Ex-cop turned #1New York Timesbestselling writer Joseph Wambaugh forged a new kind of literature with his great early police procedurals. Gritty, luminous, and ultimately stunning, this novel is Wambaugh at his best--a tale of a street cop on the hardest beat of his life. Twenty and two. Those are the numbers turning in the mind of William "Bumper" Morgan: twenty years on the job, two days before he "pulls the pin" and walks away from it forever. But on the gritty streets of L.A. , people look at Bumper like some kind of knight in armor--they've plied him with come-ons, hot tips, and the hard respect a man can't earn anywhere else. Now, with a new job and a good woman waiting for him, a kinky thief terrorizing L.A.'s choice hotels, and a tragedy looming, Bumper Morgan is about to face the only thing that can scare him: the demons that he's been hiding behind his bright and shiny badge...

Joseph Wambaugh is the New York Times bestselling author of works such as The Blooding, The Blue Knight, and The Choirboys. Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to a police officer, Wambaugh graduated with a Master's in English from California State College and served in the LAPD for 15 years. He is the recipient of the Edgar Allan Poe award, the Rodolfo Walsh Prize for investigative journalism, and the Grand Master award from the Mystery Writers of America. He lives with his wife in California.