This is a procedural novel; that is, a novel in which police work as it is actually carried out provides the basis for the action. The novel's plot moves quickly and excitingly. The policemen train together, do their job in various Los Angeles neighborhoods and are reunited during the Watts riots. Crimes are committed; the police officers face danger. But when they are off-duty, these young men fall in love. Life is unpredictable and shocking, often brutal, yet the novels seems plausible and authentic, securely based on Wambaugh's own police work. The dialogue is funny and again seems totally genuine. Wambaugh has an ear for police lingo and also for the speech of the ghetto. Both are sometimes scatological, but tremendously expressive and often hilarious. Wambaugh's descriptions are graphic, too graphic for some readers. He shows the reader the bruised babies and the cop's guts on the sidewalk...