The following version of this book was used to create the guide: Wambaugh, Joseph. Floaters. Bantam Books, 1996.

Joseph Wambaugh's novel Floaters is written from the third person point of view and in the past tense. The novel is set in San Diego, California at the time of the America's Cup regatta.

When the regatta came to town, Blaze Duvall was worried about money. Her dearth of funds made her worry about the future. When her former coworker, Dawn Coyote, asked her for money and to stay at her apartment, Blaze reluctantly gave in. Though they had both been prostitutes together, Blaze did not support Dawn's lifestyle. She was an addict and was often involved with dangerous men.

Meanwhile, local cop Letch Boggs followed Dawn wherever she went. He was determined to arrest Oliver Mantleberry, the pimp she worked for, and was willing to do anything to get to him. He trapped her at a local motel, threatening to take away her child if she did not help him arrest Oliver. Dawn agreed, eager for a fresh start.

Ambrose Lutterworth had been Keeper of the regatta Cup for some time. Now that the races were in town, he worried that he would lose the Cup and his title. Throughout his life, everyone had always seen him as cowardly and unaccomplished. Keeping the Cup would prove them wrong. He concocted a plan to do so, and decided he needed his masseuse Blaze's help. He contacted her for a massage, inviting her to his home.

At Ambrose's home, Blaze listened as her client talked about sailing and the Cup. He wanted her to understand how important the trophy was to him. He then offered her $15,000 to help him wreck the competition's fastest boat, Black Magic. All she had to do was drug one of the crane operators and learn how to sabotage the equipment.

Blaze began spending time at the local bars. She flirted and drank with crane operators, Simon Cooke and Miles Hargrave. Through Simon, she learned how to wreck the boat lifting machinery. She made a date with Miles, planning to drug him on the night before he was meant to move Black Magic.

While lying in bed, Blaze heard a noise in the stairwell. When she went out to investigate, she was shocked to discover Oliver stabbing Dawn to death. He saw her and chased after her. Blaze made it back to her room just in time, and dialed 911.

When Letch learned about the murder, he realized that Oliver knew Dawn was talking to police. The detectives, including Anne Vorn, tried talking to Blaze, but she insisted she had not witnessed the crime. She was worried that Oliver would come for her next.

At the bar, Blaze's task to drug Miles went awry. Simon came into the bar and caused a scene, disrupting the plan. That night, Blaze worried about what to do. She realized she needed more from Ambrose. She went to his home and tried blackmailing him. She had recordings of him talking about his boat scheme and would give them to the police if he did not pay her for them. Realizing that Blaze also saw him as a coward, Ambrose strangled her to death. He dumped her body in Mission Bay.

When the cops heard about Blaze's murder, Letch was convinced Oliver was to blame. Anne and her other colleagues had alternate theories. Letch dismissed them and went about solving the case himself. When Oliver turned up dead from a drug overdose shortly thereafter, both Dawn's and Blaze's cases were cleared.

Ambrose was convinced that the cops knew about what he had done. He also knew he would never get to keep the Cup. Believing his life was over anyway, he faked a boating accident and drowned himself.

The New Zealanders' won the Cup and took the trophy overseas.