The second novel in The L.A. Quartet. Murder, mayhem and dirty cops on the make against the backdrop of anti-communist hysteria in L.A. in 1950.
It's the new year of 1950, and Los Angeles is swept under red crosscurrents: the Communist Scare and a string of brutal killings. Gangsters vie for control of the town and the Hollywood studios are feuding with the unions.
When a dead body with its eyes gouged out turns up, three cops get caught in the city's web of ambition, perversion, and deceit.
The investigating officer is Danny Upshaw, a Sheriff's deputy and rising star obsessed with a murder case that no one else cares about. Mal Considine is an LAPD Lieutenant who jumps onto the Red Scare bandwagon to advance his career and gain custody of his adopted son. And Buzz Meeks is in it for the money.
All three men have purchased tickets to a nightmare. JAMES ELLROY was born in Los Angeles. He is the author of the Underworld U.S.A. Trilogy: American Tabloid, The Cold Six Thousand, and Blood's a Rover, and the L.A. Quartet novels: The Black Dahlia, The Big Nowhere, L.A. Confidential, and White Jazz. He is the recipient of the Los Angeles Times Robert Kirsch Award for Lifetime Achievement. He lives in Colorado.
