Finnegan's Week

by Joseph Wambaugh

Members	Reviews	Popularity	Average rating	Mentions
467	7	53,288	(3.32)	1
Fiction. Mystery. HTML: *A toxic spill causes a lethal chain reaction for a San Diego cop in this "very funny" New York Times* bestseller by the author of The Choirboys (Kirkus Reviews).** Fin Finnegan, a San Diego police detective and wannabe actor heading straight for a midlife meltdown, is assigned a routine truck theft that turns into a toxic chemical spill, setting off a bizarre chain reaction of death and murder on both sides of the Mexican border. Fin is forced to team up with Nell Salter, a sexy female investigator, as well as an equally fetching US Navy investigator who wants to learn all that Fin can teach her�??and that's saying a lot. The New York Times Book Review called it "a frolic, a joy, a hoot, a riot of a book." And Entertainment Weekly said, "superbly crafted and paced, deliciously funny, but fundamentally, as always, deadly serious."… (more)

all members

▾Members

Recently added by

Bandmember, VoboBooks, theamyjohnson, KimberlyH98, kakiphony, Scavooris, ArielleNorris, Dunedin_Athenaeum

▾Tags

▾LibraryThing Recommendations

▾Lists

Stories set on South American Continent (2)

▾Will you like it?

▾Conversations (About links)

No current Talk conversations about this book.

» See also 1 mention

▾Member reviews

date ▼ | votes

Showing 1-5 of 7 (next | show all)

I enjoyed that this book is set in my town, San Diego, and specifically in the southern border area where I grew up. The story was not all that compelling, mostly resolved due to the screwups by the loser miscreants, rather than solutions by the forces of good. Dunno if Wambaugh's other books are like that but he probably wouldn't have the reputation he has if they were. (

)

JudyGibson | Jan 26, 2023 |

Just didn't get my attention. Stopped reading it (

)

cjordan916 | Mar 31, 2020 |

I love the scene with the fruit knife. I believe I laughed for 15 minutes. But I used to be a sergeant in the Marines. Those who have not had that experience might not find the fruit-knife scene funny at all. Regardless of the readers' real-life experience, however, they're sure to find the rest of the book a highly entertaining and action-packed read. (

)

NathanielPoe | Feb 17, 2019 |

old detective (want to be actor) killing, toxic waste — good mystery

Seeking two truckers hauling a drum of lethal chemicals, San Diego detective Finbar Finnegan joins forces with two strong-willed female cops to investigate a deadly toxic waste scam.

christinejoseph | Feb 5, 2016 |

Joseph Wambaugh's writing has changed. Finnegan's Week more resembles Carl Hiaasen. It's very cynical, filled with dark humor.

The plot's not terribly suspenseful: two truck drivers for a corrupt toxic waste hauler steal some shoes from a U.S. Navy warehouse to sell in Mexico. Their truck contains a fraudulently manifested drum of Guthion, a terribly toxic chemical that gets spilled and kills a child and another thief The owner of the waste disposal company, fearful that he will be caught for forging the manifest, plots to kill the employees after they threaten to blackmail him. In the meantime, two middle-aged detectives, one a San Diego cop and another an environmental crimes detective, and a U.S. Navy overactive female detective named Bobbie! (and nicknamed Bad Dog!) team up to solve the crime and their personal problems.

Wambaugh's middle-aged cynicism is fun. (

)

ecw0647 | Sep 30, 2013 |

date ▼ | votes

Showing 1-5 of 7 (next | show all)

▾Published reviews

no reviews | add a review

▾Other authors

» Add other authors (1 possible)

▾Series and work relationships

▾Awards and Honors

Distinctions

New York Times bestseller (Fiction – 1993)

view history

▾Common Knowledge

You must log in to edit Common Knowledge data.

For more help see the Common Knowledge help page.

Canonical title

Finnegan's Week

Original title

Finnegan's Week

Alternative titles

Original publication date

People/Characters

Important places

San Diego, California, USA

Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico

Important events

Theft of 2000 Navy Shoes

Toxic Dump

Related movies

Epigraph

Dedication

For
Detective Tony Puente,
San Diego Police Department

First words

It was the face of a sociopathic killer.

Quotations

Last words

(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)

Disambiguation notice

Publisher's editors

Blurbers

Original language

Canonical DDC/MDS

Canonical LCC

▾References

References to this work on external resources.

Wikipedia in English

None

▾Book descriptions

Fiction. Mystery. HTML:

A toxic spill causes a lethal chain reaction for a San Diego cop in this "very funny" New York Times bestseller by the author of The Choirboys (Kirkus Reviews).
Fin Finnegan, a San Diego police detective and wannabe actor heading straight for a midlife meltdown, is assigned a routine truck theft that turns into a toxic chemical spill, setting off a bizarre chain reaction of death and murder on both sides of the Mexican border. Fin is forced to team up with Nell Salter, a sexy female investigator, as well as an equally fetching US Navy investigator who wants to learn all that Fin can teach her�??and that's saying a lot. The New York Times Book Review called it "a frolic, a joy, a hoot, a riot of a book." And Entertainment Weekly said, "superbly crafted and paced, deliciously funny, but fundamentally, as always, deadly serious."

▾Library descriptions

No library descriptions found.

▾LibraryThing members' description

Book description

A seemingly irrational conspiracy involving deadly toxic waste and a theft of U.S. Navy goods.

---------------------------------------

WHEN A PAIR OF LOWLIFE THIEVES CROSS THE BORDER INTO TIJAUNA, THREE TENACIOUS COPS CROSS THE LINE ...

Fin Finnegan is a San Diego police detective and wannabe actor who's passing midlife crisis and heading straight for midlife meltdown. The last thing he wants when he's gearing up for a TV audition is a routine truck theft case. The last thing he needs after three messy divorces is a sexy female investigator assigned to the case. Fin's abysmal luck is holding out - he's got not only the theft investigation but an uneasy alliance with two strong - willed women, each working a separate angle of his once-simple case.

Tough, sexy environmental cop Nell Salter is looking into a chemical spill that has set off a chain reaction of death in the barrios of Tijuana and across the border. She's also looking for a relationship that doesn't turn toxic.

Young, fresh-faced navy detective Bobbie Ann Doggett is investigating the theft of two thousand pairs of navy flight-deck shoes - and swooning over the Olivier of San Diego PD. Mix in an unpredictable speed-freak trucker and his sociopath boss, and the result is a toxic cocktail of drugs, corruption, sex and murder.

----------------------
Finbar "Fin" Finnegan: A forty-something aspiring actor who does more aspiring than acting, he has one hell of a day job - San Diego police detective.
And this case is a truck-load of trouble, involving several jurisdictions and putting him in the middle of two tenacious female investigators.

Nell Salter: Working in the environmental crimes department of the Sand Diego D.A.'s office, she spends her time tracking down crimes that prosecutors and juries rarely take seriously. Now she has a chance to make a difference ... if her attraction to Fin Finegan doesn't get in the way.

Bobbie Ann "Dog" Dogget: An All-American, mid-western sweetheart with the unlikely nickname of Dog, she's a navy investigator who's as stubborn as a dog with a shoe - in this case, two thousand pairs of shoes. she's out to prove herself to her commander and to Fin and Nell, determined to crack the case ... or die trying.

Jules Temple: His wealthy father gave him everything a boy could want ... except a conscience. The owner of a fly-by-night waste hauling firm, he's out to make a fast fortune - no matter who dies along the way.

Abel Durazo and Shelby Pate: Risking their miserable jobs to make a little profit on their own, the two hapless truckers think their load of stolen navy property is their ticket to wild life, great drugs, and fast sex - all without a price. But the cost will prove to be higher than they could have imagined ....

Haiku summary