''The Blue Knight'' is the second

novel A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itsel ...

by former

Los Angeles Police {{Unreferenced, date=June 2019, bot=noref (GreenC bot) Law enforcement in Los Angeles County is conducted by a variety of law enforcement agencies. State agencies *California Highway Patrol *University of California Police Department * California ...

detective A detective is an investigator, usually a member of a law enforcement agency. They often collect information to solve crimes by talking to witnesses and informants, collecting physical evidence, or searching records in databases. This leads th ...

Joseph Wambaugh Joseph Aloysius Wambaugh, Jr. (born January 22, 1937), is a best-selling American writer known for his fictional and nonfictional accounts of police work in the United States. Several of his early novels were set in Los Angeles and its surroun ...

, written while he was still a serving detective. Published in 1972, it follows the last days on the beat for a veteran LAPD police officer, detailing his thoughts and actions from a first person perspective. The

narrative A narrative, story, or tale is any account of a series of related events or experiences, whether nonfictional (memoir, biography, news report, documentary, travel literature, travelogue, etc.) or fictional (fairy tale, fable, legend, thriller (ge ...

is written in a coarse, sometimes

self-deprecating Self-deprecation is the act of reprimanding oneself by belittling, undervaluing, disparaging oneself, or being excessively modest. It can be used as a way to make complaints, express modesty, invoke optimal reactions or add humour. It may also be u ...

manner; in the first chapter, Bumper refers to himself as having "an ass two

nightstick Nightstick or night stick may refer to: * Club (weapon), a short staff or stick wielded as a weapon ** Baton (law enforcement), a compliance tool and defensive weapon used by law-enforcement officers * Nightstick (band) Nightstick is an American ...

s wide".

Plot summary

The novel is about a veteran LAPD beat cop named William "Bumper" Morgan, who utilizes

intimidation Intimidation is to "make timid or make fearful"; or to induce fear. This includes intentional behaviors of forcing another person to experience general discomfort such as humiliation, embarrassment, inferiority, limited freedom, etc and the victi ...

and in some cases physical violence in his dealings with the criminal elements he encounters. The book covers his last week on the job before his planned retirement.

Reception

According to

WorldCat WorldCat is a union catalog that itemizes the collections of tens of thousands of institutions (mostly libraries), in many countries, that are current or past members of the OCLC global cooperative. It is operated by OCLC, Inc. Many of the OCL ...

, the book was held in 1,621 libraries in 2014. It inspired the 1973 TV film, '' The Blue Knight'' and the 1975 TV series '' The Blue Knight''.

References

American novels adapted into films Novels by Joseph Wambaugh 1972 American novels Little, Brown and Company books {{1970s-crime-novel-stub