New Releases by James Ellroy

La paura imperversa nelle strade di un''America attraversata da complotti e trame oscure. E si sa che la paura è il miglior combustibile per incendiare le brame spietate degli uomini. «Dialoghi affilati e ritmo cinematografico incalzante, un intrigo che tiene incollati fino all''ultima pagina». «The New York Times» L.A., l''anno è il 1950. La guerra è finita e siamo nel pieno della caccia alle streghe. Tre poliziotti precipitano in una ragnatela fatta di ambizione, perversione e inganno. Danny Upshaw, vicesceriffo della contea, è rimasto incastrato nelle indagini su una serie di brutali omicidi, di cui pare non importi nulla a nessuno, ma che possono essere l''occasione perfetta per fare carriera e saziare le proprie curiosità piú sordide. Mal Considine, tenente di polizia, sta cercando di sfruttare la paura dei comunisti per scalare le gerarchie e ottenere la custodia di suo figlio, un ragazzino che ha salvato dalle macerie e dagli orrori dell''Europa. Turner «Buzz» Meeks, ex della narcotici, è stato invece arruolato dal miliardario Howard Hughes nella guerra santa contro i rossi. Per ognuno di loro il miraggio del successo spalancherà la porta su un mondo da incubo.

Set in Los Angeles from 1947 to 1959, Hollywood Nocturnes gives us an afterword and six stories set in the same crime-ridden, sex-crazed period of history of James Ellroy''s L.A. Quartet novels (which include L.A. Confidential and The Big Nowhere). Dig this: the swinging sax man''s doing repos and plotting a kidnapping-of himself; a tommy gun is ripping apart windows, curtains, and bodies in High Darktown; a carhop at Scrivner''s is keeping two extremely sweet sugar daddies, Howard Hughes and mobster Mickey Cohen, happy-until the scene turns murderous. This is the hip-hop hard-edged world of L.A. 1950s style: cars with fins, Commies in closets, starmakers with come-ons, ex-cons with guns, and cops with mean streaks as wide as Sunset Strip. James Ellroy''s bizarre, stark tales dazzle us with their unexpected humor, raw brutality, and slightly lighter-than-usual noir realism. Hollywood Nocturnes is quintessential Ellroy: bluesy, black, and very, very hot.

In James Ellroy''s riveting second novel, an ambitious beat cop is hot on the trail of a serial killer who frequents L.A. dive bars and preys on the fallen women he finds there. Los Angeles, 1951. For Officer Fred Underhill, the job is all about the wonder, an elusive quality he finds while dealing with the city’s drunks, hopheads, gunsels, and burglars. When he’s not reveling in the glory of cleaning up the streets, he’s on the green or scoring women. But Underhill’s ambition and allegiance to the badge get the better of him when a grim opportunity to prove his worth arises. Catching a serial strangler who is snuffing out women would all but ensure his place at the top. As he climbs his way up, the hungry rookie wheels and deals with some of the force’s most unscrupulous officers, and when the case goes sideways and fast, the eyes of the very law he serves will be trained on him. Now Underhill’s only chance to redeem himself is to pick up the trail of the soulless killer and close the case himself.

Detective Sergeant Lloyd Hopkins is the most brilliant homicide detective in the Los Angeles Police Department and one of its most troubled. In his obsessive mission to protect the innocent, there is no line he won’t cross. Estranged from his wife and daughters and on the verge of being drummed out of the department for his transgressions, Hopkins is assigned to investigate a series of bloody bank robberies. As the violence escalates and the case becomes ever more vicious, Hopkins will be forced to cross the line once again to stop a maniac on a murder binge.

Beneath the slick, glittering surface of L.A., an underworld of depravity and wickedness reins. Fritz Brown is a part-time private eye and full-time repo-man who gets his kicks listening to classical music. But the waters get too deep for Brown when he takes a case from a cash-flashing golf caddy named Freddy “Fat Dog” Baker that puts him on the trail of his client’s sister and the older gentleman she’s run off with. But more suspicious than his sister, a classy cellist, is Fat Dog himself, who has a past more sordid than he lets on. Diving into a cesspool of payoffs, incest, and arson, Brown’s California dreaming transforms into a technicolor nightmare. In his hypnotic debut, master crime writer James Ellroy takes us to the edge of an abyss, where nothing, not even Beethoven, can let in the light.

"This is a Borzoi book published by Alfred A. Knopf"--Copyright page.

The Underworld U.S.A. Trilogy concludes. We''ve traversed the interlocked conspiracies of the decade and are there for the wind-up and swan songs. Blood''s A Rover takes us into the seventies. MLK and RFK are dead. The Democratic National Convention in Chicago has spawned chaos. There''s a punk-kid private eye in L.A. He''s clashing with a mob goon and an enforcer for J. Edgar Hoover. There''s an armored-car heist and a cache of missing emeralds. There''s bad voodoo in the Dominican Republic and Haiti. Amidst it all is a revolutionary, Joan Rosen Klein. The kid P.I., the mob goon, and Hoover''s enforcer love her unto death. Blood''s A Rover gives us the private nightmare of public policy on an epic scale.

Here in one volume is James Ellroy''s first great body of work, an epic re-envisioning of postwar Los Angeles--etched in red and black and film-noir grays. The Black Dahlia depicts the secret infrastructure of L.A.''s most sensational murder case. A young cop morphs into obsessed lover and lust-crazed avenger. The Dahlia claims him. She is the deus ex machina of a boomtown in extremis. The cop''s rogue investigation is a one-way ticket to hell. The Big Nowhere blends the crime novel and the political novel. It is winter, 1950--and the L.A. County Grand Jury is out to slam movieland Reds. It''s a reverential shuck--and the three cops assigned to the job are out to grab all the glory they can. A series of brutal sex killings intervenes, and the job goes all-the-way bad. L.A. Confidential is the great novel of Los Angeles in the 1950s. Political corruption. Scandal-rag journalism. Bad racial juju and gangland wars. Six local stiffs slaughtered in an all-night hash house. The glorious and overreaching LAPD on an unprecedented scale. White Jazz gives us the tortured confession of a corrupt cop going down for the count. He''s a slumlord, a killer, a parasitic exploiter. He''s a pawn in a series of police power plays and starting to see that he''s being had. He''s just met a woman. Thus, he''s determined to claw his way out of the horrifying world he''s created--and he''s determined to tell us everything. The L.A. Quartet is a groundbreaking work of American popular fiction.

New Year''s Eve 1941. War has been declared, the Japanese internment is in full swing. A body in unearth in Griffith Park. There''s a murderous fire and a gold heist. There''s Fifth Column treason on American soil. There are homegrown Nazis, Commies, and race racketeers. There''s two dead cops in a dive off the jazz-club strip. And three men and one woman have a hot date with history. -- Adapted from jacket.

Deux enquêtes de James Ellroy sur deux faits divers marquants de l''après-guerre à Los Angeles et à New York, dans la plus pure tradition du "true crime" américain. L''un des textes revisite la mort de l''acteur Sal Mineo, le premier acteur hollywoodien à avoir fait son "coming out" sur son homosexualité, et l''autre revient sur l''affaire Wylie-Hoffert, le meurtre sauvage de deux jeunes femmes new-yorkaises dont un Noir, George Whitmore, a été accusé à tort. Du grand Ellroy, avec une écriture au scalpel qui parvient à créer l''empathie et l''émotion. Des textes quasiment inédits (seul celui sur Wylie Hoffert est paru dans le Vanity Fair américain).

Exploración del bajo mundo del crimen y la violencia en la época dorada de Hollywood, L.A. Confidential es la tercera novela del «Cuarteto de Los Ángeles», tetralogía que se ha convertido en un clásico de la novela negra del siglo XX. Los Ángeles, años cincuenta. Camuflada tras sus fabulosas mansiones y el glamour de los clubs nocturnos, la ciudad es un hervidero de corrupción y bajas pasiones. Una noche, una matanza baña en sangre una cafetería de la ciudad. Se trata de una auténtica carnicería, y sus oscuras ramificaciones atraparán a tres policías en sus arenas movedizas. Eclipsado por el éxito de su padre como policía, Ed Exley hará lo que sea para superarle y conseguir la gloria. Bud White, por su parte, vio cómo su progenitor asesinaba a su madre y es una bomba de relojería con placa y pistola. Y por último, Jack Vincennes, que se dedica a airear los escándalos de Hollywood en los medios de comunicación mientras lucha por ocultar sus propios secretos. L.A. Confidential fue llevada al cine con enorme éxito por Curtis Hanson, y galardonada con dos premios Oscar. Críticas: «Es imposible que estos libros te dejen impasible. Puedes odiarlos, sí. Su lectura no nace del placer, es el reflejo de una obsesión. Sexo, mujeres, crimen, política, poder, corrupción. [...] Una vez aprendida y asimilada su sintaxis de anfetamina, esimposible dejar el vicio.» Rodrigo Fresán, El Cultural «James Ellroy es un genio: el mejor escritor de novela negra americana desde Raymond Chandler.» Times Literary Supplement

La Dalia Negra, obra maestra del perro diabólico de las letras norteamericanas, en edición definitiva, con una traducción actualizada y un epílogo inédito del autor. 15 de enero de 1947. Los Ángeles, un solar desocupado. El cadáver de una mujer de veinticinco años, desnudo y seccionado en dos partes. El médico forense determina que ha sido torturada durante días mientras ella seguía consciente. Un periodista bautiza a la víctima como «la Dalia Negra».Los policías Bucky Bleichert y Lee Blanchard, dos ex boxeadores conocidos como Hielo y Fuego, son puestos al frente del caso. Al sumergirse en los bajos fondos de Los Ángeles para averiguar quién era la Dalia se verán atrapados en un circo mediático y en una investigación policial plagada de pistas falsas, intereses políticos y dificultades; un caso irresoluble que acabará por obsesionarles. Basada en un suceso real e inspirada en el asesinato de su propia madre, La Dalia Negra es la primera novela del «Cuarteto de Los Ángeles», ciclo novelístico que figura entre los grandes clásicos del género negro y policial del siglo veinte. Un viaje por la cara oculta de los oropeles de Hollywood a través de los estercoleros morales de una sociedad obsesionada con el éxito y que solamente brilla en la superficie. Críticas: «Si me preguntan quién es el mejor novelista vivo cuya literatura es feroz, valiente, divertida, escatológica, hermosa, enrevesada y paranoica... la respuesta es fácil: James Ellroy.» Stephen King «Es imposible que estos libros te dejen impasible. Puedes odiarlos, sí. Su lectura no nace del placer, es el reflejo de una obsesión. Sexo, mujeres, crimen, política, poder, corrupción. Las mismas obsesiones que dominarán al lector que se deje morder por sus páginas.» Rodrigo Fresán «Uno de los mejores escritores norteamericanos de nuestro tiempo.» Los Angeles Book Review «En el Los Ángeles de Ellroy es imposible diferenciar a los buenos de los malos, porque simplemente no hay buenos.» Kirkus Reviews ENGLISH DESCRIPTION On January 15, 1947, the torture-ravished body of a beautiful young woman is found in a Los Angeles vacant lot. The victim makes headlines as the Black Dahlia-and so begins the greatest manhunt in California history.Caught up in the investigation are Bucky Bleichert and Lee Blanchard: Warrants Squad cops, friends, and rivals in love with the same woman. But both are obsessed with the Dahlia-driven by dark needs to know everything about her past, to capture her killer, to possess the woman even in death. Their quest will take them on a hellish journey through the underbelly of postwar Hollywood, to the core of the dead girl''s twisted life, past the extremes of their own psyches-into a region of total madness.

A remarkable portrait of “true L.A. noir” with archival photos from the Los Angeles Police Museum and text by legendary crime writer James Ellroy (Los Angeles Times). James Ellroy, the undisputed master of crime writing, has teamed up with the Los Angeles Police Museum to present a stunning text on 1953 L.A. While combing the museum’s photo archives, Ellroy discovered that the year featured a wide array of stark and unusual imagery—and to accompany the pictures, he has written text to illuminate the crimes and law enforcement of the era. Ellroy offers context along with wild detail and rich atmosphere—this is the cauldron that was police work in the city of the tarnished angels seven decades ago, revealed in more than 80 duotone photos throughout the book. “These crime images resemble the work of photographer Weegee, but, Ellroy argues, they’re superior because they resist artistry; they were taken by police officers doing their jobs.” —Chicago Tribune

24 février 1964, 7h16 du matin à Los Angeles. Attaque d''un fourgon blindé de la Wells Fargo. Quatre convoyeurs abattus, trois braqueurs morts ; le quatrième a pris la fuite en emportant seize sacs de billets et quatorze mallettes remplies d''émeraudes. C''est sur ce braquage, disséqué avec une maestria éblouissante, que s''ouvre « Underworld USA », dernier volet de la trilogie commencée avec « American Tabloid ». Le narrateur reste dans l''ombre. Il nous prévient que le livre est fondé sur des documents publics détournés, des journaux intimes dérobés. En 131 chapitres et cinq parties au titre aussi évocateur que provocateur, ce roman noir et politique reconstruit les années les plus tourmentées de l''Amérique du XXe siècle, avec une largeur de vision et une profondeur stupéfiantes. « Underworld USA » est la flamboyante conclusion de la trilogie qui a placé James Ellroy au rang des plus grands écrivains américains d''aujourd''hui, selon le Los Angeles Times Book Review.

Il existe une dynamique dans la mise en oeuvre de l''horreur : servez-la garnie d''hyperboles fleuries, et la distance s''installe même si la terreur est présente, puis branchez tous les feux du cliché littéraire ou figuratif, et vous ferez naître un sentiment de gratitude parce que le cauchemar prendra fin, un cauchemar au premier abord trop horrible pour être vrai. Je n''obéirai pas à cette dynamique, je ne vous laisserai pas me prendre en pitié.... Je mérite crainte et respect pour être demeuré inviolé jusqu''au bout du voyage que je vais décrire, et puisque la force de mon cauchemar interdit qu''il prenne fin, vous me les offrirez. Ainsi parle Martin Michael Plunkett, âgé de 35 ans, coupable de plusieurs dizaines de meurtres sexuels couvrant tout le territoire des États-Unis sur une période de dix ans. Avec Un tueur sur la route, James Ellroy s''est attaché à faire le portrait, de l''intérieur, d''un serial killer.

Il est psychiatre, manipule les solitaires et les faibles. C''est la nuit qu''il exerce son pouvoir maléfique. Plus il soutire d''informations à ses malades, plus sa puissance s''accroît. Jusqu''au jour où ce voyageur de la nuit croise le chemin du sergent Lloyd Hopkins. Après Lune sanglante, A cause de la nuit est le second épisode de la saga de Lloyd Hopkins. Les romans d''Ellroy nous emmènent sur les chemins dévoyés de la drogue et de la folie, dans les sphères troubles de l''intelligence pervertie. Baignés d''une lumière étrange, ils ont la beauté inquiétante d''une nouvelle arme (Gilles Berton, Play Boy) Pour une fois, il n''est pas exagéré de parler d''un sens du suspense qui secoue les tripes, car tout est maîtrise, toute la sensibilité de l''auteur est au service de cette infernale histoire. (Jacques Mondoloni, Le Provençal)

Böse Ex-Cops, intrigante Killer, feige FBI-Informanten und gefährliche Frauen - im Spiel um Macht, Millionen und Sex sind sie alle willfährige 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 für das Präsidentenamt. Der Wahlkampf ist hart und geprägt 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 beschäftigt Scotty Bennett vom LAPD der ungeklärte brutale Überfall auf einen Geldtransporter, bei dem mehrere Millionen Dollar und eine größere Menge Smaragde verschwanden. Je mehr er bei den Ermittlungen in die Nähe der Machtzentren gerät, desto gefährdeter ist seine Mission - und auch sein Leben. Steckte das FBI hinter dem Überfall? Flossen die Millionen in Nixons Wahlkampf? Was hat Howard Hughes Nixon versprochen? James Ellroy führt zu den Hintertreppen der Macht und besticht mit seiner radikalen Gesellschaftskritik, einer explosiven Mischung aus Verschwörung und Gewalt, Besessenheit, Sex und Drogen.

»Ellroy ist der wichtigste zeitgenössische Krimiautor.« Der Spiegel Los Angeles 1947: Auf einem verlassenen Grundstück wird die Leiche einer jungen Frau entdeckt – nackt und bestialisch zugerichtet. Der Mord der Schwarzen Dahlie macht Schlagzeilen und löst die größte Verbrecherjagd in der Geschichte Kaliforniens aus. Für Bucky Bleichert und Lee Blanchard vom Los Angeles Police Department wird die Suche nach dem Mörder zur Obsession. Band 1 des berühmten L.A.-Quartetts. Lesen Sie auch Die Rothaarige. Die Suche nach dem Mörder meiner Mutter - James Ellroys wichtigsten autobiographischen Text; ein Klassiker der Kriminalliteratur.

The D. A.''s brass, a sheriff''s deputy, and a rough-and-tumble bagman are unknowingly chasing a nightmare in this thrilling novel from the author of "some of the most powerful crime novels ever written" (New York Times). Los Angeles, 1950 Red crosscurrents: the Commie Scare and a string of brutal mutilation killings. Gangland intrigue and Hollywood sleaze. Three cops caught in a hellish web of ambition, perversion, and deceit. 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 1958. Mord, misshandel, mutor och utpressning är vardag för biträdande kommissarie David Klein. Han är en maktmänniska i ett litet hörn av Helvetet. Så annonserar den federala polisen en undersökning om poliskorruption och en verklighet sipprar upp som till och med är ännu ondare än den Klein föreställt sig. Kleins snabba, blixtlika beskrivningar är lika brutala som landskapet; en värld han själv varit med om att skapa, men som han nu skulle göra vad som helst för att undkomma levande. Grym, nitisk och slipad till en rakbladsegg är James Ellroys prosa i Vit jazz, som av många framhållits som hans absoluta mästerverk. JAMES ELLROY föddes 1948. När han var tio år gammal blev hans mamma brutalt mördad, ett mord som aldrig uppklarats, och som haft en avgörande betydelse för Ellroys liv och författarskap. Han debuterade med Browns rekviem [1981], och har sedan dess skrivit en lång rad historiska romaner som revolutionerat kriminalromangenren. Några av dem har blivit storfilmer i Hollywood, såsom L.A. konfidentiellt från 1990 och Den svarta dahlian från 1987. »Vit jazz får alla andra kriminalromaner att likna barnböcker.« SAN FRANCISCO EXAMINER »Omöjlig att lägga ifrån sig... En författare som bryter mot alla regler. En kamikazepilot i kollisionskurs med helvetet. Pennan rör sig i vansinne över sidorna.« THE NEWS & OBSERVER »Ellroys bästa.« THE DENVER POST

Rånet mot restaurangen Nite Owl urartar till ett blodbad. Brottet utgör kärnan i James Ellroys hypnotiska roman om 1950-talets Los Angeles. I en vardag med polisbrutalitet, korrumperade domare och en undre värld som hotar att explodera i uppror mot gangsterkungen Mickey Cohen, följer vi tre polisers till synes hopplösa kamp för sanningen. Var och en arbetar i hemlighet på egna utredningar - samtliga leder till Nite Owl-fallet. De inser alla livsfaran det innebär att veta för mycket om fallet, men då är det för sent att dra sig ur. De tvingas fortsätta att jaga orsakerna till morden för att få en chans att själva överleva. JAMES ELLROY föddes 1948. När han var tio år gammal blev hans mamma brutalt mördad, ett mord som aldrig uppklarats, och som haft en avgörande betydelse för Ellroys liv och författarskap. Han debuterade med Browns rekviem [1981], och har sedan dess skrivit en lång rad historiska romaner som revolutionerat kriminalromangenren. Några av hans böcker har blivit storfilmer i Hollywood. Inte minst L.A. konfidentiellt som utkom i original 1990 och blev en New York Times Bestseller. »En av de största amerikanska författarna i vår tid.« LOS ANGELES TIMES BOOK REVIEW »Ingen i vår generation kan matcha bredden och djupet i James Ellroys variant av Noir. DETROIT NEWS »Du riskerar att bli skuren i bitar bara av att vända blad.« VILLAGE VOICE

1958 blev Jean Ellroy brutalt mördad och hennes kropp dumpad mitt på gatan i en förort till Los Angeles. Hennes mördare hittades aldrig, polisen sorterade bort henne som bara ännu ett offer för en labil lördagsnatt i L.A. James Ellroy var tio när han förlorade sin mor och spenderade de närmaste trettiosex åren med att fly hennes spöke, bland annat genom att nyuppfinna kriminalromangenren. Men så en dag på nittiotalet slutade han fly. Han återvände till Los Angeles, för att finna sanningen om sin mor - och sig själv. Mina mörka vrår är den självbiografiska berättelsen av Noir-mästaren James Ellroy. Han redogör för den fåfänga jakten på sin mors mördare och den helvetesvandring som händelsen innebar för honom själv. En mörk epik utvecklar sig, om sorg, besatthet och försoning - och en lika svindlande som sann historik över det amerikanska våldet. JAMES ELLROY föddes 1948. Han debuterade som författare med Browns rekviem [1981], och har sedan dess skrivit en rad historiska romaner som revolutionerat deckargenren, med Ellroys våldsamt förtätade »telegramstil«. Några av böckerna har blivit storfilmer i Hollywood, såsom L.A. konfidentiellt från 1990 och Den svarta dahlian från 1987. »Ellroy är mäktigare än någonsin.« THE NATION »Häpnadsväckande... Originellt. Modigt. Briljant.« PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER # Årets mest läsvärda bok i NEW YORK TIMES # Årets bok i TIME MAGAZINE # 1 Bestseller i LOS ANGELES TIMES

A magisterial anthology of American noir writing in the 20th century by the best-selling author of the LA Quartet: The Black Dahlia. The Big Nowhere , LA Confidential and White Jazz. In his intoduction to The Best American Noir of the Century, James Ellroy writes, "noir is the most scrutinised offshoot of the hard-boiled school of fiction. It''s the long drop off the short pier and the wrong man and the wrong woman in perfect misalliance. It''s the nightmare of flawed souls with big dreams and the precise how and why of the all-time sure thing that goes bad." Offering the best examples of literary sure things gone bad, this collection ensures that nowhere else can readers find a darker, more thorough distillation of American noir fiction. James Ellroy and Otto Penzler, series editor of the annual The Best American Mystery Stories, mined one hundred years of writing - 1910-2010 - to find this treasure trove of thirty-nine stories. From noir''s twenties-era infancy come gems like James M. Cain''s "Pastorale," and its post-war heyday boasts giants like Mickey Spillane and Evan Hunter. Packing an undeniable punch, diverse contemporary incarnations include Elmore Leonard, Dennis Lehane, Patricia Highsmith and William Gay, with many page-turners appearing in the last decade.

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 legendary crime writer unsparingly describes his shattered childhood, his delinquent teens, his writing life, his love affairs and marriages, his nervous breakdown, and the beginning of a relationship with an extraordinary woman who may just be the long-sought "Her."

The New York Times bestselling crime writer and author of The Black Dahlia and L.A. Confidential gives us a searing, candid memoir about his obsession with women, his related search for atonement, and his remarkable literary career. • “Forceful and unsparing in its revelations.... Marvelous fury, passion and energy.” —San Francisco Chronicle The year was 1958. Jean Hilliker had divorced her hustler husband and resurrected her maiden name. Her son, James, was ten years old. In a dark moment, he “summoned her dead.” Three months later she was murdered. The curse was evoked, and James Ellroy began his unending pursuit of women. Here, he unsparingly describes his shattered childhood, his delinquent teens, his writing life, his love affairs and marriages, his nervous breakdown, and the beginning of a relationship with an extraordinary woman who may just be the long-sought Her. A startling revelation, a treatise on guilt and the power of malediction, and above all, a heartfelt confession, The Hilliker Curse is a brilliant, soul-baring revelation of self.

The internationally acclaimed author of the L.A. Quartet and The Underworld USA Trilogy, James Ellroy, presents another literary noir masterpiece of historical paranoia. A rip-roaring, devilishly wild ride through the bloody end of the 1960''s. It''s dark baby, and hot hot hot. Martin Luther King assassinated. Robert Kennedy assassinated. Los Angeles, 1968. Conspiracies theories are taking hold. On the horizon looms the Democratic Convention in Chicago and constant gun fire peppers south L.A. Violence, greed, and grime, are replacing free-love and everybody from Howard Hughes, Richard Nixon and J. Edgar Hoover to the right-wing assassins and left-wing revolutionaries are getting dirty. At the center of it all is a triumvirate: the president’s strong-arm goon, an ex-cop and heroine runner, and a private eye whose quarry is so dangerous she could set off the whole powder keg. With his trademark deadly staccato prose, James Ellroy holds nothing back in this wild, startling and much anticipated conclusion to his Underworld USA trilogy.