Ellroy's ninth novel, set in 1950s Los Angeles, kicks off with a shoot-out between a rogue ex-cop and a band of gangsters fronted by a crooked police lieutenant. Close on the heels of this scene comes a jarring Christmas Day precinct house riot, in which drunk and rampaging cops viciously beat up a group of jailed Mexican hoodlums. But, as readers will quickly learn, these sudden sprees of violence, laced with evidence of police corruption, are only teasers for the grisly events and pathos that follow this intricate police procedural. Picking up where The Black Dahlia and The Big Nowhere left off, the book tracks the intertwining paths of the three flawed and ambitious cops who emerge from the ``Bloody Christmas'' affair. Dope peddling, prostitution, and other risky business are revealed as the tightly wound plot untangles. Ellroy's disdain for Hollywood tinsel is evident at every turn; even the most noble of the characters here are relentlessly sleazy. But their grueling, sometimes maniacal schemes make a compelling read for the stout of heart. (June)
It’s an accepted fact—in fiction, anyway—that to be a brilliant detective, you must also be broken in some fundamental way. Perhaps that brokenness is why they’re able to see the clues the rest of us miss? What’s curious about these flawed, brilliant minds though, is how often their struggles are expressed through substance abuse and […]
Season One of HBO’s True Detective was a huge hit and an incredible pop culture moment. Feeding off the remarkable (and completely unpredicted) phenomenon of career revival known as the “McConaissance,” the series took several improbable ingredients—including lead actors Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson, the direction of Cary Fukunaga, and the trippy, overwrought dialogue of […]
Sure, books are fun, but would you believe there’s entertainment off the page, too? That’s where Hollywood often comes in, with its glitz and glamour, fabulous parties, and, every now and again, teenage train wrecks. Whether you prefer your TV/movie books on the set or on location, romantic or fauxmantic, behind the scenes or under […]
The Doorstopper: though common in the fantasy genre, in literature these books—topping 600 pages or so, heavy to carry around, and difficult to read in bed—are sometimes more of an exercise in expansive character and thematic immersion than thrilling potboilers. Think War and Peace or Infinite Jest, rewarding literary tomes that make you work for it. That’s not always the […]
Whatever kind of reading you like best in life, you can find your match in a good noir detective novel. Great stories with complex plots? Noir. Hilarious humor, albeit of a generally dark variety? Noir. Unforgettable characters? Noir. Breathless action? Noir again. If you’ve fallen behind the curve on noir fiction, now’s the time to […]