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James Ellroy was born in Los Angeles in 1948. He is the author of the acclaimed LA Quartet, The Black Dahlia, The Big Nowhere, LA Confidential and White Jazz, as well as the first two parts of his Underworld USA trilogy, American Tabloid and The Cold Six Thousand which were both Sunday Times bestsellers.
In 2011 James Ellroy was awarded the French Order of Arts and Letters by France's culture minister Frederic Mitterand. Mitterand described Ellroy as "the master of dark dreams" and called him "one of the most prominent names in modern literature".
Ellroy's editor at William Heinemann, Jason Arthur, said: "If the purpose of this honour is to recognise a significant contribution to literature, then it is richly deserved. It reaffirms my belief that his writing truly transcends genre and easy labels—James is quite simply one of the best novelists writing today."
There has never been a writer like James Ellroy. (Telegraph). Los Angeles, December 6, 1941. Last hopes for peace are shattered when Japanese squadrons bomb Pearl Harbor. War fever and race hate grip the city and the internment of Japanese Americans begins. When a Japanese family is found brutally murdered, three men and one woman are summoned. William H Parker is a captain on the Los Angeles Police force. He's superbly gifted, corrosively ambitious and consumed by dubious ideology. He is bitterly at odds with Sergeant Dudley Smith - Irish emigre, ex-IRA killer and fledgling war profiteer. Kay Lake is a 21-year-old dilettante looking for adventure. Hideo Ashida is a brilliant police chemist and the only Japanese on the payroll. Four driven souls - rivals, lovers, history's pawns - thrown into an investigation which will not only rip them apart but take America to the edge of the abyss at a crucial moment in its history.
It is December 6 1941. America stands at the brink of World War II. Last hopes for peace are shattered when Japanese squadrons bomb Pearl Harbor. Los Angeles has been a haven for loyal Japanese-Americans - but now, war fever and race hate grip the city and the Japanese internment begins. The hellish murder of a Japanese family summons three men and one woman. William H. Parker is a captain on the Los Angeles Police. He's superbly gifted, corrosively ambitious, liquored-up and consumed by dubious ideology. He is bitterly at odds with Sergeant Dudley Smith - Irish emigre, ex-IRA killer, fledgling war profiteer. Kay Lake is a 21-year-old dilettante looking for adventure. Hideo Ashida is a police chemist and the only Japanese on the L.A. cop payroll. The investigation throws them together and rips them apart. The crime becomes a political storm centre that brilliantly illuminates these four driven souls - comrades, rivals, lovers, history's pawns. Perfidia is a novel of astonishments. It is World War II as you have never seen it, and Los Angeles as James Ellroy has never written it before. Here, he gives us the party at the edge of the abyss and the precipice of America's ascendance. Perfidia is that moment, spellbindingly captured. It beckons us to solve a great crime that, in its turn, explicates the crime of war itself. It is a great American novel.
Los Angeles, 15th January 1947: a beautiful young woman walked into the night and met her horrific destiny. Five days later, her tortured body was found drained of blood and cut in half. The newspapers called her 'The Black Dahlia'. Two cops are caught up in the investigation and embark on a hellish journey that takes them to the core of the dead girl's twisted life...
Featured on The Book Show on Sky Arts on 14 October 2010. A candid and sometimes shocking memoir from one of the greatest thriller writers of the last century. Ellroy's obsessive relationship with his mother is laid bare giving us a fascinating insight in tot he mind of the author and the past that has influenced all his writing. In 2011 James Ellroy was awarded the French Order of Arts and Letters by France's culture minister Frederic Mitterand. Mitterand described Ellroy as "the master of dark dreams" and called him "one of the most prominent names in modern literature".Ellroy's editor at William Heinemann, Jason Arthur, said: "If the purpose of this honour is to recognise a significant contribution to literature, then it is richly deserved. It reaffirms my belief that his writing truly transcends genre and easy labels—James is quite simply one of the best novelists writing today."
Bose Ex-Cops, intrigante Killer, feige FBI-Informanten und gefahrliche Frauen - im Spiel um Macht, Millionen und Sex sind sie alle willfahrige Marionetten, gelenkt von Politikern und ihren zweifelhaften Freunden. James Ellroys Abschluss der Underworld-Trilogie ist ein gnadenlos spannender Thriller und ein literarisches Ereignis. USA, 1968: Nixon und Humphrey kandidieren fr das Prsidentenamt. Der Wahlkampf ist hart und geprgt von Verleumdung und Korruption. Die Ermordung von Martin Luther King und Robert Kennedy, die Proteste von Schwarzen und Studenten wie auch der Vietnamkrieg bringen Unruhe in das Amerika jener Tage. In Los Angeles beschftigt Scotty Bennett vom LAPD der ungeklrte brutale berfall auf einen Geldtransporter, bei dem mehrere Millionen Dollar und eine grere Menge Smaragde verschwanden. Je mehr er bei den Ermittlungen in die Nhe der Machtzentren gert, desto gefhrdeter ist seine Mission - und auch sein Leben. Steckte das FBI hinter dem berfall? Flossen die Millionen in Nixons Wahlkampf? Was hat Howard Hughes Nixon versprochen? James Ellroy fhrt zu den Hintertreppen der Macht und besticht mit seiner radikalen Gesellschaftskritik, einer explosiven Mischung aus Verschwrung und Gewalt, Besessenheit, Sex und Drogen.
"e;Besessenheit steht mir gut. Die Liebe zur Sprache definiert mich. Diesbezuglich fordere ich andauernd mein Geburtsrecht ein. Ich bin ein in Los Angeles geborener Amerikaner. Die Geschichte hat mich einmal mehr an meinen Schreibtisch gerufen. Mein Roman heit "e;Perfidia"e;. Der Titel bedeutet auf Spanisch "e;Verrat"e; und verweist auf ein klagendes Lied der spaten Dreiigerjahre. Der Roman ist 960 Seiten lang und in jeder Hinsicht gro angelegt. Die Geschichte erstreckt sich vom 6 . bis zum 29. Dezember 1941. Manner und Frauen mit groen Seelen geraten in Los Angeles im Monat von Pearl Harbor aneinander. Sie hab en groe Uberzeugungen, groe Traume und ein tief gestortes Pflichtbewusstsein. Sie arbeiten mit- und gegeneinander, um ein groes Verbrechen aufzuklaren , und streben gro und ruchlos nach Liebe. "e;Perfidia"e; ist die Quintessenz dessen, was ich uber die Kunst und das Handwerk des Geschichtenerzahlens, was ich uber Geschichte, uber Manner und Frauen wei, und uber die immer wieder drangende Frage, warum Menschen tun , was sie tun. Ich bin in die Vergangenheit hinabgestiegen und mit einem Geschenk fur Sie zuruckgekehrt . Das ich mit meinen allerbesten Wunschen anzunehmen bitte. James Ellroy"e;6. Dezember 1941: Es ist der Vorabend des Angriffs der Japaner auf Pearl Harbor. Amerika steht kurz vor dem Kriegseintritt. In Los Angeles wird eine japanische Familie tot aufgefunden. Handelt es sich um Mord oder rituellen Selbstmord? Die Ermittlungen bringen vier Menschen zusammen: Einen brillanten Forensiker, japanisch-amerikanischer Abstammung, eine junge Frau, von einer unbndigen Abenteuerlust getrieben, einen Polizisten, den es wirklich gab: William H. "e;Whiskey Bill"e; Parker, spter Chef des LAPD, und einen, der ein Produkt von Ellroys unnachahmlicher Phantasie ist: Dudley Smith, die perfide Verkrperung des Bsen. Seit vielen Jahren gilt James Ellroy als eine der wichtigsten Stimmen seines Landes, und entsprechend ist Perfidia in Amerika ein literarisches Ereignis.
NATIONAL BESTSELLER AN NPR BEST BOOK OF THE YEARIt is December 6, 1941. America stands at the brink of World War II. Last hopes for peace are shattered when Japanese squadrons bomb Pearl Harbor. Los Angeles has been a haven for loyal Japanese-Americansbut now, war fever and race hate grip the city and the Japanese internment begins. The hellish murder of a Japanese family summons three men and one woman. William H. Parker is a captain on the Los Angeles Police Department. He's superbly gifted, corrosively ambitious, liquored-up, and consumed by dubious ideology. He is bitterly at odds with Sergeant Dudley SmithIrish emigre, ex-IRA killer, fledgling war profiteer. Hideo Ashida is a police chemist and the only Japanese on the L.A. cop payroll. Kay Lake is a twenty-one-year-old dilettante looking for adventure. The investigation throws them together and rips them apart. The crime becomes a political storm center that brilliantly illuminates these four driven soulscomrades, rivals, lovers, history's pawns. Perfidia is a novel of astonishments. It is World War II as you have never seen it, and Los Angeles as James Ellroy has never written it before. Here, he gives us the party at the edge of the abyss and the precipice of America's ascendance. Perfidia is that moment, spellbindingly captured. It beckons us to solve a great crime that, in its turn, explicates the crime of war itself. It is a great American novel.From the Hardcover edition.
L.A. Confidential is epic "e;noir"e;, a crime novel of astonishing detail and scope written by the bestselling author of The Black Dahlia. A horrific mass murder invades the lives of victims and victimizers on both sides of the law. And three lawmen are caught in a deadly spiral, a nightmare that tests loyalty and courage, and offers no mercy, grants no survivors. (124,000 words)
"e;ELLROY IS THE AUTHOR OF SOME OF THE MOST POWERFUL CRIME NOVELS EVER WRITTEN"e;- NEW YORK TIMES Danny Upshaw is a Sheriff's deputy stuck with a bunch of snuffs nobody cares about; they're his chance to make his name as a cop...and to sate his darkest curiosities. Mal Considine is D.A.'s Bureau brass. He's climbing on the Red Scare bandwagon to advance his career and to gain custody of his adopted son, a child he saved from the horror of postwar Europe.Buzz Meeks -- bagman, ex-Narco goon, and pimp for Howard Hughes -- is fighting communism for the money. All three men have purchased tickets to a nightmare.
Los Angeles - Fritz Brown, ex-alcoholic private eye with a stained past, makes do with car repossessions and classical music. Then he is offered a case by Freddy 'Fat Dog' Baker, an eccentric golf caddy whose sister has made off with a much older man. This is the beginning of the nightmare: the underworld of golf caddies, arson and incest played against the backdrop of an LA surreal by night and bad by day; of long-hidden secrets that will drive Brown back to the bottle and to the gun: all conspire to make this one of the most hypnotic crime novels ever written.
Los Angeles 1951 - Frederick Underhill, an ambitious rookie of the Los Angeles Police Department, want to become the most celebrated detective of his time. He is also sexually promiscuous. His two drives are brought together by the slaying of Maggie Cadwallader, a lonely woman whom Underhill slept with shortly before her death. Using his inside knowledge, Underhill gets himself on the case, which is being handled by LA's most fearsome investigator: Lieutenant Dudley Smith. But instead of the celebrity status he was hoping for, Underhill finds himself on the edge of the abyss, his whole life and future about to take a fall.
A murder investigation nearly drives a beat cop to madnessDespite the sunshine, high necklines, and demure purity of its silver-screen goddesses, Los Angeles in the 1950s is not a gentle place. Even as a young cop, Freddy Underhill knows this. Patrolling one of L.A.'s roughest districts, he sees the lust, rage, and madness that permeate the cityand stands in wonder and dismay at it all. He covers the beat with his partner Wacky Walker, a World War II veteran with a Medal of Honor, a drinking problem, and a serious obsession with death. When an old flame of Freddy's is murdered, the investigation takes them deep into the shadiest part of the city, where Freddy will have to embrace the darkness if he wants to emerge with his life.
In James Ellroy's first novel, a PI investigates a deadly conspiracy at one of Los Angeles's most exclusive country clubsIt would be a stretch to call Fritz Brown a detective. A PI in name only, he washed out of the police force at twenty-five, and makes a cash living doing under-the-table repo work for a sleazy used-car dealer. It's an ugly job, but Fritz is not one to say no to easy money.That doesn't mean he won't take a case now and then. A caddy visits his office, asking Fritz to dig up dirt on the golf-nut who's dating his sister. Convinced by the caddy's suspiciously fat wad of bills, Fritz agrees to investigate, hoping for a chance to meet the girl. Instead he finds himself embroiled in a tangled world of country club intrigue, where wealth can buy innocence and murder is not half as rare as a hole-in-one.
In the first Lloyd Hopkins novel, an L.A. homicide detective chases a cunning serial killerLloyd Hopkins was not yet a cop when the Watts riots ripped Los Angeles apart. A member of the California National Guard, he had dreams of trading in his khaki uniform for blueof serving and protecting instead of learning to kill. Called in to patrol the streets of South Central Los Angeles during the riots, he discovered that safeguarding his city often meant shedding blood.Seventeen years later, Hopkins wears plainclothes. He has everything he had dreamed of as a young soldier: a wife, a family, and a detective's commission. But the city's finest homicide detective is about to be tested. Twenty women are dead, and to find their killer this good cop must learn to think like the madman.
Forced off the L.A. murder squad, Detective Hopkins goes to work for the FBI on an assignment with deadly consequencesLloyd Hopkins is breaking down. Once the sharpest detective in Los Angeles homicide, the strain of nearly two decades steeped in death has begun to take its toll. His confidence is shot, his self-discipline gone, and he has become prone to fits of uncontrollable sobbing. As his marriage collapses, he forgets how to keep himself disengaged from a case. His habits of sleeping with witnesses, faking evidence, and taking the law into his own hands has disgraced the LAPD, and now Hopkins's superiors are attempting to force him into early retirement.When he refuses, the department puts him out to pasture with a position as a liaison with the FBI bank robbery unit. The post is meant to be low-stress and murder-free, but where Lloyd Hopkins goes, blood always follows . . .
While scouring the streets for a missing cop, an L.A. detective uncovers a terrifying crimeThere was never a better cop than Jungle Jack Herzog. A wiry man whose strength exceeded his frame, his ability to navigate the darkest corners of the City of Angels drew him repeated citations for bravery. Nicknamed the Alchemist for his uncanny ability to fake new identities, he did his best work as an undercover agent in the vice squad, disappearing into the underworld in the name of justice. Now he has disappeared for good.It's a bad sign that Lloyd Hopkins catches Jungle Jack's case, because Hopkins works homicide. As he attempts to discover what happened to the missing cop, he investigates a strange murder committed with a revolver that predates the Civil War. There is a horrifying secret behind the cop's disappearance, but Lloyd Hopkins does not fear the truth.
A novella and five short stories from one of the most hard-boiled writers in American crime fictionNobody plays accordion like Dick Contino. His skilled fingers can find beauty in even the schmaltziest borscht belt favorites, and with his matinee-idol looks he could be a real star. Right now, though, he's slumming it as the headliner in a Grade Z teenybopper picture called Daddy-O. He's too good for this movie, and finishing it is going to take him to a very dark place.Daddy-O and Dick Contino are both real, their stories dredged out of the past by James Ellroy, a master of historical crime fiction. In Dick Contino's Blues he takes us to B-List Hollywood in 1957a time when movies were cheerful and dirty secrets lurked just off camera. Included along with the novella are five short stories, all in the author's inimitable tough-bitten style.
Ellroy's back with the third of his LA Quartet! Christmas 1951, Los Angeles: a city where the police are as crooked as the criminals. Six prisoners are beaten senseless in their cells by cops crazed on alcohol. For the three L.A.P.D. detectives involved, it will expose the guilty secrets on which they have built their corrupt and violent careers...The novel takes these cops on a sprawling epic of brutal violence and the murderous seedy side of Hollywood. One of the best (and longest) crime novels ever written, it is the heart of Ellroy's four-novel masterpiece, the LA Quartet, and an example of crime writing at its most powerful.
Los Angeles, 15th January 1947: a beautiful young woman walked into the night and met her horrific destiny. Five days later, her tortured body was found drained of blood and cut in half. The newspapers called her 'The Black Dahlia'. Two cops are caught up in the investigation and embark on a hellish journey that takes them to the core of the dead girl's twisted life...
Best-selling crime fiction author James Ellroy returns with the fourth in his LA Quartet. Los Angeles, 1958: a city on the make. A boom town at the edge of a new era ripe for plunder. Lieutenant Dave Klein: in turn a lawyer, bagman, slum landlord, mob killer. Klein stands at the centre of a complex web of plots where violence and death will intersect. He's a slumlord, a bagman, an enforcer--a power in his own small corner of hell. Then the Feds announce a full-out investigation into local police corruption, and everything goes haywire. Klein's been hung out as bait, a bad cop to draw the heat, and the heat's coming from all sides: from local politicians, from LAPD brass, from racketeers and drug kingpins--all of them hell-bent on keeping their own secrets hidden. For Klein, forty-two and going on dead, it's dues time...
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