This was Joseph Wambaugh's first book and demonstrates why he has had a long and much praised career. This book follows the careers of three police officers from the police academy thru the first five years of their service - ending with the Watts riot in 1965. We see them entering the academy as young inexperienced men; we see their faults and strengths - Gus who believes he is a coward; Serge a Mexican who wants to pass as an Anglo; and Roy an arrogant, elitist who is biding his time before ge...more
The New Centurions, was one of three full-length fictional works Wambaugh wrote while still working in law enforcement in the 1960s; it follows three young men through their police training and early years on the LAPD force, with their fifth year of service coinciding with the historic Watts (California) race riots of Summer, 1965. The novel, in which Wambaugh narrates almost equal parts promise, resignation, and tragedy, is a good example of police during a pervious era. The use of adult langua...more
This is the first book written by Joseph Wambaugh and it must count as one of the first of the "police procedurals" as we understand them today. Written by Wambaugh in the late 60's when he was a young policeman, it is free of any and all of the political correctness and tolerance taken for granted now by most of us; poor African Americans, Latinos, gay men, lesbian women are dangerous animals, criminal deviants and the game of the hunter, namely, the “paddy blue eyed motherfu….ers.” In Wambaugh...more
I've just re-read this after many years, and enjoyed it again - the characters, pacing, writing are all interesting and well done. If you place this in context (ie it was one of the very first police procedurals, almost a genre-defining novel) it is an important book - and I was wondering how it stood up to its modern competition. The answer is - okay. It is still a good read, but doesn't carry with it the sense of discovery that I had the first time I read it - police procedurals are now a stap...more
A great cop novel! No mystery. Little drama. Just follows three policemen in the pressure cooker of early 60s Los Angeles for the five years after they graduated from the academy. It was a great fun read. Apparently, the author was a policeman in the same era and locale.
Very interesting to see how the ultra modern California of the 1960s seems kitschy and cliche to us now.
Very interesting to see how the ultra modern California of the 1960s seems kitschy and cliche to us now.
This book follows three new LAPD recruits as they move from the academy to life on the beat, in the five years leading up to the LA riots of 1965. Wambaugh is a really good writer; he has a real knack for detailing police work with such in-character observations of race and behaviour, while maintaining clear, separate voices through different characters.
If you have determined to write in the genre of mystery/murder/crime or anything relative to police work, you have to have read Wambaugh. If you need to have flesh for the authority figures in your work then you have to have read Wambaugh. There is no substitute for having been behind the scenes in real life.
This follows 3 young men just starting out as cops in LA in the 60's. It jumps from cop to cop and year to year as we see how they grow and mature... or not.
They face the Watts riots which seem to be portrayed realistically. I like historical fiction as well.
In the end the 3 happen to come together on one call.
They face the Watts riots which seem to be portrayed realistically. I like historical fiction as well.
In the end the 3 happen to come together on one call.
Follows a group of LAPD Officers for five years. Covers everything from the academy to different assignments. Even thought this book is fictitious,the author was already a 10 year LAPD veteran before writing this, you get a sense that the content poured out onto the 300+ pages hold some merit in reality.
A group of new recruits are followed for 5 years with each having a chapter devoted to their experiences, high/lows, relationships and for a couple their deaths. I have read better books by this author in the past, so did not find this one up to the same measure of enjoyment.
This is a book based upon multiple character plots. The inductive origin of the book is very interesting. Sometimes, some of the events repeat each other and aren't as interesting as other things happening to other characters, but it's a very good book.
One of the reviews for my book Superbia said, "Step aside Joseph Wambaugh." I'm here to say that can never be the case. I read this book on duty as a young cop, and it really had an impact on me. Not just for the sake of the book, but for the fact that someone actually found a way to take all of the insanity that goes into The Job and turn it into literature. A few of the scenes still stick with me to this day, which I believe is the hallmark of a truly great piece of art. I wouldn't be doing wh...more
Fantastic book. Very real. I have been in Law Enforcement for over twenty years and saw alot of familiar charcters from life.
I read this while a young police reporter for The Omaha World-Herald, and it rocked me. Wambaugh's best, many agree.
A very good book, groundbreaking in it's time, but a little dated now.
Good insights into becoming a policeman, and being one. Language is dated, typical racially insensitivity of the time period. Well - would like to to think only of the time period.
This is a cop story without a plot, being told in episodes over five disjointed years during the 1960s. I found it a slow read but compelling much of the time. It follows a group of rookies from training to the time when, as experienced beat patrolmen, they are caught up in chaos of the Watts riots. Wambaugh is a former LAPD detective and the book's USP is his gritty insider knowledge of the hidden fears and foibles of the boys in blue, who are portrayed as displaying shifting hues of heroism, c...more
Muy buen libro. Cuenta los primeros cinco años de servicio de tres oficiales de la policía de los Ángeles en los primeros años sesenta. La estructura es episódica, pero desgrana los capítulos a un ritmo vivo que facilita la lectura. El estilo narrativo recuerda a James Ellroy, quien advierte desde la solapa del libro que las novelas de Wambaugh le han influido enormemente. Si en sus otros libros el autor sustituye la concatenación de episodios por una trama bien urdida puede ser de lo mejorcito...more
Wow! I had read a couple books by this author but this one--his first, I believe--is great. For fans of police-oriented books by authors like Michael Connelly. It follows 3 rookie LA cops in separate but intertwined accounts from their days at the Academy through their first 5 years on the job. Very gritty and realistic because Wambaugh used to be an LA cop for 10 years himself.
It takes places in the 1960s and culminates with the Watts riots in 1965 so there are a lot of interesting historical/c...more
It takes places in the 1960s and culminates with the Watts riots in 1965 so there are a lot of interesting historical/c...more
One of my favorite cop novels
great author
Apr 11, 2013
Glenda
added it
coujld not finish
Fiction
groovy
Fantastic. Crime fiction rarely raises my interest these days. But Joseph Wambaugh has never disappointed.
Wow. What can I say....the reviews say it already. "if you like cops, read the new centurians; if you hate cops, read the new centurians" (paraphrase). This book was a tour de force when I first encountered. i remember Plesebly I think his name was and the cop that was hanging onto the car when the hooker blasted through the red lights at La Brea Avenue....Wambaugh is a great writer.
It was very good. Great character story. Especially since the character I hated in the beginning ended up being pretty awesome by the end. Granted, there were some slow parts, but I can probably say that about most books.
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Joseph Wambaugh, a former LAPD detective sergeant (1960-1974), is the bestselling author of twenty-one prior works of fiction and nonfiction, including The Choirboys and The Onion Field. Wambaugh joined the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) in 1960. He served 14 years, rising to detective sergeant. He also attended California State University, Los Angeles, where he earned Bachelor of Arts and M...more
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