Fugitive Nights

Joseph Wambaugh returns to glamorous Palm Springs to give us a suspense novel rich in astonishing plot twists, fascinating characters, and penetrating humor.

When a bald, burly man descends from a private airplane in the middle of the California desert, knocks out a police officer in the tiny airport bathroom and disappears, the police swing into action. But it will be three mismatched people who become involved in the trail of the elusive, dangerous man.

Breda Barrows is a beautiful ex-cop private investigator who enlists the aid of Lynn Carter, a cynical, hard-drinking, soon-to-be-ex detective waiting for his disability pension to kick in. Breda and Lynn’s search for the solution to their own case veers them on a collision course with Nelson Hareem, a loose cannon. Hareem, an awesomely over-eager policeman stuck in a sweltering desert town, dreams of the shade and a job with the Palm Springs police force.

The trail leads all three from remote desert canyons to the golden boulevards of Palm Springs for an action-packed ending.